Sensory Store Canada

Welcome Wednesday – Lori Lite from Stress Free Kids!

sensorystorecanada — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:20:51 +0000

Today I have the privilege of welcoming Lori Lite from Stress Free Kids. Like many moms who have gone into business for themselves, Lori’s passion comes from personal life experience with her own children.

Stress Free Kids® founder Lori Lite has created a line of books and CDs designed to help children, teens, and adults decrease stress, anxiety, and anger. As a parent, Lori spent two hours every single night trying to settle her young son down to sleep. Her daughter developed stress related night terrors and Lori herself became sick from anxiety. In an effort to help her family she created a story for her children that would entertain them while introducing them to research-based relaxation techniques. That moment began a journey that now includes 8 books, 6 CDs, and 2 curriculums. Ms. Lite’s books, CDs, and curriculums are considered a resource for parents, psychologists, therapists, child life specialists, teachers, and yoga instructors.

Welcome Lori! Thank you for joining us!

What started you on your journey of creating relaxation stories?

I was putting my son to sleep one night and it took us 2 hours every single night to do that. My husband and I would alternate taking turns because it was just completely unmanageable and talk about stress!
It was very stressful for one human being to handle on their own so we took turns. And I myself was extremely stressed out.
So I had gone to a stress consultant that taught me to do some very simple relaxation techniques that had an immediate effect on me. I immediately started to get well.
So one night while I was putting my son to sleep I wondered what would happen if I could get my son to take some deep breaths, maybe he would fall asleep quicker.
So I started to create a story and the story had characters in it and my son started to follow the characters along and he started to do the breathing with the characters and he fell asleep.

What are some signs of stress in children? How do I identify stress in my kids?

Some signs you should look for are clingy behaviour, nightmares, bedwetting , stomach aches, head aches, aches and pains that don’t seem to have any validity, preoccupation with a particular incident, teeth grinding, frequent meltdowns, withdrawing from friends and family and changes in sleeping patterns.
But it is really difficult to identify stress in children because a lot of these things I’ve mentioned are kind of normal for children too.
So to me it’s more of a change in behaviour. It’s more of that real distinct change where you notice a big change.
Also, trust your instinct. Moms know what’s going on before any body else does. So if something in the back of your head is saying something is going on with your kids don’t push that thought away. Pull it to the front and pay attention to it. Trust yourself. To me, that is the main thing.

How can I tell if my child’s schedule is too stressfull for them?

Read the cues your kids are giving you. If your child is whining all of the time they might be overscheduled. Certainly they’re tired.
If your kids don’t want to go, if you find yourself forcing them or dragging them into the car, and they’re telling you they don’t want to go well that’s their way of telling you they’re overscheduled. Children don’t have these words at their fingertips.
If you find they’re having a lot of meltdowns then look at their schedules, you might be overdoing it.
Some stress is good. For some kids it’s a great feeling to have a soccer game and feel that stress and excitement but then there is when stress goes too far and it makes a child unhappy.
I guess the biggest tip to me is if you feel you’re not catching your breath and you feel you’re living out of your car. Then just note it too yourself that you are out of breath and you are living out of your car and that is not necessarily the balance and the good health and wellness that you want for your family.

Can food effect stress levels?

Chemicals, dyes, additives, all of these things stress the body out. They throw you off balance. Anyone can feel when they’ve eaten sugar all day they feel out of balance.
Being out of balance is a similar feeling to being stressed out.
There is a whole other avenue of food problems and that is food allergies. That is something I spent many years dealing with.
If your diet contains a lot of caffeine and unhealthy foods your anxiety levels and stress levels go up just from that.
The fact is, your body, and your children’s bodies in particular, they need nutritious foods to run properly. And there are actually minerals out there like calcium,
magnesium and vitamins like vitamin b that actually regulate your emotions and keep you calm. Magnesium is a great thing to have before you go to bed because it helps you sleep more calmly and peacefully.
So you know what? If it’s not good for your body it’s probably not good for your mind and you could be experiencing and creating more anxiety and stress in your children’s life by feeding them poorly.
And hey, what happened to cooking together?! What happened to family meals?
I know it’s almost impossible and I’m not saying that I have family meals every night. But one thing I like to do is cook with my children. It brings us together. If you shut of the tv , you shut off the radio, you take the phone off the hook and you don’t have to run out the door to an activity, cooking together is not only a beautiful bonding experience but it is also very relaxing. Especially if you give age appropriate assignments. Kids love cooking. They love mixing, they love chopping, they love throwing things together. So I’d like to see more cooking together to help children relax.

