August 18, 2025 • 20 mins
Sometimes, adults assume children are being stubborn, picky, and uncooperative when they actually may be responding to sensory input issues. Join Cindy and Alison for a discussion about when children's actions are caused by what we do not suspect.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to How Preschool Teachers Do It.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
This is Alison Kentto's I am an early childhood educator.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
And this is Cindy terror Bush. I am an early
childhood consultant.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
This podcast is for parents and early childhood professionals.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Let our experience and research based knowledge become your guide.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Hi, preschool Peace, Happy Monday.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I look so enthusiastic, I know.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
So we're going to start the episode like we have
been with shouting out different places where people are incredibly
listening to this podcast. You know, we're sitting here in
a room in my home. Not until we look at
the stats, we just don't realize that, we.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Don't realize the reach. Today we are shouting out Norway yay,
and we are shouting out the Dakotas, both north and south.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
So those of you who are in North and South Dakota,
we don't know if you like being grouped together as
the Dakota's or you really don't like being grouped together
the Dakota's. So we just decided to go let's just
say North and South Dakota in one episode. And I'm
sure people will now contact me saying why did you
do that? But we didn't want to split.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
We didn't all up, we didn't, and I think they
were both both states were up.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
There in our stats, they were right near each other.
So we just went It was one right after the other,
and we were like, how do we pick a Dakota.
We can't pick a Dakota. Dakota, all right, So that's
why we did that. We did it with all the
goodness in our hearts. Put you all together in this episode,
and we're so glad that you're among our preschool peeps
(01:44):
in Norway and in North and South Dakota. Okay.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Allison has the notes for this session that were so
to give it a little context. Sometimes the things that
we see when we are with children make us think
something about them, like, oh, this child is being picky,
this child is being overly emotional, this child is being stubborn,
(02:14):
this child, this child is just not listening when I
ask them to stop doing this. This child right there
are these things that are so steeped in things we
heard when we were child and are generational. One of
the things we now know is that some of the
children's behaviors and some of the things that they do
are actually could potentially be we're not here to diagnose.
(02:36):
We are not qualified and we you know, we don't
know the child you're thinking of, maybe, so we're not
qualified to diagnose.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
But we want you to know that sometimes things children.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Do relate to how they are processing sensory input. Yes,
some children struggle with processing sensory input, and I think
in some ways we all do. Like, for example, I
don't do well with background noise.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yes, I agree, I don't do well with smells all
the time.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
There you go, Okay, so we all have our little
sensory thing. Yes, there is a formal sensory processing disorder.
I am not in any way saying that. What we're
gonna say today, little disclaimer, what we're gonna say today
is not a diagnosis of sensory processing.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Even think it necessarily means you have the actual disorder.
Like if you're saying you have problems with background noise
and I have problems with smells, we we are not
diagnosed with that, but we're still gonna have issues with
those kind of things. Right, So we've we all have sensativity, yeah,
for a variety of different reasons. Right.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
So, we thought it was interesting that some of what
you're seeing is not being stubborn, is not being picky,
is not being these things we label children. It's actually
how they're processing sensory inputs and whether whether diagnosable or not,
or it's just they have a sensitivity of some kind.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Okay, so Allison give us. Can you give us a
really good example. She's got the notes.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I have the notes. It's in a text, so it's
it's kind of hard to scroll through. So if I'm
making no sense, I'm sorry. It says sensory processing impacts
sense of self, social skills, attention, focus, learning, and behavior.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
So sensory impacts all of that in us.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
In US, children with sensory processing disorder related to auditory
processing may not want to use the bathroom or go
out in the wind because of the sounds, not because
they are being stubborn.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
I when we talk about things like toilet training or
using wanting or being willing to go to the bathroom
once you're toilet.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Trained, Yes, there's a lot of things I've thought of.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
In a public setting like ew, they probably got the
message that it's a little gross in there, or you know,
or it's their unfamiliar space.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
You know, they're more we're all more comfortable using our
own bathroom.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
There could be a lot of reasons. I don't I
don't know if I ever really thought about the noise.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I didn't think about the noise either. But a bathroom echoes, right,
because the tiles and it echoes, and the noises are louder,
like even when the flushing the toilet and your house
might be quieter than the flushing of the toilet in
a public bathroom. Like. I didn't think of those things.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Either, thought like, all right, you're But.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I think when children say I don't want to use
the bathroom her because it's scary, although I hear a
lot with toilet training children, it is scary, and it
is scary, okay, Like, And it might be scary because
it's too loud. It might be scary because it smells
in here, might be scary because it's colder in here
because of the tile, like, it could be anything.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Now that I think of it.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I do remember having some students who were afraid of
the flushing toilet. Yes, And I wonder if we assume
I don't remember really what we assumed.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I don't know if we assumed that they were afraid
of the water going down that something was gonna suck
them in.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
I was gonna say the suckage right, like something's gonna
drag you in here, or if it was simply the sound.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Well, I also think a public bathroom like the ones
you have in your school, those flushers are louder because
sometimes industrials sometimes than the one you have at your house.
