re: Sensory Processing Disorder

<blockquote><b>Quoting *Lolo*:</b>" I need help quick. We are sick and yet again not handling this heat well. the heat index is 104 here. ... [snip!] ... main sensory anchor. agh I hate hearing her scream but its worse if im there! I feel like nothing I can do will console her."</blockquote>

I missed this

Hope she calmed down okay for you

Quoting myr-a-myr:" Ladies...I just wanted to announce that... I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!! I am beyond ecstatic! I start next Tuesday and already met the team today   *Doing the happy dance*"

AHHHH! Yes yes!!! I was waiting to hear this great news. Congrats, this will be SO great for you and your family. Great Job!!!!

Quoting *Lolo*:" I need help quick. We are sick and yet again not handling this heat well. the heat index is 104 here. ... [snip!] ... main sensory anchor. agh I hate hearing her scream but its worse if im there! I feel like nothing I can do will console her."

Oh honey. I know the heat can't be helping either.   I feel so bad when my daughter is like this. She hates it but i wipe her off with a cool cloth when she's screaming like that and have the fan on. Im so worried she's going to get too hot. Theres times when I have to just leave the room, I really dont know what to recommend because i'm in the same boat. I am actually going to see the Neurodevelopmental pedi on the 2nd of July and plan on asking her.

Quoting myr-a-myr:" Ladies...I just wanted to announce that... I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!! I am beyond ecstatic! I start next Tuesday and already met the team today   *Doing the happy dance*"

yay!! congrats!

Quoting Jamils_ mommy:" <blockquote><b>Quoting *Lolo*:</b>" I need help quick. We are sick and yet again not ... [snip!] ... im there! I feel like nothing I can do will console her."</blockquote> I missed this Hope she calmed down okay for you"

took over 45 min but string cheese finally did the trick. its all she would eat besides dry cereal for the rest of the night so I cant complain.
We were up till almost 2 though.
I am in zombie mode right now and just hope all of this heat goes away soon!

We went to the science center today.... ugh, probably a horrible idea on my part, but I like to expose DD to just about everything in little amounts at a time....

Anyway, so we get into the building. No trouble - she was fine. We walk into this one room that has a lot of music/sound exhibits. She freaked out. Meltdown city. I got her calm down... and we walked around a bit. I offered her to hold little llama she brought with her, she wanted nothing to do with it. She was so over stimulated that I wasn't sure what to do. DH tried to tap her shoulder to show her something and she yelled "DADDY! Don't TOUCH ME!"

Incredibly hypersensitive.... anyone have any ideas or suggestions how to help a child when they get like this? DD has never did this before and normally DH is the first person she runs to when she needs comforting.


Thanks!

I am going through similar experiences. My daughter kept me up all night last night because she would want me one second and scream and nothing I did helped. About 5 minutes later she would allow me to hold her hand but two seconds later snatch it away and starting screaming again. She was throwing stuff in the bed with me and if I didn't hold it she would scream more. She would turn her back to me as if I had done something horribly wrong. And this went on for 5 hours. I never figured it out.  

My daughter has never liked her hands touched since she was a little baby not even 2 months old. So I've kind of bonded with her at a distance physically and it's been very difficult. She doesn't like strangers and always wants me near. Just no touching.

And the funny thing is. She was evaluated by a behavioral specialist that said the things I describe sound like SPD but I got her report in the mail today and she put that chloe seemed to be a normal toddler other than being behind on her social/emotional skills because of her hearing loss. This therapist also told me to get Chloe evaluated by the OT. Sometimes the medical field can be a bit confusing...

<blockquote><b>Quoting Meg ♥:</b>" We went to the science center today.... ugh, probably a horrible idea on my part, but I like to expose ... [snip!] ... like this? DD has never did this before and normally DH is the first person she runs to when she needs comforting. Thanks!"</blockquote>



Oh the poor love. I understand still trying to introduce her to stuff. We do the same. It sucks not knowing exactly how they will react. We have a science center here anx Faiths problem is she gets in the adhd mode and runs around like a freak and if you try to contain her, having her stay near us, she cant handle it. They have a kid room with a sand area and its calming for her. She will sit in there for hours. Getting her out is rough. One day i carried her to the car, alone, 24mo in tow while she kicked and screamed and bit me till i bled. I tried to calm her inside but it got to where i had to restrain her and she was making the other little kids nervous and you all know the looks i was getting from the parents.


