SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM
If your child has a legitimate problem, then the first thing you do is go to a family doctor. “Hey, I know a guy at five hundred clams an hour” is pretty much a giant blinking neon sign saying “Ripoff Ahead.”
Me too. Even the big cowl necks sort of freak me out. I like things around my neck to be as loose as possible.
Also, what RickJay said.
I don’t feel seams unless they are on my feet, such as the seams in tights. I hate it when they get skewed and I can feel them on the bottom of my feet when I walk.
But the worst is tags. I really feel tags on the back of my neck and usually remove them.
Tags drive me crazy - not always, but it seems that one day the tag suddenly starts irritating me in a shirt that was otherwise not a problem before and I need to cut it out right away.
The synthetic velvet shirt I wore to work one day was full of static electricity - maybe should have used cling free? - it clung to me and felt weird and I couldn’t wait to change out of it.
If the seam of my longjohns/tights (its winter and I don’t like being cold) under my pants are twisted it makes me crazy. I can feel it.
If I have to drive more than ten minutes I need to take my coat off. It binds and restricts and pulls.
I never thought I was over-sensitive, just aware. I’m not incapacitated by this - I’m an adult and I can adjust and fix what doesn’t feel right, but a four year old may not be able to articulate why her clothes are bothering or be able to figure out how to fix them so they don’t feel weird or wrong. Not sure it needs treatment…
One of my friend’s kids was diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder, and I checked with a speech therapist I know about it. Generally, it seems to come with other issues like my friend’s son (ADHD) has. My friend’s son is really particular about textures in general. Strawberries used to freak him out as did a lot of other berries.
I’m an adult and I don’t like to wear wool against my skin because it is itchy and I hate wearing a heavy coat when driving. Those things don’t sound particularly off to me.
I would talk to your daughter’s pediatrician.
I hate the seams in socks. I might take my shoes off several times during a day to correct a discomfort if my socks bother me. I also don’t like them to be too tight around my feet or bunched up.
That would be my guess, as well.
I got to hear a lot about it when WhyKidlet was a baby, as it’s very common in preemies and something they watch out for. Sensory Integration Disorder (now beginning to be called Sensory Processing Disorder) can be a problem with any of the senses - touch, hearing, even smell - where the person either doesn’t sense them or is just overwhelmed and can’t organize the input meaningfully. It can cause anxiety (even panic attacks) and make it difficult to function.
Our daughter didn’t have it too badly, but it was noticeable, compared to other babies. She’d startle more easily and was much harder to console afterwards. Therapy consisted of keeping things quiet and calm, while gradually introducing one stimulus at a time, then combining them slowly as she could handle it.
She was hilariously scared of the therapist’s Koosh ball, though. Couldn’t STAND the feel of it, either handling it herself or having us touch her on the leg with it. So we just got rid of it. One can lead a perfectly normal and productive life without touching a Koosh ball.
She’s not fond of tags or turtlenecks now, at age 5, but there are only a few I’ve had to cut out.
If it’s Sensory Integration Disorder that this person suspects, that you can get it evaluated for far less than $500. Your pediatrician can give you a referral to an Occupational Therapist, who is the person who generally does this sort of thing.
If it’s autism or traumatic brain injury or prenatal alcohol exposure or something else that the person is worried about, of course, that’s a whole 'nother matter. Those things can include sensory overload as symptoms, but there would be other, more worrisome symptoms as well.
I can categorically say, however, that her claim that every child who hates tags suffers from one malady is bullshit. There are dozens of conditions, not all of them pathological, which can make people more sensitive to irregularities in their clothing than your average person.
I think it might be the Sensory Processing Disorder that she was talking about, after reading about it. I also printed off one of the checklists and did it and I don’t think my daughter’s out of a normal range. She had 5/6 on the checklist out of almost 30, and I was being generous about some of them.