Maybe maybe then.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
You're right about the echo.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
It echoes.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
You're right about that, it echoes in there. All right,
more food for thought.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Okay, so that was like you don't they don't want
to go to the bathroom because sound or the wind.
That was so interesting to me that other people can
absolutely be more sensitive to the sound of wind than
like I am, for example. Yes, interesting, all right.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Children who don't like being dirty could have a tactile
processing issue.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
So there are children We've all met children who don't
want the fingerpaint on their fingers, who don't like getting dirty. Yes,
And it isn't only because your family puts you in
your best clothes and you're scared.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
To get in trouble.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
They just they don't like getting dirty. And we have
all known children who as soon as they get a
little speck on.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Their hand want you to clean it off? Does it?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I mean they have something diagnosable, but it could be
like a sensitivity with touch touch.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I think this plays into food, like if the food
is sticky and it's finger food, like if you're eating
I don't know, like French toasticks that's sticky sometimes. And
so I feel like if your child doesn't want to
eat that, it might not have anything to do with
like they don't like the food or they're just being
picky they don't want to touch it.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
I'll tell you what else I think of. You're gonna
laugh when I say this.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
I think of my sensitivity to different materials of socks.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
I'm very, very picky. She's very picky about herself about
my socks.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
There are certain materials I just can't have on my feet.
I can touch them with my hand. I'm fine with that,
but for some reason, the processing from my feet is
like the feet is tarrible. And I have had to
search for socks recently that fit on an injury under
a brace, and I have to tell you it has
(08:01):
been I have spent more money trying to find a
material of socks that I like that it.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Has been a journey. Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
And and it's very hard when stores have uh less
garments than they used to in the past, because they
went they'll look at you when you say, do you
have this kind of sock? They'll be like, oh, you
have to order it online online. I can't tell you
how much online ordering of socks. And then once you
open the socks, you can't return them. And so now
I have an overabundance of socks. I should really set
up a table at a flea market or something and
sell all these socks. Because I opened them up, I
(08:34):
tried them, and I went, oh, I don't like the
way it feels on my toes.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
But I think when you have children who not necessarily
picking out their clothes for the day because their parents
are doing it and your uncle. I only know I
know this because there was a day this week that
something was picking me in my shirk all day, all
day or the tag the tag right, and it bothered me.
And I'm I could ignore it because I'm an adult,
But like there's some kids that maybe can't ignore if
(09:01):
something's picking them or if it's like more maybe wooly yeah,
or their sock is falling down in their shoe or
like any of that kind of stuff could set up
their whole day where they're just now in a bad
mood all day because they're uncomfortable. But they didn't really
have a choice in what they were wearing that day,
right necessarily so like.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
So the children who don't want to get dirty, it
could be the way it feels. It just feels, the
children who keep taking their shoes and socks off, the
way it feels.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
And the sensory input.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
I've said to people, do you think I have a
sensory processing disorder because I keep buying different socks and
hating them. And somebody said to me, it's possible. Also,
it can just be a sensitivity.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
In your feet. No, it could be you now, it's possible.
I'm good with all the No, that's not true either.
There's certain food textures that.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Food textures skied me out. I am bad with food.
