61. Sensory Diets 101 with Jessica and Rachel from All Things Sensory

Written By Brittyn Coleman, MS, RDN/LD

In this episode of the Nourishing Autism Podcast, Brittyn is joined by Rachel Harrington and Jessica Hill, certified occupational therapy assistants (COTAs) at Harkla and hosts of the All Things Sensory Podcast.

They discuss the concept of sensory diets, which are not related to food but rather consist of various sensory activities designed to help children stay regulated. Listen in to hear how these activities can be integrated into daily routines (with specific examples), the importance of proactive sensory strategies, and their impact on mealtime behaviors. Rachel and Jessica emphasize the need for personalized approaches and provide truly practical tips for parents.

Resources for further learning are available on the Harkla website: https://harkla.co/

You can find their podcast, All Things Sensory by Harkla on:

Follow Rachel and Jessica on Instagram:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HarklaFamily/videos

Webinars: https://harkla.co/pages/webinars

Freebies: https://harkla.co/pages/youtube-freebies?_ab=0&key=1707332938766

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TRANSCRIPT

Hi, I'm Brittyn, a Registered Dietitian and autism sibling. I have a passion for helping parents of neurodivergent kids navigate nutrition and wellness for their child, one small step at a time. Here we'll explore practical nutrition tips, learn from top autism experts, break down the newest research, and share inspirational stories that will empower you to utilize nutrition to help your child feel their best and thrive.

Listen in while picking kids up from school, sitting in a therapy waiting room, taking a quick walk or wherever you find yourself, looking for some inspiration and a friend to guide you along this journey. This is Nourishing Autism.

Brittyn: Oh boy. I am so excited for today's podcast. And if you don't already follow my guests for today, the hosts of the All Things Sensory Podcast, it is a goldmine, my friends, you need to go listen to it.

Jessica and Rachel from All Things Sensory joined me for today's episode and had me on their podcast a few months back. They're just such a fantastic and fun duo and a wealth of information. Rachel Harrington and Jessica Hill are Harkla's in house certified occupational therapy assistants, COTAs, and Certified Primitive Reflex Clinical Specialists.

They have been working with children for over nine years in outpatient settings and they specialize in creating easy to digest, actionable content that families can use to help their child's progress at home. Rachel and Jessica are the in house experts, content creators, and podcast hosts at Harkla. To learn more about them, visit the Harkla About Us page [00:02:00] and make sure to listen to their weekly podcast, All Things Sensory by Harkla, for actionable, fun advice on child development.

Now today we are talking about sensory diets, which actually aren't a diet at all. People come to me all the time asking about a sensory diet and want me to tell them the foods to include to have a sensory diet. Now, the answer that I have is, well, a sensory diet isn't actually about food. However, it can actually lead to your child eating more foods and help them expand their diet.

So I'm really excited to talk about this today. And I can't wait to welcome in both Jessica and Rachel to the Nourishing Autism Podcast.

Hi everyone. Welcome back to the Nourishing Autism Podcast. I am so excited to have Jessica and Rachel here, talking to us about sensory diets today. Thank you both for being here. I'm so excited. Yeah, thanks for having us. Of course. Well, tell us who you are, what you do and who you support.

Rachel: Oh my gosh. Okay. I'm Rachel. I'm a Certified [00:03:00] Occupational Therapy Assistant, also a Certified Primitive Reflex Clinical Specialist. I am a mom of two. I have a three year old and a 20 month old. I am obsessed with the sensory system, obsessed with primitive reflexes, and just love sharing about it, talking about it, and just Yeah, just nerding out over all of these topics.

Jessica: I'm Jessica. I have the same credentials as Rachel. I am a mother of a 10 year old boy. We're in Boise, Idaho. Rachel and I both work for Harkla, which is a local company. We also have a podcast, which we can share later. And then I also work two days a week in a pediatric outpatient clinic working with clients.

And yeah, I think that's it. I think that's it in a nutshell.