The only thing i can ever think to do is try to calm her and if i cant the remove her from the situation.tn re

Excuse typos im on my phone which is retarded when it comes to posting on herd.

<blockquote><b>Quoting Mommy of 2 + 1 angel:</b>" I am going through similar experiences. My daughter kept me up all night last night because she would ... [snip!] ... loss. This therapist also told me to get Chloe evaluated by the OT. Sometimes the medical field can be a bit confusing..."</blockquote>



Any way to get a second opinion. Well another behavioral specialist?

Quoting Meg ♥:" We went to the science center today.... ugh, probably a horrible idea on my part, but I like to expose ... [snip!] ... like this? DD has never did this before and normally DH is the first person she runs to when she needs comforting. Thanks!"

Both my kids are hypersensitive to sounds and light. School for Jason in kinder garden was hell because of that. Even a room with too many people, or colors/poster are overwhelming. Same with Emily. Jason will cry and get into a fetal position then kind of shut down. Emily will turn violent towards herself and others.

What helped best for Jason is that I bought him a pair of skull candy aviator ear phones. He chose the color he wanted. We don't plug in the earphones anywhere but wearing them helps bring comfort because his ears are "protected" and it muffles some sound but not as much as ear plugs or soundproof headphones. So we work at the desensitizing at the same time. He can still hear others around him too.

We also got him some sun glasses for the light or when he feels a room is too much. Again he feels as though his eyes are "protected". It does tone down the brightness a little but he still sees colors just toned down a bit. So we can still work on desensitizing.

He has his chant when things are not well, but it's made up because of his speech delay and to make sure he can express his needs.

We actually went to the museum of Nature about a year ago. We had his sisters babysat on that day. 1 kid to help desensitize at a time is enough hahaha. It was crowded, bright. Some places they had loud noises for the dinosaurs and animals etc. We walked in not 2 minutes later he FREAKED. Total meltdown/shut down. So I took his headphones, his sunglasses out of his backpack, and my husband had taken a hoola hoop. Cut some off because it was quite large. We taped the ends together, the circumference was smaller but still wide enough to be considered personal space.

It will sound funny but Jason walked half an hour with his glasses, headphones and standing in the middle of and carrying his hoola hoop so that his personal space was respected. We got weird looks lol. But he did it for 30 minutes! He winced and had to breath but he did it! Then we went again the weekend after with the same things for 2 hours. Then again later but without the hoola hoop this time.

Teach her a catch phrase that could be polite and to the point with everyone. Like you could practice with her showing her hand in a "stop sign" in front of her (anyone can understand that gesture) and say "please stop, I'm uncomfortable" or anything you feel would be appropriate. Then she can specify to back up, or tone it down or be careful with showing objects to close to her face etc. She could get a sense of control from it and know there is a solution to her discomfort. There is also the option of stepping back and taking a breather from the situation. Nothing wrong with that as long as she tried and will keep trying after   That would help with stress big time. Also I found the earphones and sunglasses to be such a great help.

Thank you both for your replies. I appreciate it.

What I did was first got down on her level and talked to her, asked her to use her words and she told me she wanted to go home. I asked her why and she said she didn't want to be here anymore.

I took her over to a an area that was a bit more quiet and offered her some water. She cuddled with me for a few moments and seemed okay, but getting to that point was brutal. I get embarrassed easily... which I know I need to get over, but it is hard for me. This isn't just whining, as I'm sure you can imagine, it is full blown screaming crying. People looking at us, not making it any easier to get her to understand that she is okay, but she just needs to relax. Between the over stimulation she has a lot of anxiety with just everything.

She enjoyed the kids area, sliding, working with plastic gears on a chart type thing and some of the other exhibits, but my goodness it was rough in the beginning.

You know... I should be thrilled with the way it went. Even a year ago, I doubt she would have walked into a place like this. She walked in, anxious, but she was okay. I am proud of her, but I need to find ways to help her.

