Sensory Issues?

One of the big things with Julia walking, that both Deb at Health South and Vida at EI recommend, is having her walk on different and perhaps uneven surfaces.

Today, with it being so nice outside, I decided to take her out to walk around on the pavement, on the rocky path leading out to the backyard, and on the grass itself.

She did pretty well all in all. The only thing that was of note was that everytime she would lose her balance and fall, she refused to touch the ground and use it as a means to push herself back up. She touched the ground and immediately began brushing at her hands in disgust. She did this a number of times, basically everytime she would lose her balance and fall.

She would sit there and cry until I helped her get back into a standing position.

I have mentioned before here that she only seems to like softer foods. She will eat a very limited amount of solid foods (as in things that actually need to be chewed).

So, I am wondering if things that are rough or hard in texture bother her?

Sensory Integration seems to be a bit extreme but maybe she has a low sensory threshold?

Basically, I am just going to increase her contact with these types of things...encourage more eating of rougher type foods...and walking/falling outside. Basically, this is about all an OT would do anyway.

I am also wondering about her motor planning. She still at times will sit and look at a toy she wants that is across the room and appear to "forget" that she can actually crawl or walk over to it. She will sit there and have a fit until she either moves on to something else or someone gets it for her. This was a slight concern when she had her OT eval through EI. It seems like it might have gotten a little bit better but, I am not sure.

I really think that part of Julia's "problem" is confidence. It's almost like she doesn't realize that she can do all of these things which is why I think encouragement and exposure will work wonders with her.