Gimme 5

"Gimme 5" is a series of workshops for parents/carers during which we share information and offer strategies that help children with difficulties in self-regulation.

What are self-regulation difficulties?

Not all children who struggle with self regulation will have the same difficulties but will often have combinations of the following features:

• Struggling to get and stay focussed upon a task.
• Finding it hard to stay seated when expected to.
• Daydreaming.
• Too active to get off to sleep.
• "On the move", fiddling & fidgeting.
• Chewing objects e.g cuffs, pencils
• Difficulty focusing with background noise, e.g. music, chatter and/or enjoy making noise for noise sake.
• Sensitivity to certain stimuli e.g loud noises, bright lights, certain textures or movements
• Either very high or very low levels of activity (or both) that tend to get in the way of doing a task.
• Difficulty getting going and constantly drifting off and disengaging from tasks.

Although some of these may seem contradictory they actually all represent the same difficulty (self-regulation) but at different ends of the spectrum.

Parent Workshop details:

5 x 2 hour workshops for parents of children with sensory-regulation difficulties.  Gimme 5 is run twice a year; in spring and autumn.

Additionally we will offer one session for teachers. The programme works best when parents and teachers share a common understanding and knowledge.

What can you expect from the Workshop?

We will explain some of the reasons why your child struggles to self-regulate.

We will explain the theories underlying the "Gimme 5" programme.

We will help you to understand your own strategies for self-regulation

We will work with you to apply this understanding to your child and develop practical strategies that can be used at home and in the classroom.

We will ask you to:

Become "detective" with us in trying to understand the subtle cues for your child so that together we can develop strategies to help.

Be prepared to experiment with some new strategies for home and school.

If at all possible commit yourself for the whole programme as each session builds on the previous one.

Be prepared to share your experiences and observations within the group.

If you have any questions regarding the Workshop please contact Sarah Bryan or Marion Cavan, Occupational Therapists (Attentional Problems Team) at Lime Trees.

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