Mary Kostka, Author at Ohana OT Pediatric Therapy in Wenatchee

What is stimming and should I let my child do it?

March 16, 2023 By Mary Kostka Leave a Comment

What is Stimming:
Stimming is short for “self-stimulating behavior”. This behavior looks like repetitive movements, words, or sounds. These movements, words, or sounds might serve a couple different purposes:

A way to manage various big emotions (excitement, boredom, fear, stress, happiness, etc.)
- Big emotions can be difficult for anyone to manage, especially if the sensory system is extra sensitive (or when emotions are hard to comprehend or understand).
- Stimming is a way to help calm the system in the middle of heightened emotional states.
As a way to distract themselves, or help calm their body when they are overstimulated
- Stimming is a subconscious way for the nervous system to organize the input it is receiving from the environment.
- If your child is sensitive to certain input, stimming can help to organize their system, counteract, or distract them from the offending input.
As a way to “wake up” their nervous system when they are under-stimulated
- When a child’s nervous system does not register input adequately or effectively, they may struggle to have a complete picture of their environment.
- Stimming can help them to “wake up” their system to make it work more effectively.
- Stimming can also help increase input to a level that they are able to more easily register it, helping to complete the picture of their environment.
Because it feels good and they enjoy it
- We all have certain things that simply feel good to us, sometimes a stim is just that.
- Sometimes children have a hard time coming up with play ideas, or figuring out how to complete play movements; stimming is a less complex way to engage in play.

Is it okay to let my kid stim?
Because stimming serves so many useful purposes and is a very essential part of functioning for those with unique sensory needs, we encourage you to let your child stim. This is their own unique way that they have learned to care for their sensory system and regulate their emotions.

However, if the stimming is hurting themselves or others, or if it is preventing functional activity, replacement behaviors can be developed and taught. You can work with your OT at ‘Ohana to identify and implement the best replacement behaviors for your child.

A note about social expectation:
Sometimes stimming is harmless and effective, but it makes others (such as extended family members or that stranger in the grocery store) uncomfortable. These situations can be the perfect opportunity to teach someone about stimming and the unique needs of your child’s sensory system. If your child is old enough, you can coach them on explaining their stimming needs to others.

Quick tips and strategies to help shape stimming:

Set up a specific stimming corner or area in your home, child’s room, or their classroom if the stim is disruptive to those around your child (e.g. loud noise).
Talk about stimming with your child, help them identify why and when they need to stim.
Try setting aside specific stim time in your child’s day (e.g. for 8 minutes before meals, 10 minutes to stim before going to bed, etc.). This can be especially useful for showing your child that you want to support their needs, but also need them to be able to focus on other things throughout the day. Keep in mind that if your child has a big emotion, they may need to stim more.
Try setting a timer every time they start stimming. Let them know they can stim until the timer goes off and then it is time to refocus on functional tasks. This can be useful for those kids who stim for long periods of time.
Try adding sensory enriching activities to your child’s day to supplement or enhance their stimming. Ideally, these activities would provide the same input as the child’s stim. Talk to your child’s OT about what type of activities to add.

Blog post compiled by ‘Ohana OT, Abigail Simmons (OTR/L)

Resources:
GriffinOT (2020). How do I stop my child from sensory stimming. Griffin occupational therapy. Retrieved from: https://www.griffinot.com/how-to-stop-child-sensory-stimming/
Miller, C. (2019). What you need to know about stimming. Kid’s creek. Retrieved from: https://www.kidscreektherapy.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-stimming/
What is stimming? (n.d.). Occupational therapy helping children. Retrieved from: https://occupationaltherapy.com.au/what-is-stimming/

‘Ohana OT’s Roots, a Tribute to Mary’s Father

June 14, 2022 By Mary Kostka Leave a Comment

In honor of Father’s Day today, I want you all to know how my own Dad has influenced me. If my Dad was still alive today, he would be so excited about ‘Ohana OT and all the incredible things we get to do and all the progress the kids are experiencing! There would be no ‘Ohana OT without the huge impact my parents and younger sister have had on me.

I was raised with the idea that anything is possible! I was born into adventure in Southern California and lived there my first 10 yrs. My Mom and Dad met skydiving. Dad was my Mom’s skydiving instructor.

He was always building something. He built a lot of dune buggies and raced them with Mom as a co-pilot.We spent most weekends camping in the desert by the fire under the stars and chasing kangaroo rats at night.