Brittyn: Yeah, that's great. And I got to be a guest on your podcast [00:04:00] called All Things Sensory. And that went out a few months ago, so I'll definitely have to link that and link your podcast in the notes as well.

Rachel: That was a great episode. Yes.

Brittyn: Yeah, I loved it.

I was like, I can't stop talking. I know it's a talk about. Oh, but I have been following you guys for a really long time by the time that we connected to do a podcast episode. And as I was going back through my emails, I realized that I had so much information about a sensory diet. It was either a webinar or like some kind of a summit that you all did.

And a sensory diet is something that a lot of people come to me asking me for information on sensory diets and I have to let them know that a sensory diet is actually not a diet and it's not something that a dietitian typically actually prescribes, it's an OT typically. And so I want to talk about that and I would love for you all to explain what a sensory diet is and who could benefit from [00:05:00] one.

Jessica: Okay, I'll explain. We're going to talk at the same time. So a sensory diet or sensory diet routine is essentially the different sensory activities or strategies that you use throughout the day to stay regulated. And it's going to be different for everyone, but for example, right now, Rachel's using her sensory diet with a fidget in her hand and chewing gum.

I also have fidget, I have like bracelets and rings that I fidget with. Those are kind of part of my sensory diet to help us focus with what we're doing right now. For children, sensory diets include a lot of movement because children learn through play and movement. So anytime we create a sensory diet routine for a child, it needs to include movement and play.

It needs to be fun. Yep. We like to focus on the proactive activities. So helping a child meet their sensory needs throughout the day, instead of just responding reactively when they [00:06:00] do have a sensory meltdown, so, you know, we wake up in the morning and for me, I like to put a couple of drops of essential oils in the shower just to wake up my olfactory system, you know, and we like to incorporate movement and jumping and crashing into that morning routine as well.

They get home from school. And we are incorporating quiet corners, we're incorporating outdoor time, chewy and crunchy snacks, and you know, before bed we do the same thing, so we're, you know, consistently implementing this diet, quote unquote, and it's just a series of those activities that help the nervous system stay regulated.

Brittyn: That's great. And I like that you say sensory diet routine, because it is a sensory routine that you're going through. It's not just something, I mean, how you perfectly outlined it, it's not reactive, it's proactive. So, making sure that kids stay regulated or at least giving them some of the tools to stay regulated so that we don't get into this, heightened sensory state where [00:07:00] we're trying to retroactively bring them back down.

Which happens, of course, no matter if someone follows a sensory diet. I'm sure there are, you know, many times where that happens. Setting parents and kids up with the tools to help prevent that.

Jessica: Well, and once you have your sensory diet routine in place, you can actually use those same strategies and tools when your child is dysregulated.

So, you know, like you mentioned, nobody's going to be regulated 100 percent of the time. So you're doing your sensory diet routine with your child. And they do go into a moment of dysregulation because something happens. You now have the tools and strategies to use reactively in the moment to help their nervous system come back down.

Yeah, so, I'm sure parents have in the back of their mind what their child looks like when they say, okay, they're dysregulated. But what are some of those typical signs of [00:08:00] dysregulation that you will see for kids?

Rachel: Yeah, generally it can be anything from bouncing off the walls to crying to eloping to refusing to participate in activities.

 We just feel like they're in fight or flight or even freeze if they completely shut down. Yep, so really they are just unable to participate in those daily activities.

Brittyn: That's great. Okay. You know, and I often see, too, that when they come into mealtime, if they're already dysregulated or overstimulated, that mealtime does not go well.

And usually that doesn't involve being able to, like, actually introduce new foods because they're already in this state of dysregulation. And so I can see how a sensory diet could really pull into their actual diet and how that could benefit. I mean, what have you seen like the connection between the two?