I will try and see if the ex will talk to the pediatrician first, but there’s no guarantee that she’ll even listen to me at all. I’m just afraid that the ball is already rolling on this and since my daughter is so much like me and the ex has told me I have problems, I’m sure she’ll see problems in our daughter too. :mad:
It’s also interesting to note that 80% of the votes fall into the middle two, which I was told very few people feel seams or tags at all.
Some tags bother me and some don’t. I do prefer shirts that have them silk-screened.
I hate hate hate the new trend of sewing them into the side of the shirt, rather than at the neck though. Tags there *really *bother me.
This is very common in children that age. When my kid was maybe 3-6 she was bothered by the seam in the end of socks. I’d fluff them and blow in them and all kinds of stunts to get them comfortable. We found some seamless socks somewhere and when I was looking at them I met a woman who was dealing with the same thing and looking for seamless socks. My kid grew out of it and laughs at it now.
Sometimes a label can be bothersome. That’s real. Just cut it off. There’s no sign of a disease going on here.
I almost voted for a lot of seams, but really I just hate tags and cut them out of everything…my jeans, t-shirts, sweatpants, etc. And the seams of my jeans sometimes bother me.
My grandson, who is 6, is very picky about socks. We have to cut strings off of them and otherwise “modify” them so that he can wear them. I need to look into seamless socks. Thanks, Al Bundy!
It is worth noting that SPD is a very controversial subject about which there is little agreement as to what it is, if it exists as a separate condition, and so on. It’s not recognized in the DSM-IV and there is no scientific consensus on the matter. The “Checklist” is not very far above McFreud levels.
I am very concerned the OP is at risk of falling victim to Scam Therapist Disorder.
I’m falling for a scam, the soon to be ex, quite possibly. Not much I can do about her now is there? I may try and find some evidence if I can, but she will not be swayed I’m sure.
Talk to the doctor if it’s a daily problem, or even to dissuade the ex from the woo woo. But don’t take her to a 500 an hour therapist. That’s bullshit. IF need be the pediatrician will direct her to a child psychologists, which are much more reasonable than 500/hour.
Mine is recent, I am in constant low level pain, so adding more stimulus makes me stabby. I just changed my sheets to microfiber plush because regular sheets feel like I am trying to sleep on sandpaper.
Cat hates it, the bed is now very static inducing so any time either of us touch her chances are she will get zapped with a tiny spark. Of course it is now fun to play zap tag with the hubby in the morning =)
I always cut tags out of my clothes. I even go so far as to use a seam ripper to unstitch the tags so that there is no trace left. Or if the tag is sewn into a seam, I have a special method for removing fabric tags, or use tiny embroidery scissors to cut out all traces of those plasticy tags. I find that most clothes nowadays not only have a tag at the back neck, but also in side seams. Even clothes with the silk screened labels will have a bulky tag somewhere else in the garment (usually side seam). I hate this.
Also in my experience with little kids, it is not uncommon for them to be irritated by tags and seams. So I vote for scam/woo woo.
I also just wanted to say, as someone whose SO is divorced with kids and a crazy ex, I really sympathize with what you are going through. 
I HATE SEAMS!
And tags. And elastic.
Also, the people who make “seamless” underwear do not seem to understand what the word means.
I kinda have a medical problem, in that a neurologist said I am abnormally sensitive to touch.
Noticing (and being really annoyed by) things like tags, seams, threads, zippers, snaps etc in clothing can be a symptom of ADHD known as Hypersensitivity.
To this day, I still rip the tags out of most of my shirts.
I hate seams on socks. Some tags. Some material. Definitely sensitive to things on my neck…and pattern under me when sleeping.
And my fitted shirts have to…fit…right. The seams around the shoulders have to sit in the right place.
-D/a
I am that rarest of feminine creatures, a woman who doesn’t give a shit about clothes.
No, tags, seams, zippers, gum wads, don’t bother me.
I often find myself wearing underwear inside out because I can’t tell the difference by feel. An old German folk belief says wearing underwear inside out keeps witches away. Every little bit helps.