Case
Study

David has low thresholds and is highly sensitive to sensory stimuli which affected his daily self-care skills. He hated the feeling of the shower (he showered under duress every 3rd day) and in particular avoided washing his own hair. His mother had to dry his hair and also cut his nails. We only wore tracksuit pants with soft textures. When going to the beach he would also wear tracksuit pants, socks and shoes as he disliked the texture of sand on his skin. His self-care, daily activities were compromised and he was mostly dependent on his mother to assist him.

The Sensory Matrix™ revealed low sensory thresholds and sensitivities for touch, smell and taste.  Goals were set to get David independent in his self-care skills (shower and nail cutting), wear jeans comfortably and go to the beach barefoot with shorts. He received 10 occupational therapy sessions comprising of education for David and his family, goal setting and motivation for change, deep touch brushing and joint compression, sensory diets, sensory snacks and self-regulation.

David made significant changes in his personal self-care which helped him feel more independent, gain more confidence and socialise more easily with his friends.

This is his progress graph:

He obtained comfort and full independence for daily self-care skills which also boosted his motivation and self-confidence.