I am really bad with eating fruit because I don't
like really sure as fruit. There's only a couple.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Wait, so the child who refuses to eat the fruit
that's in their lunchbox because it's because yeah, not the taste,
it's the field, the feel.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Maybe it's the feel like I don't yeah, just think
about it's grossing. Yeah, okay, yeah, I'm I'm an adult
and I'm still like that. Yeah you know, all right,
you have another Yes I do cool, Oh, factory sensitivity.
That's smell smell, So like, can't tolerate the bleach and
cleaning products that are you you are using at school
(10:33):
there it's making them physically sick. So what can make
so be the deodorant that your teacher is wearing.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I try what you.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Gotta wear deodorant? But I mean, you don't know restrooms,
the cafeteria smells just your normal school smells.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Right, Well, it makes sense to me.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Aren't there certain foods that you smell that immediately nauseate you? Yes, yes,
there are certain cheeses.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
For example, for.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Me, spaghetti sauce sometimes makes me. Yes, Ever since I
was a kid, the smell of spaghetti sauce, if it's
really strong, I'm better at now than I was back
that it would make me physically want to get sick.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Yeah, so for a long time cheeses cheese, Yeah, yeah,
I can't.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
And so what we don't think about is actually your
bleach and water and cleaning products can be causing the
same reaction in young children. Yes, so it would stand
to reason then that when you're cleaning a table, if
they're having that reaction, that they start to melt down
or act up or.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
But then you have to really pay attention, Like sometimes
you don't realize that that's why they're melting down. Right, Oh,
I just cleaned the table. Now they're melting down, right,
So you're just like, I don't know, I guess he's hungry,
you know, because you clean the table right before you eat, right.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Sometimes so like or maybe you're cleaning the table right
before you eat, you have nauseated the poor child, and
now you're asking them to eat. Now they won't eat
now they're nauseous from the smell of your bleak and
the table still smells like cleaning products when you sit
down for lunch, yes, and the children and the child
won't eat.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Well, maybe it's because the cleaning products smell right, or
your deodorant no offense.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Take it, or like, you know, if you're wearing perfume
or lotion, well they say that you.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Should not be wearing perfumes, or you're.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
You're soap, even maybe you're soap.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Maybe they have a scent man bothers.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Them like it's and like, what are you not going
to use? So?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
I mean, I don't know, you know, I could go
either way I had I had somebody hug me recently
and say.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Oh my god, your hair smells so great.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
I have a boy in my class like tells me
every once in when he goes miss kenso's your hair
smells so fresh. I was like, thank you, I washed
it this morning, you know, like so like he's.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
But I don't smell it, right, I don't smell my
own I don't smell my own you know.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
I don't smell my own soap either, Like I know
it's scented, but I don't smell it. So like, but
the fact that he can smell it, and it's really
seriously every day it's wash day, he's like, you smell
so fresh. So like he's sensitive, but not in like
the bad way. He could just smell it more so
than maybe others get interesting.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
To know, though, interesting to know that you're the thing
you're mandated to do in a classroom that cleaning would
be making them sick. Interesting all right, let's talk about
picky eaters or gustatory.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Gustatory that's that's taste, right, sensitivity, I think that's and
digestion would be picky eaters, but undersensitive oral sensativity would
be the children who chew on their clothing, chew on pencils,
suck on their fingers. Also, why there's a gum cheer.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
So she wrote that in there, so.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
They so there are some people who lack taste sensitivity
or something like that, and or or moral or stimulation.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Like if they and they need the oral stimulation because
they are under sensitive.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
So they're so they're constantly looking to stimulate the sense. Okay,
that's why I'm a gum cheer.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Yes, these are why, Like I have a that who's
sure is always in their mouth.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
One of my sons was like.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
That, and I think it's like maybe there's something going.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
They're trying to stimulate the sense because it's not sensitive,
yes to things. So that explains my gum chewing addiction.
And I'm just gonna keep I chew sugar free. I
have gum everywhere. I have it here, I have it
in the living room, I have it everywhere.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Oh. I actually wrote in myself, I've always been sensitive
to unusual smells. I thought it was for my headaches,
but maybe it's not.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Maybe it's okay.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Visual processing. These are children who look straight at the sun.
They focus on bright colors, they fixate on fans, they're
looking for more. Yeah, they're blinking lights. They're mesmerized by
spinning objects. And then the undersensitive visual processing would be
getting confused and very busy environments bothered by certain lights.
