Sensory Processing Disorder and kids

Anyone have experience with this? My youngest daughter Serena obviously has problems. Some of you may remember the birth of the China Guy twins, Serena being in the NICU, etc. She suffered hypoxic damage at birth, and now at 3.5 years of age has developmental delays, some motor skill issues and very weak language acquisition.

So, today we have a very initial assessment done before summer holidays. A really nice woman that seems to know her stuff, and who worked at the U of W pediatric assessment center before coming to china.

She started asking is Serena does x, does she do y, what about this, what about that. It was all pretty spot on. explained that it could be sensory Processing Disorder but a full assessment is needed.

Of course, I get on the web and look up SPD and to say it’s not fully accepted by the medical profession would be an understatement.

I’m going to find the “Out of Synch Child” and read that. I guess it’s the seminal work.

Anyone out there been through this and have any thoughts?

There’s a pretty famous blogger out there by the name of Amalah. If you go to her blog (www.amalah.com) and search by “SPD” all her posts will come up. It has some of her personal experience, including things that worked her son (like signing), and the comments, including the first few posts on the subject, have lots of suggestions, including reading and therapy recs.

A friend of mine has a boy with SPD, and another friend has struggled with it her whole life.

Things I’ve encountered:

Verbal instruction must be simple and short and given in a quiet environment. If there’s any other background noise, they may not be able to process it at all.

Tactile sensations can be totally off. I came up behind my friend and scratched her upper back like I was scratching an itch (everybody else likes it), and she nearly went ninja-killer on me. Turns out, it felt like I was driving a knife into her back. She prefers very firm tactile stimulation. If you touch her, it needs to be a very firm grasp, something that I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing to anyone else.

The other friend’s son had very tender skin. Clothing tags drove him insane. Shirts and other apparel that weren’t soft cotton really, really bugged him.

Visually, other friend’s son does best in a visually uncluttered environment. The regular Kindergarten classroom he was placed in drove him up the wall. He had a very difficult time focusing.

My kid has/had what was diagnosed as sensory integration disorder, which I believe may be similar to if not another name for SPD. As I understand it, he was on the mild end of the spectrum.

The biggest hurdle is getting it diagnosed, and getting access to a therapist who understands it. Your schools should provide considerable services. Demand an IEP. My son was enrolled in a special needs pre-K class. Then in regular school he got occupational and physical therapy.

You’ll find a whole bunch of exercises/therapies to do. Some as simple as having her eat cheerios/jelly beans one-by-one, to develop tactile skills. We also spent time “petting” him, just to get him used to the sensation of being touched. And you will choose clothes, sheets, even books and writing paper that she likes the feel of.

For us, writing was a problem. The kindergarten teacher said he did not know his colors or numbers, and thought he was learning disabled. But she had given him a written test and he just didn’t want to write. Orally, he knew them all. That’s what I meant about being a leg up by having it diagnosed.

Apparently SID kids don’t like to reach across their body - cross their centerline. So instead of becoming left or right hand dominant, they will pick up a pen with whatever hand is closest. They also can do an activity such as running, or kicking a ball - but they do it all by consciously planning rather than instinctive reaction, such that running to intercept and kick a moving ball becomes a very complex and difficult procedure.

Your kid will never be a star athlete - at least not at baseball, soccer, etc. But she can get better at them with work. And other activities - such as running, shooting, or bowling, will not require the planning, adjustments, crossing centerline, etc. which she may find different.

Our kid hated lunch and recess, as they were too hectic and noisy. Which caused social obstacles.

Many people would say they did not notice he had any problems. But they wouldn’t realize, for instance, that he fell down on a daily basis, simply because he did not think to lift his foot high enough over a curb or step.

Over time with a lot of work he’s overcome or learned coping mechanisms for just about all of his problems. He has his driver’s license, and is going to college to study engineering next fall.

Like I said, he was on the mild end of the spectrum. But let me know if you have any specific questions.

Thanks for these replies. I was recommended to check out Kranowitz: The Out of Sync Child. Couldn’t find a copy in Hong Kong last week, so I’ll probably order one.

www.amalah.com is either blocked in China or no longer working. I’ll check it out at work this week as we have a direct pipe to the US and no issues with “edited” sites.

Dinsdale, when I get some specifics I’ll probably take you up on it. Congratulations on your son and engineering school.

I’ve looked at some checklists, and Serena exhibits *some * of the behaviors like the back arching, not crawling, sleep disorder, etc. She’s not ultrasensitive to labels or anything like that. Definately we will do the 2 day full on assessment when the clinic reopens at the end of summer.

Do it, please. Now is the time, when she will get the most benefits out of therapy.

Good luck- it can be hard as a parent, but you have to find good people and then trust them. Believe me, I have been in your Nikes.

My youngest son (6 y.o.) is on the spectrum (asperger’s) and displays signs of SPD, such as pounding on walls and doors and other hard surfaces with the open palm(s) of his hand(s), very light sleeper (usually likes to feel a warm body next to him to sleep) and a few other peculiarities. I too will order the books listed above as well.

Thanks for this link. I just scanned a few of her entries about her sone and SPD, and it’s I dunno helpful I guess to read about some similar experiences with our kids.