Jessica: Absolutely, you know our higher level cognitive [00:09:00] abilities are not going to be able to work efficiently for us if our body is dysregulated in fight or flight if we're nervous if we're anxious if we're bouncing off the walls so for a child who struggles with meal time because they you know, have a limited food report,

they only eat a couple of foods already, so mealtime is a struggle. You want to make that before mealtime fun and engaging to help set them up for success to help their nervous system feel calm and regulated so that when they do come to the table, they're not already in fight or flight. They come to the table, they feel good and they're ready to maybe try something new or just eat something that they're familiar with already.

Rachel: Yeah, we love to incorporate like before mealtime sensory diets that are specific to getting them to the table in a well regulated state. So things like blowing whistles, doing bubble mountain, blowing a cotton ball on the floor with the maze. So we're doing some oral activities without really eating anything, or we could do [00:10:00] sensory bins or messy play.

But then we also don't want to forget about those big body movements as well. So when we're done, we can transition to the table and we can bear crawl, and we can crawl, or we can jump or walk backwards. Or hum while we're doing all of the above. So really stimulating the senses and getting them warmed up.

It's kind of like a, it's kind of like a warmup activity before meals. And I know it can be difficult when you're like in the thick of it and you're trying to cook dinner and you're there's, you know, hustle and bustle. At least that's how it is in my house. So I have to be really proactive about, what's easy to incorporate?

What's easy to set up? And is it just, you know, throw some water and soap in a bowl and have them blow bubbles? Is it, you know, throw some painter's tape on the floor and give them some pom poms and have them blow those around? So, really keeping it simple, so we're not feeling like we have to set up these, like, big, elaborate activities, Pinterest perfect activities for our kids.

Just, simplicity is the highest form of elegance.

Jessica: I do think, too, if your [00:11:00] weekends are more open schedule wise, that would be a great time to start trying some of these activities with your child before a meal. So, if you have a couple of hours in the morning and you're kind of having a slow day, you can do some of these sensory activities and set up a sensory circuit with jumping and crashing, bubble mountain, some of the different ones that Rachel mentioned, and do that before breakfast and see how it goes.

And then maybe you do it again before lunch. Maybe you do it again before dinner. And you're doing it on the weekend because maybe you're not rushed like you are during the week. So it's a good time to just try some new things.

Brittyn: I have to know what is Bubble Mountain?

Rachel: Oh, absolutely! Okay, Bubble Mountain is absolutely amazing.

All you do is grab a big bowl or grab a bowl, put some water in it, like halfway, a little bit more maybe, squirt some dish soap in it. You want to do the [00:12:00] dish soap after you put the water in. Yes. So water first. Yes. The order of operations is key here. See, we get nerdy about this stuff. You got to share about it.

Brittyn: Like that sounds so fun. I want to do bubble mountain.

Jessica: Oh, you're going to love it.

Rachel: So you put soap in the water and then you grab a straw and you start blowing bubbles and the mountain grows. And so you're working on deep breathing. You're working on your oral structures.

Jessica: Ideally, you're sitting or laying on the floor.

So you're also getting some really good grounding proprioceptive input by being on the floor. You could do it sitting at the table too, but I like to do it on the floor.

Brittyn: Yeah, that's great. And wow, I would have never thought of that. It's so simple and easy, which I think what you were saying is these are simple activities that we can do either that take two

seconds and cheap tools to put together, or it's something that also can be done in transition, so it's like we're already walking to sit down at the table, why not walk backwards, why not bear crawl, these are small, simple things [00:13:00] that we can do.

So I think you're right, sometimes it's easy when it comes to these things to think that we have to be Pinterest perfect and a lot of parents come to me also looking at the diet and thinking that

we're creating this whole perfect sensory experience, perfectly concocted, you know, making pancakes look like bears and fun things, like, no, no, no, like, we are coming here

perfectly imperfect and small changes and small things that we can be sustainable with are going to be more successful.

 So I love that you're saying that as well.

Jessica: And actually, I do think that Bubble Mountain is one that every single child I've worked with, my child love and I've never met a kid who didn't like bubble mountain because visually it's fun, but it's also so regulating to the nervous system because of the deeper breathing that it requires.

