THE SENSORY MADE SIMPLE PODCAST

Transcript

Welcome back to Episode 13 of the Food Explorers Podcast.

As promised, we have JR back this week to give you a sneak peek into my Making Sense of Eating program.

For those of you who are newer to this community, the Making Sense of Eating program is my online self-paced five-hour program designed to help parents unpack their child sensory challenges and understand how they relate to mealtimes.

This program was previously called the Food Fears to Food Explorers course, but as of today, we have officially rebranded it as Making Sense of Eating.

So when I was creating the Making Sense of Eating course, I wanted to be 100% certain that what I was teaching to parents was easy to understand and engaging.

So I actually had JR watch every single lesson from start to finish and give me feedback on it.

And we made a lot of changes to make it even better for you.

Because he knows this program almost as much as I do, and because we have hypothesized ourselves that JR might have some undiagnosed sensory processing needs, I thought he was the perfect person to come on and shed some light on what you can expect in the Making Sense of Eating program.

Hi, JR.

Hey, friends.

So if you were going to tell someone about the Making Sense of Eating program, how would you describe it to them?

So I think the best way to think about it is it's an active program, an active learning program.

What I mean by that is like you're not just sitting at a computer and watching like a PowerPoint deck or someone like read slides to you.

It's very engaged and involved.

And that's kind of like the best part about it, in my opinion, is it really, it puts together sort of like the strategies that you need, the tips that you need.

It helps you sort of understand what's going on.

And then it gives you like actionable steps.

So at the end of each section or lesson, you know, you've learned something, you've understood something, you now have this new kind of like curiosity and approach to especially your kid at the table.

And then you actually have like a tangible step that you can do, right?

Like here's something you can do.

Here's a tip you can try to get a quick win.

Yeah.

And I love that this is divided into different modules, and each one is a specific sensory system.

So when it's divided into these things, you're actually learning specific strategies to support each sensory system.

Yeah, I actually had no idea that there were so many senses.

I know in school, you kind of always learn about like touch and smell and taste and, you know, sight and hearing things like that.

But, you know, there's some other senses that you don't know about that are also kind of critical to meal time.

For those of you who don't know, we actually have eight senses and every single one of them plays a huge part in your child's eating.

Fun fact, eating is one of the only things we do in life that requires all eight senses to work together.

There's actually an activity in the program that walks you through meal time through the perspective of someone struggling to eat.

And I think that's really eye opening.

So, JR.

I know you love this program.

I remember when you first watched it, you were really quiet for a couple of minutes, which was actually pretty nerve wracking after I spent so much time scripting and creating this entire program.

But then you turned to me and you were like, Wow, Sam, I love this.

This is so good.

But can you explain to our listeners why you had that response?

What left you with that feeling?

Well, I definitely wanted to keep you in suspense, but more so I just kind of like, there's a feeling I think people get when they learn something new and you kind of feel like a tingle.

And you want to share that information.

You get excited when you actually learn something and something you didn't know before.

To me, I always found that interesting.

And I took this program and I was just like, wow.

One, I see myself in a lot of this, right?

Like we did identify some of the sensory challenges that I have, you know, and I'm kind of a self-described picky eater.

So not only did this play into like my eating growing up, I could imagine, but also in just sort of everyday life.

But, you know, I really felt like this is something that like every parent who's struggling with, you know, feeding challenges should really try because it is so good.

And I was so impressed with the flow, the way that it's like interactive.

There's humor in it.

It's just like this well-rounded program.

So the analogy that I gave that like I really loved is it's like if you wanted to serve a cake, you know, this is like here's the ingredients.

Here's the recipe.

All you have to do is put in the oven.

And at the end of each module, you do have this sense that like I can do this.

Like it demystifies a lot of like the challenging aspects that you may see and the hardness of all of this.

And it gives you quick, easy tips to get those wins.

Yeah, I think the sensory system is something for parents that just feels really overwhelming.

You don't know where to look for information.

There's really not a lot about it online.

It doesn't break it down into ways you can understand.

And I really love this about the course.

Yeah, and it's another thing, too, because in order to fix something, you kind of have to understand what isn't working or what could be improved.

And so this, it's both educational in the sense that like, hey, there's a lot of miscommunication out there about the sensory system, about sensory needs.

It's often misdiagnosed and misinterpreted.

But this really gives you kind of like the clear, with examples, with analogies, very, very simple.

Like, here's what it is.

Here's how it can help.

Here's how it influences your kid at the table.

And it follows this very logical flow, even all the way up to like examples.

And then, like I said, some of those next steps.

So I want to go back a little bit.

You mentioned that through this course, you recognize some of your own personal sensory needs.

Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Yeah, definitely.

So I kind of related to a few of the analogies and the examples in the course where I tend to be a little bit more hyperactive.

I fidget a lot, especially like I'm sitting down or trying to focus on something.

My leg might bounce or I might be playing.

Even right now, I'm holding a squishy ball.

It just kind of helps me focus.

And I realized after taking the program that some of this was probably related to my vestibular or proprioceptive sense and that my body was actually craving certain inputs or maybe lacking in some areas.

So it would have been helpful to see, you know, had my parents taken this course at the time, there would have been certain strategies that would have helped me in the classroom and not being as distracted, but also would have helped me at the dinner table.

So which part of the program is your favorite?

What did you enjoy the most?

The thing I like the most about the program was the way that you provided these avatars, I'll call them, and they're basically examples or storylines of various types of children with certain sensory personas.

Yeah, so something a lot of people don't know is that sensory challenges are divided into different types and subtypes.

