Case
Study
Client: David, 16-year old adolescent
Solution: Sensory Matrix™ Intervention for effective ADL (activities of daily living) skills
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Client Overview
David (that is not his real name for confidentiality purposes) is a 16-year old adolescent living with his parents and attending high school in Johannesburg, Gauteng. He is in Grade 10. He was a client of one of our licensed practitioners.
The Challenge
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.
How we Helped
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.
The Outcome
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.
Our Connections
We’ve helped thousands of people and organisations be healthier, happier and more productive
“One of the most commonly overlooked workplace challenges is sensory processing and our sensitivities to the daily onslaught of sensory stimuli. We humans are sensory beings, and are constantly receiving sensory input. In fact, we receive 11 million bits of sensory information every second, of which, only 50% of which we can process consciously. We are all, neurodiverse and neurotypical individuals, processing sensory stimulation differently. But neurodiverse thinkers often can be over or under stimulated by factors in their environment. Elements such as lighting, sound, texture, smells, temperature, air quality or overall sense of security all play a role in how we feel and function in a space. Understanding how we are impacted and how to design spaces to accommodate a diverse population is critical to the creation of successful, welcoming environments. Hence the work that Annemarie and the team at Sensory Intelligence® are doing is so important to helping us on that journey”
Kay Sargent
Senior Principal | Director of Work Place - HOK
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