 So that could be a really simple one for someone to try today or tomorrow and incorporate. [00:14:00]

Brittyn: Yeah, well you're giving really tangible ideas of what you could actually do, but I mean, who is involved in actually creating a sensory diet that would be unique to that child? Cause I'm sure parents like, Ooh, I want to go try, you know, it sounds like Bubble Mountain could benefit anybody because you're getting into that deep breathing.

But I'm sure that there are activities that are going to really benefit certain children and maybe other activities that maybe don't or might not be as successful. So who's involved in putting that together and what does that actually look like?

Rachel: Yeah, usually an OT or a COTA will put together a sensory diet for a child.

That's the perfect world, you know, but we do realize that a lot of kids don't have access to services or they haven't been evaluated yet. So it's definitely challenging to wait to implement anything. We talk a lot about the order of operations, like if we spin the child in a swing, we don't want to just send them on their way to school,

we have to make sure that we're following that input with heavy work and [00:15:00] proprioception. We want that compression to the joints and muscles and tendons to help organize the nervous system again, because that vestibular input is so alerting. And so if we're just throwing a bunch of activities at these kids without really understanding how they work on the brain, it could potentially backfire.

I don't want to scare anyone away from implementing these strategies, but it's definitely helpful to have that background knowledge of, okay, if I do this, then I should do this, and then I should do that. So, first thing is to work with a therapist who can, give your child a standardized assessment on their sensory system, and then they can implement that with you.

If you can't access a therapist, you can take, you know, a free sensory checklist to kind of get an idea of their sensory needs, and then start implementing some activities. We have a course available that teaches people how to do this. We've got free webinars that kind of give the basics as well.

Our podcast too. So, I just say learn as much as you [00:16:00] can about it before you just start throwing all of these activities to them. But things like Bubble Mountain, I mean, it's not gonna harm 'em at all.

Jessica: Yeah. I was gonna say, there are some sensory activities that generally are good to do with a child who's sensory seeking or sensory avoiding or under responsive, things like Bubble

Mountain, jumping and crashing is a great one for kids, no matter what their sensory needs are. If you have a bean bag or couch cushions, you can have them just jump and crash onto that, and it's going to be a great simple sensory activity.

Brittyn: Yeah, that's great. And I mean, you have a really great point.

Some kids are going to naturally be understimulated and some kids are going to naturally be overstimulated. And so there's no one size fits all here.

And I hear you on saying it's important to understand the order of operations between all of this, because I know a lot of parents will install a sensory swing, which is really amazing for some kids.

But then, what you're saying is also following it up with that deep [00:17:00] pressure, heavy pushing, too, for some kids, so they don't end up more overstimulated? Okay. Okay. That makes a lot of sense.

Rachel: The proprioceptive system is the all grounding, all regulated sense, so remember we say when in doubt, probe it out, so it's like you don't know what to do, give them some proprioception, some of that heavy work, and that will benefit them.

Brittyn: Okay, and when you say heavy work, you're meaning like pushing heavy objects with like deep pressure?

Rachel: Deep pressure is good too, yeah.

Jessica: Yeah, anything that works the muscles or like deep touch pressure, like massage or crawling under a beanbag, steam roller is one that we really love. So your child will lay on their stomach on the floor and you'll take a large therapy or exercise ball or maybe a couch cushion and you'll roll it over them and provide them some deep pressure and they can kind of tell you or communicate to you somehow if they want more or less, that can be a really great one.[00:18:00]

Brittyn: That's amazing. So, I mean, it's sounding to me that everyone could benefit from a sensory diet.

Rachel: Yeah. Because everyone has a sensory system. Everyone is a sensory being. We all naturally do sensory diets during the day. We just probably don't know that that's what we're doing, so we don't realize it.

So, you work out, you go for a walk, you drink your hot coffee, you drink a smoothie through a straw. Literally everything that we do during the day is a sensory activity.

