Try Sense Smart Weighted Vest for Hyperactive, Distracted and Fidgety Kids

Is your child hyperactive, easily distracted or inattentive? Does he/she fidget frequently? Have difficulty sitting still or staying in place? Seek stimulation by running, jumping, banging, climbing or rocking?

Maybe they are suffering from what you call a Sensory Overload.

Ren was having a sensory overload in this photo. We were at a Toy Expo and the sound was very loud. He was 4 years old here. He overcame this fear now.

CAUSES

Sensory overload can result from the over stimulation of any of the senses.

Hearing: Loud noise or sound from multiple sources, such as several people talking at once or a loud fire alarm.
Sight: Bright lights or environments with lots of movement such as crowds or frequent scene changes on television.
Smell and taste: Strong aromas or spicy foods.
Touch: Tactile sensations such as being touched by another person or the feel of cloth on skin.

SYMPTOMS

There are a wide variety of symptoms that have been found to be associated with sensory overload. These symptoms can occur in both children and adults. Some of these symptoms are:

Irritability
”Shuts down”, or refuses to participate in activities and/or interact with others
Avoids touching or being touched
Gets overexcited
Covers eyes around bright lights
Makes poor eye contact
Covers ears to close out sounds or voices
Complains about noises that do not affect others
Having difficulty focusing on an activity
Constantly changing activities, never completing a task
Irritation caused by shoes, socks, tags, or different textures
Over-sensitivity to touch, movement, sights, and/or sounds
Has trouble with social interactions
Extremely high or extremely low activity levels[1]
Muscle tension
Fidgeting and restlessness
Angry outbursts
Sleeplessness/fatigue
Difficulty concentrating

PREVENTION

There are a lot of ways to prevent Sensory Overload. First, visit a Developmental Pediatrician to assess your child. You can also ask help from an Occupational Therapist (email me if you are looking for one, I can recommend the best OT in town).

They say that weighted vest may also help your child to calm down, listen up and learn better.

Sense Smart Weighted Vest

A group of Occupational Therapist decided to create a weighted vest for kids here in the Philippines. This weighted vest are highly recognizable abroad and used by OTs, educators and parents to help kids who need it there. It is quite expensive if you will buy it from the US so our local OTs decided to create one for the kids who will need it here.

It consists of a regular vest with adjustable velcros with pockets where you can put sand bags to make it heavy.

Our Experience

Ren’s OT allowed us to try this weighted vest. He gave us a schedule on when we are going to put and remove it. I was Ren’s Shadow teacher at school for the 1st and 2nd quarter, so I was able to observe his behavior while he wears it. For the first week, I barely see any difference in his actions. So, I told his OT about it. He gave me some pointers to look at. He said that maybe I am expecting a huge difference that I can’t see the small one (and I think he is right). I think I am expecting that this vest will create a miracle that Ren will automatically behave well when he wears it.

He told me to let Ren wear it every other day so that I can see the difference.

So that is what I did on the second week and to make my review accurate, I took a video of my son without the vest and with the vest. I have noticed that ohh yeah there is a difference in his behavior. On the video of him not wearing the vest, he is easily distracted by noise outside the classroom. He keeps on playing with his pencil or eraser. In short he is not looking at the teacher and not paying attention on what he is saying.

On the video where he is wearing it, I have noticed that yes he is still playing with his erasers or pencil but he is looking at the teacher.

I admit, the vest alone can’t make a difference in the kids behavior but somehow I think it does something to lessen the fidgety, being hyperactive etc.