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The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder (The Out-of-Sync Child Series) Paperback – April 4, 2006
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length384 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTarcherPerigee
- Publication dateApril 4, 2006
- Dimensions5.16 x 1.02 x 8 inches
- ISBN-100399531653
- ISBN-13978-0399531651
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"The Out-of-Sync Child has become the parents' bible to [Sensory Processing Disorder]."
--The New York Times
“This book is great! It is a real contribution to the parents of the many children who are so hard to understand. It will let parents off the hook of blaming themselves… and will help them get on to the job of addressing the child’s underlying difficulties.”
--T. Berry Brazelton, MD, founder, Brazelton Foundation, Children’s Hospital, Boston
“Warm and wise, this book will bring both hope and practical help to parents who wonder why their kid doesn’t ‘fit in.’”
--Jane M. Healy, learning specialist and author of Your Child’s Growing Mind
“The Out-of-Sync Child does a masterful job of describing the different ways children react to sensations and integrate their responses to their world. The book provides detailed, practical information that will help parents understand how the nervous system works.”
--Stanley I. Greenspan, MD child psychiatrist and author (with Serena Wieder) of The Child with Special Needs
“Comprehensive yet easy to understand… helpful tools for parents to promote healthy integration.”
--The Exceptional Parent
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : TarcherPerigee; Revised edition (April 4, 2006)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 384 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0399531653
- ISBN-13 : 978-0399531651
- Item Weight : 11.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.16 x 1.02 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #388,960 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #142 in Family Practice Medicine
- #782 in Popular Child Psychology
- #3,199 in Sociology Reference
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

When she was a preschool teacher, Carol Stock Kranowitz was curious about why certain young children responded in unusual ways to sensations that did not bother most kids. She learned about sensory integration and processing and wrote the first edition of "The Out-of-Sync Child" in 1998 to help parents and teachers understand and support kids who may be over-sensitive, under-sensitive, confused, poorly coordinated, and/or challenged in other mystifying ways.
In April 2022, the third edition of "The Out-of-Sync Child" was published with a revised subtitle: "Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Differences." The word "Differences" replaces "Disorder," to be more inclusive and appreciative of the diverse ways individuals manage and use ordinary sensory messages coming from their bodies and the environment to function smoothly in daily life. This new edition includes a chapter on "look-alike" disorders such as learning disabilities, ADHD, and autism, as well as expanded information on research and treatments, especially occupational therapy.
Other books in the "Out-of-Sync" series are "The Out-of-Sync Child Grows Up: Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder in the Adolescent and Young Adult Years" (Tarcher/Perigee 2016) and "The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun: Activities for Kids with SPD," 2nd edition (Perigee 2006). A children's book, "The Goodenoughs Get In Sync: 5 Family Members Overcome their Special Sensory Issues," revised, explains what being out-of-sync feels like (Sensory World, 2019).
Meanwhile, Carol and her colleague Joye Newman are co-authoring publications in their "In-Sync Child" series. These materials focus on fun and functional activities to benefit ALL children, with and without developmental differences. Titles are "Growing an In-Sync Child: Simple, Fun Activities to Help Every Child Develop, Learn, and Grow" (Perigee 2010); its sequel, "In-Sync Activity Cards/Book" (Sensory World 2015); and a 52-week calendar, "A Year of Mini-Moves for the In-Sync Child" (upbility.net in digital format 2021, and Sensory World in hard-copy format 2022). Carol and Joye also have produced a 10-part webinar series on their In-Sync Child Method. To learn more, visit www.insyncchild.com
Seven of Carol's materials have been translated into 18 languages: Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Dutch, Finnish, French, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish. To learn more, visit https://out-of-sync-child.com/translations/
Several books and materials have received awards from Mom's Choice, Creative Child magazine, and Learning magazine.
Carol is a graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University and earned an M.A. in Education and Human Development from the George Washington University. She lives in Maryland with her partner Mark and has two sons and daughters-in-law and five grandchildren. She writes a column in the quarterly magazine, "Autism Digest." She plays the cello, walks three miles a day, and answers every email.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ...
