Astronaut Training is a precise, powerful, therapeutic protocol that is designed to develop optimal vestibular function, an essential early foundation for all sensory processing, auditory processing and movement control.

Equipment: spinning chair with a backrest and armrests

Technique:

You will have your child sitting in a chair - looking down at their knees- feet up in the chair

1.⁠ ⁠Set a timer for 1 minute

2.⁠ ⁠During this minute, SLOWLY spin the chair in either direction R/L (you will repeat this exercise twice, once in each direction R/L)

It should take you the full minute to make ONE rotation,

Helpful tip: visualize what 1/4 of a circle looks like and make sure you are not ahead or behind that 1/4 turn in a 15 second period.

3.⁠ ⁠During this spin, their head will be down, and their eyes will be closed

After you have started moving, at some point, ask them to point in the direction they believe the chair is turning- mark down their response as same direction or opposite direction

4.⁠ ⁠Don't tell them when the chair stops

Ask them to raise their hand when they believe the chair has stopped spinning. If it is not accurate, tell them to keep their head down and try again, wait for them to report when the chair has stopped moving. Mark down if it was before the chair stopped or after the chair stopped, count how many seconds have passed after the chair stopped and when they report that it has stopped moving.

5. When they finally open their eyes, ask if they are still feeling like the room is moving

Our objectives are:

• can they accurately feel the direction the chair is moving
• can they accurately know when the chair has stopped
• are they dizzy upon completion of activity when they finally open their eyes

Frequency:

• 1-2 x daily

Undesired reactions:

• falling forward or out of the chair
• feeling nauseous
• the emotional reaction of anger or tears or shutting down
• inaccurate direction of rotations
• inaccurate perception of when movement has stopped
• dizziness upon completion

Scoring:

• keep this exercise in your homework until the child can accurately report direction and end time of rotations with in 1-2 seconds