Headphones might help. I'll look into something like that if she will even wear them and the catch phrase may work eventually, right now she just gets into shut down mode and not really listening to anyone, but i'll work on that too.

Hi, I'm Jamie. My son, Nicholas, is 3 yrs old (in a couple weeks) and he has SPD among other issues. He was born with a rare G.I. issue and has a g-tube and an ostomy bag. He is delayed across the board. He was in e.i. for Developmental therapy, along with PT, Speech and OT. With him being 3 soon, his e.i. services are coming to an end but he will be getting these services in limited time when he attends his special Ed school come late August. But Nick had an additional Speech therapy outside of e.i. so we'll be keeping him in that, and with his sensory issues, we'd really like him to get additional OT as well.

Nick has gotten better with some of his sensory issues thanks to OT. His is more textures (not food) and touch. For instance, he wouldn't touch playdough for the longest time and he still is sensitive with a bunch of other things like fingerpaints. He's super cuddly with DH and I, and a couple other people only once in a blue moon. Actually, he's pretty clingy with us. He doesn't mind kisses from us or his baby sis but not much of anyone else. Although, like I said, he is a little better with it now. He can't have anyone too close to his space.

The biggest thing with his sensory issues is water. He has a huge fear of it. He used to not be so bad when he was under 18 months old. Because of his ostomy bag it's easier to give him a shower or a sponge bath. With sponge baths he's so-so with, but with showers it's absolutely terrible. Before and even not too long ago, he would still cry and cry but at least he would let us spray him off and soap him. Now he doesn't just cry, but screams. I mean, just whaling. He tries so hard to fight it that we have to try and hold him and he pulls himself down and I'm honestly afraid he's going to get hurt. We try playing his music and games or anything but nothing works.   I don't know what to do.

Like I said, he has sensitivity to touch as well but it's the whole water phobia we're really having trouble with. The OT has tried water-play etc, and it doesn't help too much. Sometimes he's okay with cleaning his face, other times not so much.

I also wonder if he has the sensory issues that also deal with him getting overwhelmed easlily (forgive me, I'm not sure if there's a name for it). I don't know if it's age but really it's nothing new that he'll have a fit or meltdown for no reason. Honestly, I couldn't tell you what half of it is for.

It feels good to let some of this out. Sorry about the novel but thanks for listening. If there's any advice at all, I'm all ears. Thank you, ladies.

So I kind of want to strangle my hubby. Our OT wants us to try the brushing program but as you know you have to do it consistently to get it to work. well one of the first comments out of his mouth was "hell if i knew i would be pampered if i acted like a brat then maybe i should start slamming my head against walls too. " and then he promptly tells me just because it is something new i don't have to consistently try it now. She has told me for months when she needs to be rubbed with deep pressure but ive always been the only one to do it. he always called it spoiling and her just getting her way.   i was hoping he would be more excited and supportive since he wants the meltdowns to stop but guess not.

Hello,

I haven't been on here in awhile!

My daughter was recently diagnosed with SPD. She is 2.5 and quite the hand full! She has such an amazing personality. She is very advanced in terms of speech and development. Her charts placed her at a 3.5 yr olds level in terms of development and speech. The issues she is having with oral, tactual, and just change in routine are taking a tool on her as well as the rest of us. I was relieved when we began receive help. I didn't feel like i was being over protective and just over analyzing every little thing she did. Everyone kept saying she was a typical 2 year old and she would grow out of it. With in minutes of meeting her OT for her evaluation she said there was no doubt in her mind she was having same pretty big problems and indeed did have SPD. I am currently waiting on the actual OT to start, but we are delayed a couple of weeks because she has her tonsils and adenoids removed yesterday  .

I came on today to post about her having her tonsils and adenoids removed yesterday and came across this thread as well. Maybe some other parents could give advise on my situation? This is all somewhat new to me. She just started OT last week and I'm having some issues with her recovery. here is a link to the other thread:

http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about2261944.html

I have some background knowledge on this disorder because i currently being certified in special needs teaching, but obviously taking classes on something is completely different than having a first hand experience.