Out-of-Sync Child (Sensory Processing Differences, and activities for kids with SPD):
www.out-of-sync-child.com
www.facebook.com/CarolStockKranowitz/
In-Sync Child (fun and functional activities for ALL children, with or without SPD):
www.insyncchild.com
www.facebook.com/insyncchild
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book valuable for understanding sensory processing disorder, with one noting it's an excellent resource for confused and desperate parents and child educators. The book is practical and easy to read, helping customers feel relieved after reading. They appreciate how it differentiates SPD from other disorders, and one customer mentions it provides helpful coping strategies for both home and school settings.
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Customers find the book provides valuable information and great explanations, helping them understand sensory processing disorder, with one customer noting it's particularly helpful for confused and desperate parents and child educators.
"...He can feel some deep pressure impacts now. This book can help you, getting a good occupational therapist can help you, and I also did purchase her..." Read more
"...for with real life examples, it shows you how OT can help, it explains things in ways that a sleep deprived mother can understand and find solace in...." Read more
"...Everything is laid out very organized with examples comparing typical behavior and behavior influenced by sensory processing challenges...." Read more
"...This book is chock full of information about SPD, how to recognize it, how it differentiates from other disorders, methods of treatment and coping-..." Read more
Customers find the book practical and easy to read, with well-explained sections and clear explanations of SPD.
"...Everything is laid out very organized with examples comparing typical behavior and behavior influenced by sensory processing challenges...." Read more
"...It's a relatively easy read with a TON of practical and helpful information...." Read more
"...She recommended this book for us to gain a greater understanding of the disorder and what we could do about it...." Read more
"...The book is easy to understand but it is a lot to absorb when you realize how all the different senses can be affected...." Read more
Customers find the book comforting, with several mentioning feeling relieved after reading it. One customer notes how it provides helpful coping strategies, while another describes how it shows ways to provide support both at home and at school.
"...Comforting to know that this IS a real thing, comforting to know that I'm not some crazy mom that searching for a "label" to smack on their kid,..." Read more
"...to recognize it, how it differentiates from other disorders, methods of treatment and coping- not just for the child, but parents too...." Read more
"...'s descriptions, whereas most sections were spot on and described specific traits or habits that pertained to us, why they were happening, and how..." Read more
"...So helpful and informative, but also encouraging for those who are just beginning the journey of sensory disorders with their children...." Read more
Customers appreciate how the book helps differentiate SPD from other disorders and provides insight into this relatively unknown condition.
"...of information about SPD, how to recognize it, how it differentiates from other disorders, methods of treatment and coping- not just for the child,..." Read more
"...book did a great job of explaining the different types and the effects of SPD...." Read more
"...It has hypothetical case studies, contrasts with other disorders with similar symptoms, and questions for evaluation...." Read more
"Best book ever! This is a game changer for SPD, ASD, ADD parents and teachers!..." Read more
Customers find the book well worth its value.
"...It gives you ways to help your child, it gives you hope. It is worth every single penny...." Read more
"Great price" Read more
"...Also, though this book is reasonably priced, I would not recommed buying it if you are just wondering if this applies to you/a family member; take..." Read more
"As a clinical psychologist, I have found this book to be invaluable in learning how to screen for Sensory Integration/Processing Disorders, to make..." Read more
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2017I purchased this book a few years ago, shortly after my son was diagnosed with the second of his 5 diagnoses, Sensory Modulation Disorder (rated severe). Though I worked in healthcare, I was never clinical staff. I spent some time in management purgatory, but my favorite job was in clinical outcomes as a research analyst. So while I had some familiarity with a wide range of topics because of that, the healthcare organization I worked for dealt with mostly geriatric populations, so conditions specific to that group are the areas I was most familiar with. So, I knew enough to recognize generally what was going on with my son when all heck started breaking loose, and if there is any one thing I think I should get a gold star on it was pushing to get him evaluated early on, but I didn't have as many specifics as I felt like I needed to effectively deal with what was happening on the ground level as his mom and primary caregiver. So I started reading as much as I could, and this was one of the first resources I picked up.
