Sensory Processing Disorder?

[DietCokeLover]

Can someone explain this to me? I've read lots of your posts on here about it, and it makes me wonder if DS might have this.

His "symptoms":
Quick temper
Very sensitive
Runs at you and bangs into you
Picky eater
Says things are too loud frequently
Can't stand to have dirty hands

Does this sound like anything? And if yes, how do you get him tested, etc?

[lalasmama]

My DNeice has it, and is in the middle of being tested to get the official diagnosis.

SPD varies by child. In my DN's case, here's the big things for her:

She gets up in the morning and the sun is too bright. She mentions that she couldn't sleep well, because there was a wrinkle in the sheets near her knee. My sister makes her breakfast. She shreiks because she can't handle the texture of the "lumpy" pancakes that her mother made sure were well-blended. Time to take a shower. The water is too hot. The water is too cold. The shampoo got onto her eyebrow, so she screaches. The water got inside of her ear, so she races out of the shower before she's fully rinsed. Her towel is too scratchy. Her underwear are too small, but the next pair--from the same bag as the original, same cut, same EVERYTHING--is too big, and the seam itches. She will only wear cotton leggings from Brand X, because everything else "feels funny" when she walks. .... At school, she needs to be warned before the bell rings, or she will shriek and be unable to be calmed down for the rest of the day. On fire drill days, she's allowed to come late, because the noise and commotion set her off-kilter for the rest of the day. That's all that's wrong through the day for her.

There's good parts too though. Like when she puts her fingers in dirt at the side of the tree at recess. She could rub her back against the rough bark on the tree and dig her fingers into the soil. Everything else would disappear when she put her fingers in the dirt. And when she ate her corn niblets at lunch with her fingers, and no one bothered her, it was wonderful. And her pudding at snack-time was so cool and refreshing when she dipped her fingers into it. She didn't notice that she was the only one in class that was covered fingers to elbows, nose to chin in chocolate pudding.

[starmommy]

Your pediatrician and public school (if child over 3 yr) or early intervention program (if under 3 yr)
My DD was diagnosed by pedi once I brought up my concerns. She was evaluated by school system since she is 3 and will get services at public preschool starting this fall. We also started OT this summer on our own to work on some issues before school starts. I really wanted to get some help and ideas to work on sensory issues. She has needed services in past for motor issues and she qualified for OT PT and speech.
The OT we are currently working with is specialized in pediatrics and very familiar with sensory processing issues. She gives us specific exercise/play to do and gives lots of information about how DD views the world that may be different, so we can help her and not get frustrated when things need to be just so.

[gatorsmom]

Can someone explain this to me? I've read lots of your posts on here about it, and it makes me wonder if DS might have this.

His "symptoms":
Quick temper
Very sensitive
Runs at you and bangs into you
Picky eater
Says things are too loud frequently
Can't stand to have dirty hands

Does this sound like anything? And if yes, how do you get him tested, etc?

Yep, it sounds like Greenbean. He was 38mo when we moved here and 2 months too old by this state's standards to receive any aid, so we've been taking him to a private Child Psychologist who is wonderful. She suspects Greenbean has SPD but he needs to be diagnosed by a local OT in her group who specializes in SPD (and the waiting list is long).

From what I"ve read, different children can be sensitive to different things. Greenbean has a hard time with bright lights (he wears sunglasses all the time- even in winter), temperatures of food and his bathwater, but most of all, noise. He does not do well when many people are talking like in a restaurant, around the dinner table at our house, or in a loud, echo-y gymnasium or indoor pool.

As far as I know, there really is no specialized therapy to deal with this. Each child responds differently to different situations and each one can be soothed in different ways. We have found that Greenbean can be calmed in a loud situation by focusing on something like a book he is holding or a favorite TV show or an ipod app. Once he's focused, he forgets all the other annoying stimuli around him and stops screaming. We serve him all his food luke-warm. I start his baths at tepid water and gradually add warm water (because he won't get in if the water is too hot but won't let me wash him if the water is too cold). It's really a trial and error process but once you find a few ways of making the child comfortable, it gets easier. It helps to talk to other parents experiencing the same thing.

[DietCokeLover]

Thanks for your responses. I guess I will do some more reading about this.

[brittone2]

Only have a min but I wanted to respond.

Sensory stuff is on a continuum. Many people have sensory quirks (for example my DH finds many things too loud), but it doesn't necessarily inhibit their life to a substantial degree. Some people find their sensory issues impact their life adversely, and they fall at the more extreme end of the continuum.

Kids can either sort of "crave" input (they may crave deep pressure and enjoy crashing, jumping, etc. or they may love to suck, chew, etc. because they have oral sensory stuff going on), or they may be avoiders (they may find some things too loud, too bright, etc.). Again, this can all be typical, but in some kids it goes beyond that. They may be unable to tune out the everyday background noise that most of us don't have any trouble filtering out. I've worked w/ kids that are driven to cover their ears because they find the sound of a plane flying far overhead unbearable. I'm talking about a sound that I would barely notice, but they find much too loud. eta: It may drive them to the point that they can't focus on anything else, or they may find the loudness debilitating, or they can't function on the playground without covering their ears, whereas my body just kind of tunes it out as background noise so I can attend to the more pressing stuff going on at the moment.

Sometimes it presents as a kid that doesn't have good body awareness or spacial awareness. They may get in other kids' space and not realize they are too close (not picking up on it the same way another kid might) and become the target of other kids' aggression. Conversely, they may perceive other kids as being "too close" when really they really are not closing in on them more than normal. In that case, they may lash out and bite, hit, etc. because they feel the other child is too close (even if they aren't). Kids can "crave" one type of input (deep pressure/jumping/crashing) but "avoid" another (oral sensitivities to texture, gagging, super picky eating, etc.). They may have one domain that is more of a problem than others. eta: So they may not have a spatial/body awareness issue but may have an issue with eating/texture/taste of foods. It doesn't have to be every sense being affected. It can be more pronounced when it comes to one of the senses, or you may see issues affecting several different sensory systems.

THere are some good books like Sensational Kids or The Out of Sync Child.

It is one of those things that is hard to determine based on your description, because many kids have some of these sensitivities, etc. However, when it really starts standing out as compared to peers, or starts really impacting your life as a family or the child's interactions with others, it can be helpful to get it looked at.

A pediatric OT specializing in sensory integration usually does the evaluation. Sometimes EI covers sensory stuff, sometimes it does not.

edited for clarity

[daisymommy]

I have found this to be a great start off point website, complete with a self-checklist for your child. Make sure when you have the time to look at the tabs on the left hand side. Very helpful in understanding things. Usually, treatment is done through an occupational-therapist (O.T.).
http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-processing-disorder-checklist.html

[avd3875]

I've been using this article in my classes for years. It's also the one I give to all of DS's teachers. I'm thrilled that it's finally available online:

http://sfececenter.org/resources/sensory_integration_development/yc%2011-01%20SSI%20pdf%202.pdf

We're on our way out to ice skating, I'll try to write more later.