(14:52):
Don't like shadows, listen, but don't look at you.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah, makes sense when you think about it. What else
you got there?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
I don't know. I'm trying to make this bigger because
I'm old. Okay, so this is interroceptive processing, which is
not a term I need.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Being undersensitive.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah, undersensitive are people who might not sense hunger, might
not sense being full from their food.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Well, I think that's a lot of people just because
we were taught to eat everything on our plate.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yes, might not sense thirst, might not sense fatigue, might
not sense the need to go to the bathroom, might
not sense physical or emotional tension, might not sense their
emotions or anxiety, and might not sense temperature. If you
have students like this, it says to try observe for
a halt, and it's in quotes like ha lt are
(15:45):
you hungry? Are you angry? Are you lonely? Are you tired?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
I think those are great questions to ask every child
who's out of sorts. Are you hungry?
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Are you angry?
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Are you lonely?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yep?
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Are you tired?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Are you tired?
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Great? Good out of questions.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Check in often if their behavior seems erratic, because they
might be having some sort of processing issue.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
I'm still processing though.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Are you hungry, angry, lonely, or tired?
Speaker 1 (16:15):
And you ask them one at a time yes, to
try and figure out how are you feeling? How is
your sensory? Are you hungry? Are you lonely?
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I've always asked the children are you hungry? Yeah, it's tired, Yeah,
But the other two?
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Are you angry? Are you lonely?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
I the lonely one? Very interesting? That is interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
That's almost another episode we could talk about childhood, loneliness, loneliness.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Let's make a note of that, because I was just
discussing this with somebody about a student in my class.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
I'm just going to stick it down here in our notes. Allison,
now we're talking to each other and not all Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I'll adjust it though, Okay, I'll know what it means oh,
it says tri yoga and different positionings explain different emotions
and physical sensations the emotion matching exercises through direct teaching.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
So here's the message I think of this episode. Then
things aren't always as they seem. There can be there
can be reasons related to the input from our senses
that's causing what we see. Yes, and so we really
(17:26):
need to pay attention.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
We really need to pay attention to what are the sights, sounds, smells, tastes,
what I think about site, sounds, touch, touch, and and
and touch that's happening in this space right now that
might actually been be feeding what I'm seeing, whether it's
reluctance or yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
I think we need to not just assume like, oh,
this this child's a challenging child because he won't use
the bathroom. It might not. I think it's easy for
teachers to be like, h here we go again. No, like,
maybe try to figure out.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Or the noises are.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Ask them. I'm big on asking, Hey, what's bothering you about?
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Sometimes they can't tell they don't know, they don't know.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Sometimes they might say something where you could be like,
let me think on that, you know, I think this whole, like, say,
in the bathrooms scary. Those are the kids that maybe
are having some sort of sensory issue in the bathroom,
but they just don't know what is scaring them. But
at least now you know, like okay something here. Yeah,
because there's some kids that go to the bathroom that
it doesn't bother them at.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
All because we have different levels of sensitive.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Yeah, so I think, like listen to them. Yeah, you know,
like if the toilet flushing is bothering them, maybe you
don't flush, or watch them if they can't tell you
watch them.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
If you go to flush the toilet and this child
flinchesches yea, or runs, Yeah, don't just get upset that
they're trying to run out.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Try to figure out why they're trying to cry why.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Or maybe say hey, we'll leave the flushing until you
leave the room. Yeah, what's the big deal of I
I flush it or you flush it? You know, no
big deal, Like I'd rather the kild go to the bathroom.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Well, I hope we gave everybody a lot of food
for thought.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
I think we did. Okay, we liked it because I
was worried about having to read all those notes. I
was like, we did not take these notes, so I was.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Like, I don't.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I'm going to read them.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Right.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
You got it.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
You've got this, y. We've been doing this now for
like seven years.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
We've got this all right.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
All right, folks. Thank you for coming and for caring
and for listening and for supporting this podcast, which is
very consistently voted as a top early childhood prop podcast.