Because things were jaw dropping. Walk by somebody smoking a cigarette? Gagging and sometimes vomiting. Foamy things touching him? The gagging and always vomiting if it wasn't removed within seconds. Strong smelling cleaners: vomiting until he couldn't smell them anymore. Certain food textures? Vomiting. Over-stuffing his mouth and choking because he couldn't feel how full it was. Clothes? Medieval torture devices based on how he reacted to them. People touching him or getting too close? Hysterics, and sometimes vomiting. Needed constant motion to sleep. Extremely hyper sensitive to sounds and visual stimuli. Hours of meltdowns a day. No reaction to deep pressure impacts, even of a serious nature. Certain things touching his skin, including water? Serious freak outs. 15 minutes or more of screaming with a small scratch. Trying to dive down the stairs...because hey, he couldn't feel what it was doing to his body when he hit the bottom. Sometimes, he'd just walk up to the floor lean on his knees, and then try to crack his forehead on the tile. Yah, that one caused me to get large plush throw pillows to cover the floor with until we could get this behavior resolved and transitioned to something more appropriate with therapy. Picking up my end tables or boxes of rice milk from Costco and throwing them. I could go on, believe me. And, if you are a parent trying to figure out of this book will help you understand what is going on with your kiddo, I'm sure you could go on too about your own struggles, because some of this may sound like your kid, but he/she may have their own challenges that are uniquely theirs. And if I were there where you are, I'd give you a hug and a shoulder, because I'm sure you need it right about now.
So, I think this book did a really great job of explaining the types of sensory processing disorders and some things to help with them, and you don't need a medical background at all to understand it the way she explains it. And I think this will give you some great ideas for how to explain things to the people around you, who most likely have decided that the problem is either you've messed up as a parent or that your child is just plain naughty, neither of which are true. So it can be great to have a good foundation for educating the people around you, because, as the author says in this book, “the inability to function smoothly is not because the child won't, but because he can't.”
I find that, for my son, as we've been going through the process of sensory integration therapy over the last few years, his sensory issues and needs are ever changing, so I think it is great to have this as a resource to refer back to when needed. Even though my son has gone on to be diagnosed with a few other things, what I can say is that his sensory stuff, though we are still fighting that battle, is so much improved it's a joy to see. He's only vomited once in the past year for a sensory related issue. Other people can now touch him. He's touching things he would never have considered touching before and enjoying it. He's usually sleeping about 7 hours throughout the night without any sort of motion. We can take him out into public without me needing to scrub either one of us down in the bathroom. He can feel some deep pressure impacts now. This book can help you, getting a good occupational therapist can help you, and I also did purchase her book “The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun” to peruse for extra ideas for things to do at home to help encourage sensory integration as well. And I personally recommend educating yourself as much and as extensively as you have time to be able to and to not be afraid to try something new or creative if you think it may help. For me, I feel like if I've just learned one thing from an article or a book that makes a difference in improving the quality of life for my son and his ability to interact with the world, then it was time well spent. And I definitely would rate this book as being time well spent.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2018I ordered three copies of this book after stumbling upon the audio version on my local library app, why you may ask, we will get to that later in the review.
If you have or THINK you might have a child that has Sensory Process Disorder issues, then this book is something you NEED to read. My daughter is 4 and goes to occupational therapy twice a week for SPD. I found everything in the book helpful and more so, it was comforting. Comforting to know that this IS a real thing, comforting to know that I'm not some crazy mom that searching for a "label" to smack on their kid, comforting to know that it isn't my parenting or something I'm doing wrong. This book (along with Peaceful Parent, Happy Kid which is awesome, by the way) has been a light in a first time mother's very stressful, very overwhelming, very emotional life. My daughter is hard, she is simply hard...hard to deal with, hard to approach, hard to get to listen, just hard. The smallest simplest things are battles, she was a hard newborn, a hard infant, a hard baby, a hard toddler and now a hard kid. Nothing, absolutely nothing is easy with her. It has been 4 years of battles, struggles, crying, no sleeping, noise issues, no brushing teeth, clothes issues, settling down issues, sitting still issues, eating issues, just trading one set of problems for a new set. And in this book, I saw, I wasn't alone, it isn't my parenting style, it isn't a phantom label, this is a real thing and kids and their parents struggle with it.