Brittyn: Oh, that's so true. Well, now I, yeah, I'm like, what do I do? What? I'm like, because yeah, I don't know. I'm sure there are regulating activities that I do, but I'm not thinking about it.

And I'm also thinking of, you know, children too. They're so intuitive oftentimes and know that they need some kind of input, whether that's deep pressure or whatever it might be, but

sometimes not [00:19:00] knowing the exact tools to help get them there, and so I'm wondering, too, as parents implement these sensory diets, I'm sure that it's giving kids the ability to recognize, oh,

when I'm over stimulated, or when I'm feeling X, Y, Z,

doing X, Y, Z is something that helps me feel better, so I could imagine that it's also not only something that you're guiding your

child through, but I'm sure it's a learning experience for the child to be able to do that for themselves later in life as well.

Jessica: And that is the ultimate goal. You know, yeah, someday our children are going to be off in the world and we want them to have the ability to advocate for themselves as much as possible in any way they can, even if we are still there with them.

We still want to give them as much independence as possible. And so teaching them how their body feels in certain moments and teaching them strategies they can use to help their [00:20:00] bodies feel good. And we want to do it in as positive of a way as possible, right? So we like to use verbiage of expected and unexpected.

So taking away good and bad. And instead saying, what would be something unexpected at the dinner table? Well, jumping up and running away is pretty unexpected at mealtime. What's something that's more expected? Asking for help, using a strategy before I sit at the table. Those are more expected things.

And so then you can teach strategies like, okay, well, what could we do to help your body feel good at the table, so that you don't get up and run away at mealtime. What, you know, could we jump and crash? Do we do bubble mountain? Like, what are the things we can try to help your body feel ready to sit at the table?

So we take away any blame or shame, you know, that's why we don't use bad or good and we just use more simple language of we want our bodies to feel good so that we can enjoy [00:21:00] this time together.

Brittyn: I love that. And I love that it feels like therapists as a whole are moving away from the good and bad, especially when it comes to nutrition too.

Like, how are we labeling foods? And nothing's good or bad. There are certain things that are going to make us feel better, and certain things that are maybe not going to make us feel as good,

and maybe affect our focus, or our daily function, and so I really like that you're labeling it in that way.

I think it makes a huge difference in the way that we look at it as adults as well, and the way that we view it as parents, the way that we also pass that down to our children, I truly believe that that makes such a difference.

Jessica: It's such a difference. And just as parents, we need to remember that our children aren't trying to be bad, right?

You know, we say kids will do well if they can. And if they're not successfully sitting at the table, [00:22:00] there's a reason why. And can we dig deeper and find out that reason why and then help them to feel good in their body so they can successfully participate in these daily activities.

Brittyn: I love that you brought up sitting at the table as well because I think that's a goal for a lot of the clients or families that I work with and is a hard thing to do when kids benefit from a lot of movement and they're running around the table and we know that also sitting down at mealtime

reduces risk of choking, number one, but it also increases the odds that they're going to actually consume more of a nourishing meal and may be more likely to try new things as well. So do you notice that whenever you're doing a sensory diet, that kids are going to actually sit at the table

longer if that actually is the goal for a parent?

Rachel: Usually with consistency, with doing those before mealtime activities, after a while of implementing those, because with anything that's consistent, they learn, okay, this [00:23:00] is what's expected of me, so, I want to say generally we do see positive results from from adding those sensory activities before the mealtime.

Jessica: I think there are other things to think about too, if you can do those sensory activities with your child to build that connection and make it more fun, that's a great way to stay consistent with it versus expecting your child to do it on their own every single time.

But then, you know, there are different things you can implement at the meal table as well to make the meal table more engaging and fun to be sitting down together as well.