I was basically a tomboy with my Dad teaching me how to use power tools from a young age. I learned a love of photography from him. We developed black and white photographs in our darkroom. I loved watching them magically appear. My Mom and Dad were very inventive and creative. Dad’s friend Ron Hawthorn, who was a very outgoing paraplegic and gave me lots of wheelchair rides growing up, wanted to learn to skydive. My Dad said “sure we will just have you do an ocean landing”.

My sister, Christy, was born with Cerebral Palsy and my parents made sure that her disability did not slow her down one bit. She now has two Master’s degrees! When she had a major surgery in 1^st grade and had to stay lying flat, my dad adapted a wheelchair with a board so that I could wheel her around the neighborhood and hang out with our friends. When she was 9 and still was unable to ride a bike he built her a special 3 wheel bike.

I also remember my dad adapting a golf cart and adding an engine lift to act like a Hoyer lift so that a family member, who used a wheelchair for mobility, would be able to be independent and safe going down the street. He was always full of creative and innovative solutions.

When I was 10 we moved to Romeoville, IL near Chicago. I continued to hang out in the garage learning from my dad. When I was 11 my he taught me to gas and arc weld. He always challenged me to solve problems and to be creative. He always thought in terms of “how CAN this be done” and never “it can’t be done”. Dad always enjoyed being out on the water and he adapted his pontoon boat so that a friend who was in a wheelchair could easily get on the boat and go with him. He named his boat “The Accessible 1”.

As I got older I toyed with many different career ideas from being a National Geographic Photographer , Mechanical Engineer, Forest Ranger to Marine Biologist. My mom helped me realize OT would be a great match for me. My Dad influenced me with his entrepreneurial spirit. He was almost always self employed in mechanical work. He was a risk taker and without that influence I would have never taken the leap of faith and huge financial risk to be in private practice. During my 20’s my parents had a business making homes and businesses accessible by installing ramps, stair glides and porch lifts. They enjoyed this business so very much because they could see such an immediate positive impact on the families.

When my parents closed their business, they moved to Washington to be closer to us. During the many years I worked in the schools, my Dad was always there to help me with whatever project I came up with. One of my favorite projects he did was to build a jig for Daniel (who has Down Syndrome) to build bird houses. Daniel has built over 1000 bird houses since then on that jig! The other day I was playing with the bubble machine and smiled when I looked at the handle that my Dad adapted for me 10 years ago to make it easier for the kids to turn the crank.

Dad loved to have fun and made sure others were having fun as well. If there is one word I hear our kids describe ‘Ohana OT and that is FUN!

He believed in us. He believed in others and persisted until they succeeded. My dad died of throat cancer when he was only 66 years old but he lives on through ‘Ohana OT everyday. It simply would not exist without his influence on my life. Thank you Dad! I love you!

Mary Kostka is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist specializing in Sensory Processing Disorder at her private practice, ‘Ohana Occupational Therapy, LLC, in Wenatchee, Washington, USA.

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‘Ohana Occupational Therapy, LLC
1139 N Princeton Suite B
Wenatchee, WA 98801
Ph: 509-888-7435
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Sunscreen Tips for your Sensory Child

June 12, 2022 By Mary Kostka Leave a Comment

Summer is approaching fast and it’s important that we protect ourselves and our children against the hot summer sun… But sunscreen can be messy, sticky and just challenging to find the right balance to keep our kids protected. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you prepare for some fun in the sun this SUMMER!

Sunscreen lotions can be sticky and messy and an unpleasant tactile experience for your child. Here are a few alternative options to keep your child protected in the sun!

Sensory-friendly Stick Options

Sensory-friendly Spray Options

Other Tips and Tricks:

Rub in any spray or lotion using a foundation brush and skip the mess!

Try UV clothing to protect

Talk about it!
Talk about sunscreen when it’s not time to put it on. Discuss and share about why we need to wear sunscreen and how it’s fun to play outside but we have to protect our skin to keep it healthy. Have conversations to encourage your child to be comfortable with the idea of sunscreen. Lead by example and make it a normal thing for you and your family to wear it.

Proprioceptive Input

Providing proprioceptive input (input to the muscles and joints) before applying sunscreen can help to reduce touch sensitivity. A few ways to do this could be massage/deep pressure, any pushing/pulling movement, use of weighted items, digging in sand, animal crawls, or wheelbarrow walks. You can try having the child rub down arms, legs, and back with a towel before applying sunscreen.

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