Joint Compressions - "Squishies" - After a Meltdown

[WickedStorm79]

what an awsome mum!

[AliciaLlanas]

I find this interesting. We live in Mexico, and here part of the PT are joint compressions. we did this with our son since he was one month old until he was 3 and half. he is now 6, im wondering if this could have been a helper for how he is now.

[beautifulmind546]

He is so calm. This is so lovely to see and it works well with my own child. She also does well with pushing things or just pushing against the wall. Some yoga poses like downward dog seem to do the same thing for her.

[allenromeroespelita]

I would like to comment on how you do the Joint compression is it distal to proximal or the other way around?

[preprandialcocktail]

@allenromeroespelita More recently I've seen these done a different way which is pull push twist twist on each joint. I don't think the method really matters. You are just pushing the joint together. Muscles do this to bones when under load. You are just giving a big dose of that same medicine through squishies. A kid who tries to move big furniture to rearrange a room gets the same thing. In fact, I know that they've asked at least one kid to do just that to the STAR Center waiting room!

[PinkPunkyKat]

Are you supposed to compress the head? I have autism myself and when my parents tried joint compression with me, they were told to "compress" my head. It felt as if they were trying to smash concrete bricks on it. Joit compression made my meltdowns and agression worse.

[wolinmijnhaar]

not only does this boy look like my 6 year old son, he acts like him completely as well!! These video's are so helpful thank you very much.

My son seems to have legs with a life of there own and I think doing this after his melt downs will make him be more in touch with his body.

It is hard however to stay so calm like the video shows in everyday life as I deal with 4 ASS children in my household.

[Pianda]

I know an Autist with 47 years; he had been very much counselled and served A LOT by his parents and environment. He has NO feeling for his body or div. parts of his self. AND HE IS NOT URGING FOR GETTING ALONG at all.

Here, 2.00ff (2.17) shows me sogns of the same partial development: the boy shows that he has got used to the "service from outside" - really try to achieve a fusion - tell him that it's agoal that HE IS ABLE to learn this capability himself!

[Pianda]

@Pianda also try to bing in ameta-perspective " we're doing this for you so that you can step-by-step handle it yourself" -and try to establish a sense of boundary - so the boy shall understand that the fact, that he is nurtured like that beyond normal age is something special - otherwise these kids can develop a natural idea of being nurtered all day and all age. Try to establish a "we want to learn YOU to handle this for yourself"=this is some sort of limit these overserved kids also need

[JillieBean0403]

My 3 yr old has OCD, because of this, we have melt downs often. I will try this! I hope it helps! We have done Kellerwork massage, and it helps too. If anyone has any other suggestions, please msg me, jmgrant@bex.net . I need all the help I can get, no one around here has ever seen a 3 yr old with OCD, therefore no professionals can help me :-(

[char8019]

Hi, I think it depends on the type of compression if it is heavy or joint. So far I think heavy joint compression calms a child. I remember a hypoactive student of mine when i was just an intern, he had a meltdown and we applied joint compression to calm him down. And it was effective.

[emeraldsunsets]

It sort of reroutes their brain activity from flight mode into feeling/sensory, and relaxation.

Alot of people use this with attention deficit children also.

[cherylmockotr]

Can joint compressions can calm a hyperactive child? Someone replied No, but that's not true. Proprioceptive input is calming to anybody, hyper or not. It's a common technique used for kids with sensory processing disorders, and the effect on behavior may be more visible on them, but the principle is the same for everybody... it's simply how we are wired physiologically! Why do you think a massage feels so wonderful and relaxing?

[niteholler]

a good Spanking would work just as well.

[meh786]

niteholler,

i guess you have no understanding of how this works!!

[porbidaman]

Can joint compressions calm a hyperactive child?

[merloutre7]

No a hyperactive child, but a child with SPD. Somtimes a child with SPD may be hyperactive but a hyperactive child does not always have SPD. The joint compression gives the child positive sensory imput. (aka it feels good)

[porbidaman]

thanx for the info, so how can I calm a hyperactive child?

[pidpit]

Our son has SPD as well, and this works great when he starts to become agitated.

[magicalmiriam]

Thats fascinating, I had no idea. Thanks for the info keep up the great videos.

[magicalmiriam]

Whats the aim of the Joint compressions?

[preprandialcocktail]

Joint compressions work on the proprioceptive system. Proprioception is the ability of our joints to tell our brain where our body is. If I close my eyes and lift my arm above my head, each joint in my hand, wrist, arm tells my brain that my arm is up in the air. For a child who is underresponsive to proprioceptive input, compressions are calming just like thumb sucking. The jaw joint has a lot of proprioceptors. Thumb sucking and "squishies" are calming - but using different joints.

[Passionslvr]

@preprandialcocktail How can you tell that the joint compressions is doing it's job? What changes to we look for in the child? Thanks!