This book tells you the science behind SPD, it tells you what to look for with real life examples, it shows you how OT can help, it explains things in ways that a sleep deprived mother can understand and find solace in. It gives you ways to help your child, it gives you hope. It is worth every single penny.
Now you must still be wondering, well why did the obviously tired mother here, need THREE copies?
Well, one for my husband - who is pretty supportive, however, when our child is acting off the rails, he does agree she isn't "a normal kid", wasn't completely sold on SPD. He read this book at a snails pace, but I'll give him mad props, he DID read it...and he sees our child in the same light i saw her in after reading and listening to this book.
The second copy went to the MIL - cue the cricket noises, please...What i got from her after she blew through the book was...."what they describe could be ANY child" and she filled out the traits and didn't really see how her perfect little grandchild "fits" in the SPD category (AND I'm going to be petty enough to mention that this same MIL won't watch the child for more than one night because she is "exhausting"). So there was that, I think I deserve an award or at least a glass of wine for trying.
The third book is for me, it sits on my desk at work. Like I mentioned before it gave me comfort and reminds me ways to best approach my sensory seeker to make both our lives easier.
So there you have it. This book, although is amazing, it isn't a miracle worker and will not serve as an eye opening scientifically proven manual to those who don't believe in SPD as a "thing", but it DOES help anyone who is looking for advice, science, and answers to weather their child has Sensory Processing Disorder.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2022This is a super informative book that can add insight into children and adults that have challenges with sensory processing. Everything is laid out very organized with examples comparing typical behavior and behavior influenced by sensory processing challenges. This boom has not only helped me understand how my son is experiencing the world which manifest in behavior that my husband and I have had many questions about. I feel more equiped to speak and understand the professionals working with my family, speech and occupational therapy for my son. So if I could give this book more stars I would say 10 out of 10!
Top reviews from other countries
Amazon CustomerReviewed in Canada on October 28, 20235.0 out of 5 stars I understand my child so much better
We knew something was different about our son but didn't know what. After showing a video of him to someone in the medical field they recommended this book to us. It felt like I was reading something written about him. I felt more confident that I spoke to my doctor and he's now getting therapy to help develop life skills. Easy to understand, great examples.
BizzieReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 21, 20115.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading
An intelligent and thorough book which has greatly helped my understanding of my boys' needs - I have 2 with autism and both are affected by sensory issues, and in different ways, just to add to the fun! The book demystifies much of their behaviour and provided me with practical ways of coping with and advancing their behaviour. This is now part of my essential help library and I can't recommend it enough to anyone concerned about a child.
Update: 7 years on - I had 3 children diagnosed with autism. Luckily, I was put in touch with an occupational therapist for a while who was trained in sensory issues, one child loved being squashed & unbelievably small tight spaces; another was the opposite; two can’t bear noise etc etc. I tried many things over the years, adapting as the kids changed, fiddle toys, gym balls, chair exercises, weighted blankets, cold air fans, tactile seat cushioned wedges, ribbed pens, heavy backpacks, heavy boots - I found gradual exposure, combined probably with ageing & their natural development, reduced their needs and now sensory needs are much less of an issue. I think the earlier you identify & meet these needs, the better the outcome. Doing that becomes a natural process but initially it felt like magic and took a while for me to get my head around it - very exciting, interesting & of huge benefit to me & my family
SpurthiReviewed in India on February 8, 20255.0 out of 5 stars A must read!
a good read for every teacher....
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VERONICA MOLINAReviewed in Mexico on December 29, 20215.0 out of 5 stars Excelente libro , explican muy bien el desorden sensorial en los niños
Excelente libro, explican muy bien los desórdenes sensoriales. Dan ejemplos prácticos que se pueden presentar en los niños en su vida diaria. Lo recomiendo.
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Sandra KReviewed in France on March 27, 20175.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable
Vivement que les professionnels de l'éducation s'intéressent à ce trouble. Encore une fois, la France a beaucoup de retard à rattraper...











