Owami an energetic soul
Owami calms down immediately, put his beloved thumb in his mouth and falls into a deep sleep.
Owami, an energetic boy from Little Eden, continues to make progress.
His admission in 2010 is one to remember. He was the centre of attention and his fame grew at the home when he started crawling and achieving other developmental milestones.
There was a time when Owami fell ill and was admitted to hospital for weeks.
This unfortunately took a toll on his progress. However, he was soon up and running and playing with his favourite swing at the home. He is now seven years old and facing another challenge in his life.
Like many children at Little Eden, Owami has sensory modulation disorder, a term used to describe a nervous system that over-responds, under-responds or fluctuates in response to sensory input in a way that is not proportional to that input.
His sensory system is so hyperactive that sometimes he gets worked up due to a loud noise or emotion, and his body is just unable to settle down again. He may try to use the swing to calm down, which sometimes will only succeed in winding him up even more, and he is unable to free himself from this state.
This disorder commonly affects adults and children with developmental disorders, autism and ADHD, but will present in different ways in each person, depending on their sensitivities. Little Eden’s physiotherapists decided to try deep pressure therapy after noticing his behaviour.
This form of therapy is applied by means of deep pressure on his body, which has a calming effect on him and allows his nervous system to settle. The physiotherapist describes the feeling the therapy gives as a warm bed in winter or a big fluffy hug.
There are various ways in which pressure can be applied onto a child’s body. With Owami, the therapists use a weighted blanket and manual therapy using their hands. Once he is taken to a quiet place and put on the ground with a weighted blanket over him, Owami calms down immediately, puts his beloved thumb in his mouth and falls into a deep sleep. When he wakes, he is generally calm and smiling.
Helping him to settle his nervous system is another way to make it possible for him to experience his environment positively and develop further.
