Thursday, November 12, 2009

Sensory Processing

At one of our most recent OT visits it was mentioned that they would like to do some sensory testing on Tyler. I half laughed. We KNOW he has some sensory things going on. I never thought of it as much of a "disorder" but she recommended some books, played with Ty and then gave me a sensory profile to fill out.

I was going to go buy the book but thought I better be "frugal" and see if my local library had it. The one I really wanted to check out was gone so I picked up another one. From the first few pages I was hooked. I am obviously not far into the book but there are so many things that are right on.

My one ( or two ) concerns is that the disorders speaks mostly of neuro typical kids not being able to process things. But not kids with other issues. Why is this a concern? Well some of the things that make up the sensory part of Tyler are broken from his disability. But I guess that in turn makes it broken for the whole system. OR it just explains some of his behaviors instead of just saying he has CP or it is from the bleeds.

We know that his vision plays such a role into things but until my recent trip to his classroom did I "feel" that there was more to what is going on. It isn't a solution but maybe it will be a small step toward understanding and how to better Tyler's environment.

Some examples of Ty's behaviors :

When he gets angry he hits parts of his body into the floor or wall. It use to be his head. Now it is his feet. While that makes it sound like a tempter tantrum when you watch it, it goes far beyond just a typical tantrum.

When we are eating. The battle begins the SECOND Tyler says he is hungry. Giving him options works sometimes. It seems that it is a battle ALWAYS. And we are finding that a lot of it is sensory. ( spicy foods, textures, having to sit down)

Our house is quiet because Tyler can't tolerate noises. He doesn't have noisy toys, he doesn't try and play with Toys that make noise. When we go into places where there is a lot of noise by the end of the activity he has or will be on the verge of a meltdown. If we have him settled down enough to say eat with us or the people we are with, if something happens ( loud noise, screaming, etc) it turns into a meltdown.

I can't wait to go through even more of the book and find out what makes Tyler tick and more importantly what we can do to help him become better.

Chalk it up to yet another thing to add to his Uniqueness. :)

4 comments:

Hartley said...

Hi,

I stumbled onto your blog today and wanted to leave a note to say hi.

What a beautiful "miracle" child you have!

It sounds like SPD is a definite possibility for you. My oldest has it, and my youngest has some sensory issues as well.

Check out Sensational Kids by Dr. Lucy Jane Miller (leading medical expert on the subject) and of course the Out-of-Sync Chld by Carol Kranowitz. They are GREAT and realtively easy reads...if you want more suggestions later, let me know!

Welcome to the world of SPD. :)

Hartley
hartleysboys.blogspot.com
Twitter: ParentingSPD

carly said...

Wesley has issues with loud noises, too. He doesn't like screaming, fireworks, yelling, etc. He covers his ears and wants to be held until it's over. It scares him a lot.

Tammy said...

We still have issues with loud noises. Kayden will be really excited for things like fireworks but when they are starting and going off he doesn't like them. He also doesn't do well with crowds. He would rather be at home.

prayfordalton said...

Thanks for the encouragement. I am always happy to meet people who can relate to my experience with a preemie. How old was Ty when he started walk independently? Dalton is 17 months 13 corrected, and is still not able to sit independently. He comando crawled for a long time but has just recently started crawling correctly. We just recently saw Physical Medicine doctor for the first time. She said he doesnt need oral meds or botox, but I am low income and on Medicaid. Doctors dont exactly throw expensive therapies our way. How has botox been beneficial for Ty?