Brittyn: Yeah, that's a good point because I think a lot of kids avoid mealtime or they are really anxious about it and that could come down to like the extreme sensory experience that they're getting

at mealtime or if they're nervous about the foods that are going to be there or, I mean, even the language we use at mealtime, right, of drilling kids, why haven't you done your homework, why

haven't you done x, y, and z, which is the normal thing to happen, but also really not [00:24:00] looking forward to having to sit down and that experience too.

So, I think there's so much wrapped up in there not to like, throw our podcast into a different tangent, but, I think it's an important thing to also make a positive connection to mealtime. Yes, you know, doing these activities beforehand, but also thinking about the actual mealtime experience and how we can make that a

positive experience too will just make everything better and the way we view food better, instead of being so serious.

Rachel: If you go back to it, meals are for connection and socializing, you know, and if we just sit down, we just start talking about our days instead of talking about well this tastes really good,

you should try it or how come you haven't eaten all of your nuggets yet? If you just don't even bring any of that up, but you just focus on talking about other things or maybe you have a game that you play at dinner at dinnertime. Yeah. And you just totally take that focus off of talking about food and focusing on food and instead focus on spending it together as a family.

[00:25:00] Sometimes that can make a big difference.

Brittyn: Yeah, I think so too. And I actually had a member in my membership ask me, how can I keep mealtime from feeling like a feeding therapy? Yeah. And I was like, that's such a valid thought because I think when we're trying to get our kids to try new things, you think of, okay, mealtime is my time to sit down and work on all this food exploration.

 Yes, it's an opportunity, but it also doesn't mean that you have to hijack your mealtime and make the entire thing all about feeding because there is so much more. And that's a really surefire way to help you and your child not look forward to mealtime is that you both have to sit down and do some feeding therapy, at home feeding therapy.

So, I love what you're saying because creating that positive experience with mealtime and sometimes taking the focus off the food and reducing that pressure also helps kids naturally explore food and become more comfortable with food as well. So I think you're spot on.

Jessica: Yeah, [00:26:00] so true.

Brittyn: So tell us where we can access your resources, where we can find you guys, and where people could get connected to get support on sensory diets and more.

Jessica: All of our resources, courses, podcasts, everything is on our website, which is Harkla. co and then our podcast is on iTunes, Spotify. It's All Things Sensory Podcast by Harkla. What else?

Rachel: Instagram, you can find us @ harkla_family as well as @ allthingssensorypodcast, we love to hang out there.

And yeah, we just, you know, we want people to come hang out and ask questions and put their sensory goggles on.

Brittyn: Absolutely. Well, I love your podcast. I follow all of your accounts. So, definitely a great follow there and you give out so much great information. So I thank you for being here with me on my podcast and sharing more information about this.

And hopefully people come find you and listen to your podcast from this as well.

Jessica: [00:27:00] Hopefully it was helpful. Thank you.

Brittyn: It was for me. I learned a lot. I loved it.

Rachel: You had a lot of those aha moments. I could see you're like, Oh, you're going to have to go home now and see what your, what your sensory diet is.

Yeah.

Brittyn: Yeah. Gears were turning over here. Yep. Well, thank you both so much for being here. I really appreciate it. Of course. Thanks.

[00:28:00]

Transcribed by Descript

About Brittyn Coleman, MS, RDN/LD

Brittyn Coleman, MS, RDN/LD, is a distinguished Registered Dietitian and Autism Nutrition Expert, known for her innovative, sensory-friendly feeding approach to nutrition for children on the autism spectrum. As the founder of the Nourishing Autism Collective, and as an autism sibling herself, Brittyn brings both professional expertise and personal understanding to her work. She empowers families with her expert guidance, helping children receive essential nutrients for optimal health and development. Her strategies are tailored to the unique dietary needs and sensory preferences of each child.

Brittyn's influence extends beyond her membership site through her active social media presence and her popular podcast, 'Nourishing Autism'. Her educational content on Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms has established her as a leading voice in autism nutrition, providing valuable resources, practical advice, and a supportive community for parents and professionals. 

Brittyn Coleman, MS, RDN/LD https://www.autismdietitian.com
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