So we thank you for that. Yeah, and we hope
that you will find us on Facebook and like our
page how preschool Teachers Do It? Come to the website.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Also on the website it tells you how you could
download the spaces by wis app and get our episodes directly,
and you even get videos ahead of everybody else. You do,
just saying yes, all right, folks, we'll catch you next
time on the PODCASTEB three
Welcome to How Preschool Teachers Do It.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
This is Alison Kentto's I am an early childhood educator.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
And this is Cindy terror Bush. I am an early
childhood consultant.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
This podcast is for parents and early childhood professionals.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Let our experience and research based knowledge become your guide.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Hi, preschool Peace, Happy Monday.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I look so enthusiastic, I know.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
So we're going to start the episode like we have
been with shouting out different places where people are incredibly
listening to this podcast. You know, we're sitting here in
a room in my home. Not until we look at
the stats, we just don't realize that, we.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Don't realize the reach. Today we are shouting out Norway yay,
and we are shouting out the Dakotas, both north and south.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
So those of you who are in North and South Dakota,
we don't know if you like being grouped together as
the Dakota's or you really don't like being grouped together
the Dakota's. So we just decided to go let's just
say North and South Dakota in one episode. And I'm
sure people will now contact me saying why did you
do that? But we didn't want to split.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
We didn't all up, we didn't, and I think they
were both both states were up.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
There in our stats, they were right near each other.
So we just went It was one right after the other,
and we were like, how do we pick a Dakota.
We can't pick a Dakota. Dakota, all right, So that's
why we did that. We did it with all the
goodness in our hearts. Put you all together in this episode,
and we're so glad that you're among our preschool peeps
(01:44):
in Norway and in North and South Dakota. Okay.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Allison has the notes for this session that were so
to give it a little context. Sometimes the things that
we see when we are with children make us think
something about them, like, oh, this child is being picky,
this child is being overly emotional, this child is being stubborn,
(02:14):
this child, this child is just not listening when I
ask them to stop doing this. This child right there
are these things that are so steeped in things we
heard when we were child and are generational. One of
the things we now know is that some of the
children's behaviors and some of the things that they do
are actually could potentially be we're not here to diagnose.
(02:36):
We are not qualified and we you know, we don't
know the child you're thinking of, maybe, so we're not
qualified to diagnose.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
But we want you to know that sometimes things children.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Do relate to how they are processing sensory input. Yes,
some children struggle with processing sensory input, and I think
in some ways we all do. Like, for example, I
don't do well with background noise.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yes, I agree, I don't do well with smells all
the time.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
There you go, Okay, so we all have our little
sensory thing. Yes, there is a formal sensory processing disorder.
I am not in any way saying that. What we're
gonna say today, little disclaimer, what we're gonna say today
is not a diagnosis of sensory processing.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Even think it necessarily means you have the actual disorder.
Like if you're saying you have problems with background noise
and I have problems with smells, we we are not
diagnosed with that, but we're still gonna have issues with
those kind of things. Right, So we've we all have sensativity, yeah,
for a variety of different reasons. Right.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
So, we thought it was interesting that some of what
you're seeing is not being stubborn, is not being picky,
is not being these things we label children. It's actually
how they're processing sensory inputs and whether whether diagnosable or not,
or it's just they have a sensitivity of some kind.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Okay, so Allison give us. Can you give us a
really good example. She's got the notes.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I have the notes. It's in a text, so it's
it's kind of hard to scroll through. So if I'm
making no sense, I'm sorry. It says sensory processing impacts
sense of self, social skills, attention, focus, learning, and behavior.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
So sensory impacts all of that in us.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
In US, children with sensory processing disorder related to auditory
processing may not want to use the bathroom or go
out in the wind because of the sounds, not because
they are being stubborn.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
I when we talk about things like toilet training or
using wanting or being willing to go to the bathroom
once you're toilet.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Trained, Yes, there's a lot of things I've thought of.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
In a public setting like ew, they probably got the
message that it's a little gross in there, or you know,
or it's their unfamiliar space.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
You know, they're more we're all more comfortable using our
own bathroom.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
There could be a lot of reasons. I don't I
don't know if I ever really thought about the noise.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I didn't think about the noise either. But a bathroom echoes, right,
because the tiles and it echoes, and the noises are louder,
like even when the flushing the toilet and your house
might be quieter than the flushing of the toilet in
a public bathroom. Like. I didn't think of those things.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Either, thought like, all right, you're But.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
I think when children say I don't want to use
the bathroom her because it's scary, although I hear a
lot with toilet training children, it is scary, and it
is scary, okay, Like, And it might be scary because
it's too loud. It might be scary because it smells
in here, might be scary because it's colder in here
because of the tile, like, it could be anything.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Now that I think of it.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I do remember having some students who were afraid of
the flushing toilet. Yes, And I wonder if we assume
I don't remember really what we assumed.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I don't know if we assumed that they were afraid
of the water going down that something was gonna suck
them in.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
I was gonna say the suckage right, like something's gonna
drag you in here, or if it was simply the sound.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Well, I also think a public bathroom like the ones
you have in your school, those flushers are louder because
sometimes industrials sometimes than the one you have at your house.