And in the program, I walk through different avatars for these types and subtypes that really helps you relate this information to your child.

Right, so for example, you're going through the journey of this child who is maybe hyperactive and running around and getting in trouble at the table.

And I laughed because I almost felt like you wrote that exactly for me.

I could picture me as a kid doing that.

I think you actually asked if I wrote that for you.

Yeah, and it was really funny.

But there was another child, if I recall, was very muted and sort of distracted.

There was another child who seemed overstimulated.

And there was just all these different storylines that you could follow.

So we follow these avatars along their journey through each different sense.

And what I really like about doing it through each different sense is that one of the most frustrating things for parents of sensational children is that they often don't seem to fit into just one type because it can be a combination.

For example, we can avoid touch input, but crave deep input like hugs.

We could be under responsive in another sense.

So it can be really difficult to distinguish between these.

And in the program, we look at each sense separately, so you can really start to form that whole picture of how your child's sensory system is functioning.

Yeah, and that's a really good point.

I think that is what leads to a lot of the confusion when we talk about senses or when parents hear sensory and think of their children is, you know, there isn't always one size fits all.

Kids fit into different sensory personas, and it may be different for smell versus taste.

It may be different for, you know, interoceptive versus proprioceptive and things like that.

So, you know, it's not it's not just one thing to say, like, my child is this type of sensory profile, but rather like my child is is diverse and unique and fits into many different types of profiles.

Okay, great.

From there, how do I adapt?

And this is really what it does.

Yeah, so there's so much great education in here for any parent raising a sensational child.

This program really, really breaks it down for you and helps you identify their own specific needs.

So let's talk about the program from an accountability standpoint, because I also designed this program to keep you accountable when you purchase so you can really maximize your learning.

So what I love about the program is that it keeps you accountable in that there's exercises, there's handouts, there's checklists, there's tips, there's activities at the end of each module.

And that really is designed so that not only do you learn the information, but then you can apply it and you can get those quick wins.

And if you get stuck or you tried a certain tip and it maybe didn't work for your child, there's actually a comment section in the program where you can reach out to Dr.

Sam in the comments.

She'll respond and give you maybe a new strategy to try or a new technique or a new idea that might help you along the way.

So you're not having to bake the cake without the ingredients in the step by step.

There's a lot of handholding that goes into this.

And that's so important because like we talked about, not every child is the same.

So certain tips are going to work better for some children.

Certain tips are going to work better for others.

But for you, the fact that you can engage with Dr.

Sam makes us really successful.

Yeah, I really don't want you to feel like you are alone in this process.

So you are able to ask a question 24-7 and I will get back to you as soon as I possibly can within the modules.

But there's also now weekly emails that are sent directly to your inbox to help you continue through the modules.

For any parent who is worried about the fact that this is a 13 module program, I know that can seem like a really big number.

But what's really awesome is that these modules are really bite sized.

Some of the modules are only 10 minutes, and I think the longest one is 38 minutes.

But most of them are much shorter.

This entire program is only about five hours.

So if you really wanted to, you could also sit down and watch it in a day or two.

It really depends on your schedule and your learning style.

Yeah, I would almost encourage that you spread it out, though, just because it allows you to take time to try one of these tips at the next meal time.

But the other thing is when you actually take this program, it's very repeatable from like module to module.

So you're not like thrown off in, hey, it followed this flow last time, and now it's in a totally different format this time.

No, it's you kind of expect like what's coming next, like, great.

OK, this is that sense that we're talking about.

This is how I identify sort of the cues or the red flags that I may be seeing.

Here's some of the examples and the stories that we're seeing with the different personas or avatars.

Here's some tips for each type of persona and avatar.

Here's kind of like the recap.

And then here's like the next step.

I do want to talk about community too.

When you're raising a sensational child, it can often feel lonely.

There's a lot of big feelings.

There can be a lot of big meltdowns, especially at the table.

And many parents feel ashamed.

A big goal of mine in this course was to help parents realize they are not so alone in what they are experiencing and that it's not something they need to be ashamed of.

It's really just finding the right fit and strategies to support their child.

Yeah, there's definitely no shaming at all in this course.

I mean, everybody is on a different stage of their food journey, and you really learn that some of these kids just can't control what's going on in their body.

And it's so important to have this understanding to be able to help.

Okay, so what do you want to leave listeners with before we go?

What is one last thing you want to tell them about the Making Sense of Eating program?

You can't solve the problem unless you can understand what's going on.

And really, when you take the time to go through this program and learn the tips and learn the strategies and learn the cues and learn the different sensory profiles and the avatars, when you actually take the time to go through this, like you will leave here feeling so empowered to be able to like solve this problem.

And it's like when I took the pause and I was like, wow, this is so good.

Like I was just absorbing all that I had learned watching this program, going through this program.

And I was like, every parent needs this.

I was so impressed at just the quality of this course.

Well, thank you.

And I have an extra special surprise for our listeners today.

Many of you might be really new to sensory processing and totally unsure of what it means or even if this applies to your child.

So I put together a really, really special podcast episode for you called Sensory 101 for Parents.

This is going to give you a really good understanding and starting point of what sensory processing is.

And it's kind of a little taste of what you would be getting in my program.

And when you listen, it comes with a really amazing download, one that you guys have been asking and asking me for, self-regulation strategies for the over and under stimulated child.

So keep an eye out for that.

It will be launching next Sunday, March 5th on the podcast.

JR thank you so much for joining me again.

This was fun.

Yep, smell you later.