Library Introduces Sensory Story Time

By Nancy K. Crevier

“Sensory processing is the normal neurological process of organizing sensations for our use in everyday life,” explains Carol Stock Kranowitz, MA, author of Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun. The brain utilizes the five senses of vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch to interpret messages in the surroundings and function within those surroundings, often unconsciously. The sensory systems also include the tactile sense, providing information about texture, shape, and size of objects; the vestibular sense, providing information about gravity and balance; and the proprioceptive sense, which provides information about where the body parts are and what they are doing, says the author.

Most children learn to interpret all of these signals through regular developmental stages, but for the child with sensory processing issues, or who is “out-of-sync,” those messages are dysfunctional, for what may be a variety of physical and neurological reasons.

The out-of-sync child may be over- or underresponsive to touch, movement, or sound; have unusually high or low activity level; be impulsive or easily distracted; have a poor sense of body awareness; have gross and fine motor skills that are not developmentally strong; and/or have poor coordination. The child who cannot process senses accurately may have trouble judging distances between him/herself and others; have a poor sense of rhythm or timing; have problems chewing or speaking; tires easily; may be easily frustrated; and avoids new experiences.

“All children exhibit some or all of these symptoms, at some point,” said C.H. Booth children’s librarian Alana Bennison, “but with out-of-sync children, it is different. It is not something they will ‘outgrow.’”

The Mother Goose Story Time and other programs at the library have kept Ms Bennison in contact with young children for several years, during which she has observed the different developmental stages of the youngsters. “I’ve seen kids that I felt had ‘issues,’ and when a friend of mine went through an experience with one of her children having sensory processing problems, I became aware of this syndrome,” she said. When she attended a workshop on a “sensory story time,” she realized the problem was widespread.

“I knew that music and movement during story time is important. We always do this in our traditional story time, but the traditional approach doesn’t even work with really young kids all of the time. Two-year-olds can have a very difficult time sitting still for a whole story, so dancing and music is important. With a child with processing issues, a traditional story time is even more difficult,” Ms Bennison said.

Believing, however, that more practice using all of the senses was vital to the progress of children who are out-of-sync, Ms Bennison brought up the idea of a “sensory story time,” in addition to the traditional story time, at a library board meeting in the spring.

“It wasn’t something I could afford. We needed someone trained to lead the story time, and we needed special toys and music, and equipment to stimulate the senses,” she said. Board member John Godin, who works for GE Capital, suggested that she write up a proposal and submit it to GE Capital.

In May, Ms Bennison was pleased to receive notification from GE Capital Real Estate that she had been awarded $5,200 to fund a story time to accommodate children with sensory processing issues. The money will allow the library to offer four, six-week sessions.

The funding has allowed her to purchase special “cube” chairs that offer support and comfort to the out-of-sync child; a floor balance beam that incorporates texture into the design; toys that stimulate the tactile sense; games that help the out-of-sync child gain spatial confidence; music and simple musical instruments to assist in attaining a better sense of rhythm and movement; and other items to engage and encourage the child overly- or underlie-sensitive to the surroundings.

“I have also been able to hire a leader,” announced Ms Bennison.

Beginning Saturday, September 18, the C.H. Booth Library will offer an additional story time “designed to engage all of the senses through music, movement, art, reading, and a variety of play activities,” said Ms Bennison. Jessica Horvath, MS, CF-SLP, who has worked in the library’s children’s department since 2000, will lead the program. Ms Horvath received her master’s degree in speech and language pathology in 2009, and has experience working with children with sensory processing issues, including those on the autism spectrum.

The Sensory Story Time is open to children ages 3 to 6, who are Newtown residents, and will meet for six weeks per session. Participation will be through lottery, and the program is open to all children, stressed Ms Bennison, not just those with developmental issues. All registrants will be asked to complete a questionnaire about the child’s sensitivities, so that the program can be tailored to suit the needs of most in a particular session.

Story reading is an important aspect of the program, but part of each session will be devoted to an activity using different types of media, and the singing of traditional participation songs modified for the out-of-sync child, who may not be able to tolerate a particular volume or song length. “We do want it to be as much of a regular library experience as it can be. It is like a traditional story time in many ways, but we need a bigger space for more movement, and a little more time, and there may be less reading time. We won’t be engaging just one sense at a time, so kids with a problem with one sense will be able to latch onto another,” explained Ms Bennison.

The Sensory Story Time will fill a gap that she believes is missing for children with developmental issues. “Kids are done with the state-run ‘Birth To Three’ program, and then there is often nothing for these kids until they start school. The 3 to 6 age seemed important to me. The earlier you address these issues, the better. I’m not a therapist, but I’m a firm believer that you can change things when difficulties are addressed early on,” Ms Bennison said.

Registration for the fall session begins August 26 and ends September 8. Class size is limited to ten children, Newtown/Sandy Hook residents only, who must be accompanied by an adult. Classes will meet for six consecutive Saturday mornings, at 10:30 am.

Registration forms and questionnaires are available at the children’s circulation desk from August 26 to September 8.

For more information contact C.H. Booth children’s librarian Alana Bennison at 203-426-3851.