What can a parent do who doesn’t know how to manage their own stress? How can their teach their child?

A parent who does not know how to manage their own stress can pick up one of my stories like the Angry Octopus or Sea Otter Cove. They can sit down with the child, read the story to the child and not only will the child benefit from the story but the parent who is having issues with their own anxiety will benefit from the story. You will start to feel the effects of relaxation and you know what, every body wins.

What are the relaxation techniques found in your stories?

There are some very simple techniques. They are breathing, visualizing, affirmations and progressive muscular relaxation. And all four of these techniques are so easy to do.
First of all paying attention to your breath, you’re already starting to relax. Just focusing awareness on the air going in and out of your nose. And then you can take it up a notch and you can breathe in through your nose and letting the breath out your mouth and say “ahhhhhhhh”. That is something you can do with children, children love to do it, they laugh when they say the ahhhhh. It’s just great to laugh, breathe and laugh at the same time.
Sea Otter Cove is all about breathing and the Indigo Dreams and the Indigo Ocean Dreams CD is all about breathing.
Visualizing is when you create pictures and images in your head. One of kids’ favourite visualizations is filling their body with colour. They love rainbows!
I have two stories, “A Boy and a Turtle” and “Bubble Riding” and both of those stories kids visualize the colours of the rainbow filling their body and the bubbles around them as they go for a ride.

Tell us about affirmations.

Something you want to do is introduce affirmations and the name of my book is Affirmation Weaver. It’s about a dolphin who doesn’t believe in himself and he doesn’t think he’s as smart as the other dolphins and can’t jump as high as the other dolphins. The sea creatures introduce him to using positive statements.
A lot of people don’t know what affirmations are and basically it’s a fancy word for positive statements. It’s saying something nice to yourself. “I like myself.” “I believe in myself.” “I learn easily.”
Affirmations can be used to boost your self-esteem. They can also be used to relax because you can say to yourself “I am calm, I am relaxed.” And it will help you feel more relaxed.
So it’s a wonderful tool and you can have so much fun with it. You can work together with your children to make up your own affirmations and you can put it in their pocket to go to school with them for the day to remind them of something.

Why does it seem children are more stressed these days?

I think that lots of things have changed since we were children. One of the main causes of stress, I believe, is what our children are exposed to through media. They are constantly being exposed to violent images, over-sexualized images, fast moving images. When you watch the tv now there’s text along the bottom, there are windows in the corner, there is constant, constant overstimulation.
So I think that is a big causes of stress for children.
I think that society has changed in that we are an “achievement oriented” society. Our parenting style is achievement oriented. Our children have less play time. They are afraid of war, they have experienced terrorism, the economy has created a lot of fear for families and children because children have fear that their parents are going to lose their jobs or have lost their jobs. School days are longer. All of these things add up to one big word – STRESS!

What is your mission in life?

My mission in life is to simply give parents and children the tools they need so they can self-soothe and they can manage the stress and anxiety that we’re admitting exists now for children. They can sleep more peacefully and they can believe in themselves. That is my mission in life.

Thank you joining us Lori! You’ve given us lots to think about. Be sure to check out all of Lori’s wonderful books, CD’s and DVD’s. She has something for everyone – children, teens and adults!

sensorystorecanada — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:50:55 +0000

It has been said that “Individually we are one drop. Together we are an ocean.”

With that in mind, Sensory Store Canada has teamed up with some amazing businesses bringing products and services to you that are high quality and relevant to you and your child with special needs. Whether your child has Autism, Aspergers, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, Tourettes or another related diagnosis, our new partners have what you need. And we’ll be adding new partners all the time!

You’ll see some of the products you’ve grown to love and some new ones I think you’ll find equally awesome. These product and service partners have been chosen with care so that you will continue to receive the high quality you’ve come to expect from Sensory Store Canada.

How It Works

On the right hand menu you will find all of the products and services that are being carried by our partners. Simply click on the product or service you’re interested in and you will be taken to our partner’s site to make your purchase.
Instead of having to search the internet high and low for the unique products you need for your child YOU CAN NOW COME TO ONE PLACE TO FIND IT ALL!! Consider Sensory Store Canada your trusted advisor when it comes to supporting you on your journey raising a child with special needs.

