Anyone have a child with SPD?

Hi, I have Dd 9 with SPD and Ds 6 with Aspergers and various sensory issues.

It is great that you have obtained a diagnosis when he is young, I know it all seems overwhelming atm but once you have developed strategies that work it will get easier.

Activites that help my 2 the most are playing on swings, bouncing on the trampoline and their space hoppers.  Bike riding really helped Dd with improving her core strength and balance and Ds benefits from riding his scooter.  Swimming is also great for muscle tone and gross motor skills and often calming as they work the muscles so much.

For fine motor I found playdoh, beading and other similar activites helpful.

The playgroup could help but for both mine they actually found it too overwhelming, so just be aware that it could be stressful.  Best thing is to give it a try, I hope it works as it makes the OT etc easier to get done. The only thing I would advise is that remember that as his mother you know him better than anyone, don’t be pushed into doubting that.

You will also find that your son will develop his own strategies to cope, it may seem strange, but if it works and is easy to accommodate and not putting anyone at risk, let him run with it.   for exampl, my ds will have times when he needs to hang upsidedown on the seat of the armchair and both mine find long showers very relaxing (the pressure o the water).

Hope this helps and that I haven’t rambled to much. I’d be happy for you to Pm me if you like.

Kathy

My dd, now 9, has Sensory Integration Disorder. She was diagnosed late (we adopted at 3) and though she ‘graduated’ from speech therapy, she still does OT. BTW, I highly recommend you talk to you OT about LIstening Therapy; it is AMAZING! http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/therapeutic-listening.html and here:http://www.spdfoundation.net/listening.html it also explains the “brushing techinique”, that if your son will repond positiviely to it, is highly successful. You’ll want to find out how his auditory processing and visual is affected, if at all, as well, not just tactile. My dd has it all.

I highly recommend the books: The Out of Sync Child http://www.amazon.com/Out—Sync-Child-Recognizing-Processing/dp/0399531653/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1290395421&sr=8-10

and her companion book “The Out of Sync Child has Fun”http://www.amazon.com/Out-Sync-Child-Has-Revised/dp/0399532714/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

Just food for thought; I would be cautious regarding the school district as they can be very unfriendly towards homeschooling. If you can find an independant therapy center that can offer the same services, they would probably be much more supportive and allow your involvement more. Many true stories about the mindset of those involved in the school districts’ ‘support’ programs and the disrespect they show to homeschooling families are rampant.

Please look at his diet; the Feingold Diet has been successful with these children (though I think it does for all) as well as enzyme therapy and proper digestion function, through proper grain and bean preparations, expelling all processed sugars,  raw milk from grass-fed goats or cows; real fats such as grass-fed raw milk, butter, coconut oil (I get Tropical Traditions naturally fermented) to feed their brains; not to mention high Omega 3’s in Cod LIver Oil-recommendations at the bottom, but I would include liquid Garden of LIfe on the list  (http://www.westonaprice.org/cod-liver-oil/238-cod-liver-oil-basics.html ) and other “real’ foods. Then there’s which vaccines to have done, if at all. Here’s a tought provoker on it:http://www.nvic.org/Downloads/49-Doses-PosterB.aspx  I recommend Dr. Mercola’s site for good vaccine info.; there’s even an alternative schedule for some vaccines that I think are good; just not in the amounts and timing that they are administered now. My dd requires a lot of protein, but we make sure our meats are from grass-fed animals. Yes, she also loves being upside down and climbs, jumps and leans alot, there’s not a peice of dirt that won’t find her and stick; but there’s also the troubles of being gentle with animals as she gets overly excited and hurts them so we’ve had to set strict boundaries of animal interaction. She steps on things as if they’re not even there, causing much distress to her brother when she knocks or steps on his toys and breaks them-she doesn’t know where she is in ‘space’ with regards to other things. She also has crazy body temp. regulation and is easily angered and will throw things and hit, though that’s gotten better, has the auditory and visual issues. Some of her great improvements has been academic, but she still struggles in social arenas as the noise can get overwhelming for her and I notice she removes herself intentionally (that self-finding regulation spoken by KAthy).

It’s great that you have started early. With your research and efforts, by the time he reaches my dd age, he will be doing great, I’m sure.

Rachel

Ds didn’t do well with swimming lessons so my husband would just take both the kids swimming on a regular basis. Ds has a weighted snake and loves going to sleep with a big pillow on him!  Ds also never liked circle time, he disliked the repitition of songs and games!  It was a problem until I reminded his support teacher that he didn’t have to like everything!

We don’t actually have our own trampoline but my BIL and his family live next door and their kids have one, so they use that most days.  The space hoppers are a recent acquisition and they both love bouncing on those.

Please feel free to Pm me if I can help in any way. Even if you it is just because you have had a bad day. It is sometimes hardest to find Mum’s who understand how hard it is sometimes.

Kathy

This is sort of off topic, but I would like to throw in that I have read of children with SPD improving on a GFCF diet.  We have a child diagnosed with autism and it makes all the difference in the world for him.  He does not function well at all when he has something off the diet.