Maybe maybe then.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
You're right about the echo.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
It echoes.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
You're right about that, it echoes in there. All right,
more food for thought.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Okay, so that was like you don't they don't want
to go to the bathroom because sound or the wind.
That was so interesting to me that other people can
absolutely be more sensitive to the sound of wind than
like I am, for example. Yes, interesting, all right.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Children who don't like being dirty could have a tactile
processing issue.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
So there are children We've all met children who don't
want the fingerpaint on their fingers, who don't like getting dirty. Yes,
And it isn't only because your family puts you in
your best clothes and you're scared.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
To get in trouble.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
They just they don't like getting dirty. And we have
all known children who as soon as they get a
little speck on.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Their hand want you to clean it off? Does it?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I mean they have something diagnosable, but it could be
like a sensitivity with touch touch.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I think this plays into food, like if the food
is sticky and it's finger food, like if you're eating
I don't know, like French toasticks that's sticky sometimes. And
so I feel like if your child doesn't want to
eat that, it might not have anything to do with
like they don't like the food or they're just being
picky they don't want to touch it.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
I'll tell you what else I think of. You're gonna
laugh when I say this.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
I think of my sensitivity to different materials of socks.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
I'm very, very picky. She's very picky about herself about
my socks.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
There are certain materials I just can't have on my feet.
I can touch them with my hand. I'm fine with that,
but for some reason, the processing from my feet is
like the feet is tarrible. And I have had to
search for socks recently that fit on an injury under
a brace, and I have to tell you it has
(08:01):
been I have spent more money trying to find a
material of socks that I like that it.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Has been a journey. Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
And and it's very hard when stores have uh less
garments than they used to in the past, because they
went they'll look at you when you say, do you
have this kind of sock? They'll be like, oh, you
have to order it online online. I can't tell you
how much online ordering of socks. And then once you
open the socks, you can't return them. And so now
I have an overabundance of socks. I should really set
up a table at a flea market or something and
sell all these socks. Because I opened them up, I
(08:34):
tried them, and I went, oh, I don't like the
way it feels on my toes.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
But I think when you have children who not necessarily
picking out their clothes for the day because their parents
are doing it and your uncle. I only know I
know this because there was a day this week that
something was picking me in my shirk all day, all
day or the tag the tag right, and it bothered me.
And I'm I could ignore it because I'm an adult,
But like there's some kids that maybe can't ignore if
(09:01):
something's picking them or if it's like more maybe wooly yeah,
or their sock is falling down in their shoe or
like any of that kind of stuff could set up
their whole day where they're just now in a bad
mood all day because they're uncomfortable. But they didn't really
have a choice in what they were wearing that day,
right necessarily so like.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
So the children who don't want to get dirty, it
could be the way it feels. It just feels, the
children who keep taking their shoes and socks off, the
way it feels.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
And the sensory input.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
I've said to people, do you think I have a
sensory processing disorder because I keep buying different socks and
hating them. And somebody said to me, it's possible. Also,
it can just be a sensitivity.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
In your feet. No, it could be you now, it's possible.
I'm good with all the No, that's not true either.
There's certain food textures that.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Food textures skied me out. I am bad with food.
I am really bad with eating fruit because I don't
like really sure as fruit. There's only a couple.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Wait, so the child who refuses to eat the fruit
that's in their lunchbox because it's because yeah, not the taste,
it's the field, the feel.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Maybe it's the feel like I don't yeah, just think
about it's grossing. Yeah, okay, yeah, I'm I'm an adult
and I'm still like that. Yeah you know, all right,
you have another Yes I do cool, Oh, factory sensitivity.