Our Partners

Soft Clothing

Soft started by listening to mom and dad. They took what they said to heart and created clothing and a community based on their needs. They continue to listen and create. Soft eliminates the frustration between parent and child by making dressing about fashion and fun, instead of a fight.

Soft is the first brand to address the sensory clothing needs of more than 25% of American children. This population is growing 15% annually.

Some kids need Soft. All kids love Soft.

Stress Free Kids

Stress Free Kids® founder Lori Lite has created a line of books and CDs designed to help children, teens, and adults decrease stress, anxiety, and anger. As a parent, Lori spent two hours every single night trying to settle her young son down to sleep. Her daughter developed stress related night terrors and Lori herself became sick from anxiety. In an effort to help her family she created a story for her children that would entertain them while introducing them to research-based relaxation techniques. That moment began a journey that now includes many books, CDs, and 2 curriculums. Ms. Lite’s books, CDs, and curriculums are considered a resource for parents, psychologists, therapists, child life specialists, teachers, and yoga instructors. Her Indigo Dreams™ audio book/CD series has been awarded the CNE Award of Excellence.

Model Me Kids

Sue Klein founded Model Me Kids® with a mission to produce high quality teaching tools for children with Autism, Asperger Syndrome, PDD-NOS, and Nonverbal Learning Disorder. Prior to founding Model Me Kids, she worked as an ABA Therapist trained by CSAAC (Community Services for Autistic Adults & Children). Sue received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Model Me Kids, LLC is dedicated to producing high quality teaching tools for children with Autism, Asperger Syndrome, PDD-NOS, and Nonverbal Learning Disorder. We strive to make our products affordable so that they are accessible to both families and educators.

Today I Ate A Rainbow

Kia Robertson created the Today I Ate A Rainbow!™ chart to keep track of the produce that her daughter was eating as she found that sometimes when life got really busy she didn’t always live up to her expectations of ensuring she was eating her fruits and veggies! She also wanted her daughter to participate and take responsibility for her food choices in a fun and interactive way.
She knew that if she ate produce from all the main colour groups every day, she would be getting a good variety of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. This chart was such a huge help to her with very successful results, she decided to make it available to other parents!
Today I Ate A Rainbow is a great tool for teaching kids with special needs about healthy eating, dealing with picky eating and transitioning to special diets.

Apples to Oranges Dietary Coaching for Kids with Special Needs

Yes! That’s me! Apples to Oranges is the other part of my services and it’s how I got my start serving the special needs community.
When we first realized that our son Jacob was autistic we were overwhelmed. And despite my many years working with children and adults with autism, my husband and I weren’t sure where to begin.
So, we started researching…many, many hours of bewildering research. I’m sure you’re familiar with this process!
There is just so much information out there to wade through. And the biggest challenge is to figure out what therapies for autism seem to make the most sense to you and then jump in with both feet and hope for the best.
The GFCF diet was the first therapy we decided to try. There were literally thousands of anecdotal reports from other parents that they had seen such positive results after starting their autistic child on this diet.
Now, 4 years later we continue to reap the rewards of our hard work in implementing this diet for our child.
The results we’ve seen have inspired me to start this business and share my experience and expertise with you.
Apples to Oranges Consulting offers an absolutely FREE 8 Week Home Study Program to help you transition your child to a GFCF diet including videos, grocery lists, progress charts, meal plans and so much more ABSOLUTELY FREE! All we ask in return is that you consider buying the Apples to Oranges Family Friendly GFCF eCookbook! >

Knot Genie

The Knot Genie™ and Teeny Genie™ Detangling Brushes were created for every mom that has endured the foot stomping and screaming matches that come with brushing their child’s hair. With the Knot Genie, even the curliest, most knotted up hair practically slips through the unique bristle configuration – gently and painlessly. Try the Knot Genie on your kids (or on yourself) – you’ll be amazed by the ease of brushing, as well as how it virtually stops breakage and split ends. You’ve wished for hair brushing standoffs to end. Wish granted.

Disclaimer

The content of this site is for information purposes only. Sensory Store Canada does its best to provide accurate information but we are not responsible for changes or errors in product descriptions or pricing. Sensory Store Canada does not make any warranty, express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed.