Have you ever felt like it was too loud, and you were too uncomfortable and your clothes felt funny and you were hungry and thirsty all at the same time?
It is as if every sense in your body wants to scream, STOP!
For the past six months, I’ve seen this in my son. He hates tags, so I have to cut them out of his clothes. His socks have to just perfect (no little ball on the side of his foot). He has to hold his sleeves when putting on his coat, so they don’t get bunched up and feel weird. If we are in a loud place, he wants to sit in the corner. If the decibels get too loud, he covers his ears until it is over. His behavior is awful in a setting when there are a large number of people.
I just thought my son was quirky. I was dealing with his quirks and just thought it was the way he was until I read an article about Sensory Processing Disorder (or SPD). I had absolutely no idea this was a disorder. The more I read and read on the subject, I realized my son had many of the issues associated with this disorder.
Sensory Processing Disorder is a condition in which the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information that comes in through the senses.
I started to dig and learn and talk about it with my friends. I read any book I could get my hands on that dealt with SPD. I gained so much insight from The Out of Sync Child and Raising a Sensory Smart Child that I felt like I was now better equipped to help my son.
He was walking around daily with sensory overload and couldn’t tell me because he didn’t know himself. Now that I knew I could help him, we started with a weighted blanket, then activities to help him and work through times when things start to escalate. We established a code word for when he starts to feel overloaded and we give him permission to take a time out and settle down. Our discipline has changed and the way we react to him has had to change to accommodate SPD.
Sensory Processing Disorder is real. I’m sure you have felt sensory overload before and maybe didn’t know it had a name. Although SPD is not currently recognized as a distinct medical diagnosis, learning all I can about SPD has helped my son and our family.