That's smell smell, So like, can't tolerate the bleach and
cleaning products that are you you are using at school
(10:33):
there it's making them physically sick. So what can make
so be the deodorant that your teacher is wearing.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I try what you.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Gotta wear deodorant? But I mean, you don't know restrooms,
the cafeteria smells just your normal school smells.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Right, Well, it makes sense to me.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Aren't there certain foods that you smell that immediately nauseate you? Yes, yes,
there are certain cheeses.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
For example, for.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Me, spaghetti sauce sometimes makes me. Yes, Ever since I
was a kid, the smell of spaghetti sauce, if it's
really strong, I'm better at now than I was back
that it would make me physically want to get sick.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Yeah, so for a long time cheeses cheese, Yeah, yeah,
I can't.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
And so what we don't think about is actually your
bleach and water and cleaning products can be causing the
same reaction in young children. Yes, so it would stand
to reason then that when you're cleaning a table, if
they're having that reaction, that they start to melt down
or act up or.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
But then you have to really pay attention, Like sometimes
you don't realize that that's why they're melting down. Right, Oh,
I just cleaned the table. Now they're melting down, right,
So you're just like, I don't know, I guess he's hungry,
you know, because you clean the table right before you eat, right.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Sometimes so like or maybe you're cleaning the table right
before you eat, you have nauseated the poor child, and
now you're asking them to eat. Now they won't eat
now they're nauseous from the smell of your bleak and
the table still smells like cleaning products when you sit
down for lunch, yes, and the children and the child
won't eat.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Well, maybe it's because the cleaning products smell right, or
your deodorant no offense.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Take it, or like, you know, if you're wearing perfume
or lotion, well they say that you.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Should not be wearing perfumes, or you're.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
You're soap, even maybe you're soap.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Maybe they have a scent man bothers.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Them like it's and like, what are you not going
to use? So?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
I mean, I don't know, you know, I could go
either way I had I had somebody hug me recently
and say.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Oh my god, your hair smells so great.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
I have a boy in my class like tells me
every once in when he goes miss kenso's your hair
smells so fresh. I was like, thank you, I washed
it this morning, you know, like so like he's.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
But I don't smell it, right, I don't smell my
own I don't smell my own you know.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
I don't smell my own soap either, Like I know
it's scented, but I don't smell it. So like, but
the fact that he can smell it, and it's really
seriously every day it's wash day, he's like, you smell
so fresh. So like he's sensitive, but not in like
the bad way. He could just smell it more so
than maybe others get interesting.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
To know, though, interesting to know that you're the thing
you're mandated to do in a classroom that cleaning would
be making them sick. Interesting all right, let's talk about
picky eaters or gustatory.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Gustatory that's that's taste, right, sensitivity, I think that's and
digestion would be picky eaters, but undersensitive oral sensativity would
be the children who chew on their clothing, chew on pencils,
suck on their fingers. Also, why there's a gum cheer.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
So she wrote that in there, so.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
They so there are some people who lack taste sensitivity
or something like that, and or or moral or stimulation.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Like if they and they need the oral stimulation because
they are under sensitive.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
So they're so they're constantly looking to stimulate the sense. Okay,
that's why I'm a gum cheer.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Yes, these are why, Like I have a that who's
sure is always in their mouth.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
One of my sons was like.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
That, and I think it's like maybe there's something going.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
They're trying to stimulate the sense because it's not sensitive,
yes to things. So that explains my gum chewing addiction.
And I'm just gonna keep I chew sugar free. I
have gum everywhere. I have it here, I have it
in the living room, I have it everywhere.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Oh. I actually wrote in myself, I've always been sensitive
to unusual smells. I thought it was for my headaches,
but maybe it's not.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Maybe it's okay.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Visual processing. These are children who look straight at the sun.
They focus on bright colors, they fixate on fans, they're
looking for more. Yeah, they're blinking lights. They're mesmerized by
spinning objects. And then the undersensitive visual processing would be
getting confused and very busy environments bothered by certain lights.
