Back in February when Bubs was having such a terrible week, I called his OT hoping to come up with something to do. I truly was at my wit’s end with his behavior.
Ms. W told me that she wanted us to immediately start the “brushing technique”. She was going to send two brushes home, detailed instructions, as well as teach us what to do. I was amazed at the result. It truly had a calming effect on Bubs. The great thing about it – under a therapist’s guidance, you can do this too!
The Wilbarger Deep Pressure (Brushing) Protocol is the technical name for it. Basically the brushing and joint compressions allow the child to take in sensory input in a “normal” way; helping the child’s brain to regulate its responses to sensory information.
Time:
*Each brushing and joint compression “program” will take 3-5 minutes.
*Do the entire program every 2 hours while the child is awake.
*Continue the program for at least 4-5 weeks or until results are noticed. (It may take some children as long as a year.)
Brushing:
*Once you have made contact on the child’s body, do not let go until finished
*Avoid sensitive areas (bottoms of feet, stomach, inner thigh, over spine)
*Brush in the following order:
-right arm
-back
-left arm
-left leg
-right leg
*Child can be in any position (sitting, standing, lying down, etc.)
*Hold brush horizontal over bar skin, vertical over clothing
*Do not go over skin and clothes in one sweep. Do bare arm/leg first, then brush over clothing
*Use firm, consistent pressure (not quick or hard)
Joint Compressions:
*Always follow brushing with firm pressure to the joints.
*Using this order:
-right ankle to knee
-right knee to hip
-left ankle to knee
-right knee to hip
-left wrist to elbow
-left elbow to shoulder
-right wrist to elbow
-right elbow to shoulder
-shoulder to hip
*Compress 8-10 times each
The great thing about this is that it really does work and it will cost you approx $3-5 for the brush and then your time. We have a brush for Mommy and a brush for Bubs – for when he feels that he needs it and wants to “brush” himself.
Disclaimer – I am not an Occupational Therapist. If this is something that you think would help your child, talk to a therapist. Use this info strictly as info, but talk to a professional first! I viewed several YouTube videos of this program. Each one was a little different and varied from how we have been taught. One more reason to check with a trusted professional!
How has this worked with your child?
Whew, I was glad to see your disclaimer. No brushing should be implemented without talking to your therapist. It can cause issues on SOME children.
We use this with both of our sons. At the point we tried it, I was open to most of these types of treatments so I was gung ho.
We took my older son into their calm room and did the technique. He stood up, looked around, walked to the door, opened it, walked out of the room, and over to his PTA to have therapy. I have never seen anything like it in my life. He instantly reacted. I thought I was just partial and biased. But his PT looked up (was getting equipment ready), then looked back at the equipment, stopped, looked back up at him, looked at us, and said, "what did you do to him". Hehehehe. I told her the sensory therapist brushed him. She ran over to find out what that entails, who they could use it with, what does it do to their systems, and was in shock at what she was seeing with our son, our sensory seeking son with Autism. Our child that runs at full speed non-stop. Our child that doesn't verbally engage that was speaking (broken and in poor manner, but trying to speak) with his PTA.
Brushing is an awesome thing for so many of our children.
ahhh our beloved 'brush'! When our OT first started us on brushing, I was frustrated and thought the lady had lost some marbles….I think i was expecting 'immediate' and drastic results. but after a few weeks we saw that it helped tremendously when it was supplemented with other sensory diet ideas. even now (over 2 years later), we can go for weeks without using it but we always end up going back to the basics because it really does help calm my child down esp at bedtime or when he's really upset.