(14:52):
Don't like shadows, listen, but don't look at you.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Yeah, makes sense when you think about it. What else
you got there?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
I don't know. I'm trying to make this bigger because
I'm old. Okay, so this is interroceptive processing, which is
not a term I need.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Being undersensitive.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah, undersensitive are people who might not sense hunger, might
not sense being full from their food.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Well, I think that's a lot of people just because
we were taught to eat everything on our plate.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yes, might not sense thirst, might not sense fatigue, might
not sense the need to go to the bathroom, might
not sense physical or emotional tension, might not sense their
emotions or anxiety, and might not sense temperature. If you
have students like this, it says to try observe for
a halt, and it's in quotes like ha lt are
(15:45):
you hungry? Are you angry? Are you lonely? Are you tired?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
I think those are great questions to ask every child
who's out of sorts. Are you hungry?
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Are you angry?
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Are you lonely?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yep?
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Are you tired?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Are you tired?
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Great? Good out of questions.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Check in often if their behavior seems erratic, because they
might be having some sort of processing issue.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
I'm still processing though.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Are you hungry, angry, lonely, or tired?
Speaker 1 (16:15):
And you ask them one at a time yes, to
try and figure out how are you feeling? How is
your sensory? Are you hungry? Are you lonely?
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I've always asked the children are you hungry? Yeah, it's tired, Yeah,
But the other two?
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Are you angry? Are you lonely?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
I the lonely one? Very interesting? That is interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
That's almost another episode we could talk about childhood, loneliness, loneliness.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Let's make a note of that, because I was just
discussing this with somebody about a student in my class.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
I'm just going to stick it down here in our notes. Allison,
now we're talking to each other and not all Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I'll adjust it though, Okay, I'll know what it means oh,
it says tri yoga and different positionings explain different emotions
and physical sensations the emotion matching exercises through direct teaching.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
So here's the message I think of this episode. Then
things aren't always as they seem. There can be there
can be reasons related to the input from our senses
that's causing what we see. Yes, and so we really
(17:26):
need to pay attention.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
We really need to pay attention to what are the sights, sounds, smells, tastes,
what I think about site, sounds, touch, touch, and and
and touch that's happening in this space right now that
might actually been be feeding what I'm seeing, whether it's
reluctance or yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
I think we need to not just assume like, oh,
this this child's a challenging child because he won't use
the bathroom. It might not. I think it's easy for
teachers to be like, h here we go again. No, like,
maybe try to figure out.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Or the noises are.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Ask them. I'm big on asking, Hey, what's bothering you about?
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Sometimes they can't tell they don't know, they don't know.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Sometimes they might say something where you could be like,
let me think on that, you know, I think this whole, like, say,
in the bathrooms scary. Those are the kids that maybe
are having some sort of sensory issue in the bathroom,
but they just don't know what is scaring them. But
at least now you know, like okay something here. Yeah,
because there's some kids that go to the bathroom that
it doesn't bother them at.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
All because we have different levels of sensitive.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Yeah, so I think, like listen to them. Yeah, you know,
like if the toilet flushing is bothering them, maybe you
don't flush, or watch them if they can't tell you
watch them.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
If you go to flush the toilet and this child
flinchesches yea, or runs, Yeah, don't just get upset that
they're trying to run out.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Try to figure out why they're trying to cry why.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Or maybe say hey, we'll leave the flushing until you
leave the room. Yeah, what's the big deal of I
I flush it or you flush it? You know, no
big deal, Like I'd rather the kild go to the bathroom.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Well, I hope we gave everybody a lot of food
for thought.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
I think we did. Okay, we liked it because I
was worried about having to read all those notes. I
was like, we did not take these notes, so I was.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Like, I don't.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I'm going to read them.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Right.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
You got it.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
You've got this, y. We've been doing this now for
like seven years.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
We've got this all right.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
All right, folks. Thank you for coming and for caring
and for listening and for supporting this podcast, which is
very consistently voted as a top early childhood prop podcast.
So we thank you for that. Yeah, and we hope
that you will find us on Facebook and like our
page how preschool Teachers Do It? Come to the website.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Also on the website it tells you how you could
download the spaces by wis app and get our episodes directly,
and you even get videos ahead of everybody else. You do,
just saying yes, all right, folks, we'll catch you next
time on the PODCASTEB three
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