Child With Sensory Processing Issues Help

[kytwinmom]

Hi. One of my twins, Jayden, is more special needs than his twin, Kayden. Jayden had a grade 4 brain bleed while he was in the NICU and hydrocephalus and required a VP shunt placement. He now gets very violent with us and his physical therapist and us both think he has some sensory processing issues and we are planning on bringing in an occupational therapist to evaluate him and go from there. He throws very random temper tantrums and they stem when I leave the room a lot of the time. I'm looking for any advice from parents that have dealt with a child with sensory problems before and any advice that you could give would be wonderful.

 

[kytwinmom]

Anything?

 

[mrsthomas623]

I wish I could help, my son has also been "diagnosed" with SPD and I am still at a loss with what it actually means. We work with a speech therapist and occupational therapist weekly. I have noticed that his speech is slowly improving but I don't think OT is doing much for him.

 

[TC52UPL]

I don't know if this will help - but I'll share my experiences with you....

One of my sons, Tom aged 7 diagnosed mild Cerebral Palsy (aged 3), Autism and SPD (aged 6).

My knowledge of Tom's sensory issues are that he is over sensitive to sound, under sensitive to touch, some times over sensitive to smell.

So, noises that you and I probably wouldn't think of, say a pan of bubbling water? the checkout beeps? the noise of being inside a moving car? being in a school playground? - We accept this as 'background noise' -Tom however can't ignore these sounds, he hears it all at once whirring through his head as well as contending with his own thoughts. So maybe a conversation with mummy and daddy - we have to make sure only one of us talks at the same time, the tv can't be on or he doesn't hear what we're saying because his brain will be listening in on that.... We discovered head phones and ear defenders help with this. When we would go into town - all of a sudden he would go into a meltdown and we had no idea why and then in turn get stressed, now we think, what could it be? too much chattering? music? cars going past?
The OT has helped us to think about all the noises that go on at once - like right now, the radio is on in the kitchen, the tumble dryer is on, my husband is talking to me, I can hear the tag rattling on the dog as he walks round, I can hear my other son playing his XBox.... All of this could be, on an off day - far too much for Tom. (He is in his room with the door shut playing his Leapster with headphones on)

Touch - so Tom doesn't feel heat or pain like you and I. I would take him to the doctors thinking he was going deaf because he was shouting - it turns out he has perforated ear drums! Or when he won't eat and just wants to sleep - never told me anything - I discovered while arguing with him about how the queen says everyone must brush their teeth - he had 11 mouth ulcers - he hadn't said a word. We bought some bits of eBay, believe it or not, that had diagrams to help him show us if he was in pain and where it was. Tom loves to be gently scratched all over, you know like your mum might've done on your back when you were little and you were on her knee? I know my mum used to! Except Tom wants it on his back, knees, arms, feet - everywhere! When you do this, he totally zones out... until you stop! His electric blanket he likes on a lot! He loves a fairly warm shower! So it's fair that he needs extra touching to keep himself at ease. The OT said when he asks to be scratched, his body is needing some extra sensory input to regulate itself - this finds it's way into Tom's moods! If we stay on top of his needs with what is called a sensory diet by OT's, he stops getting SOOOOO excited about things or SOOOOO cross/upset about things. Tom wears a sensory hug shirt all day every day as the tight pressure it provides him seems to keep him more content. Don't get me wrong - he still has melt downs and tantrums, but they are a little less often and a little less severe! Easier to settle.

If Tom is having a bad day, he's in a bad mood say, nothing smells right to him. Even his favourite dinners? his bedtime bear he'll say stinks...


An OT will assess and find out what and where the Sensory needs lay.. It can be visual, hearing, touch, hearing, taste or propreoceptive (excuse spelling). A sensory diet may be provided for your child's needs. It is a group of exercises - Tom's is being rolled up in gym mats (he calls this the hot dog) and you apply pressure on and off going up and down (putting mustard and ketchup on the hot dog!) - he pulls himself along a bench, he does some activities while sitting or laying on a gym ball! The list of possibilities is endless! A trampoline also helped Tom.

I don't know if any of this helped! But I had an interesting journey writing it!!

Any other questions... I'd be happy to try and help!

 

[kit10grl]

I don't know if this will help - but I'll share my experiences with you....

One of my sons, Tom aged 7 diagnosed mild Cerebral Palsy (aged 3), Autism and SPD (aged 6).

My knowledge of Tom's sensory issues are that he is over sensitive to sound, under sensitive to touch, some times over sensitive to smell.

So, noises that you and I probably wouldn't think of, say a pan of bubbling water? the checkout beeps? the noise of being inside a moving car? being in a school playground? - We accept this as 'background noise' -Tom however can't ignore these sounds, he hears it all at once whirring through his head as well as contending with his own thoughts. So maybe a conversation with mummy and daddy - we have to make sure only one of us talks at the same time, the tv can't be on or he doesn't hear what we're saying because his brain will be listening in on that.... We discovered head phones and ear defenders help with this. When we would go into town - all of a sudden he would go into a meltdown and we had no idea why and then in turn get stressed, now we think, what could it be? too much chattering? music? cars going past?
The OT has helped us to think about all the noises that go on at once - like right now, the radio is on in the kitchen, the tumble dryer is on, my husband is talking to me, I can hear the tag rattling on the dog as he walks round, I can hear my other son playing his XBox.... All of this could be, on an off day - far too much for Tom. (He is in his room with the door shut playing his Leapster with headphones on)

Touch - so Tom doesn't feel heat or pain like you and I. I would take him to the doctors thinking he was going deaf because he was shouting - it turns out he has perforated ear drums! Or when he won't eat and just wants to sleep - never told me anything - I discovered while arguing with him about how the queen says everyone must brush their teeth - he had 11 mouth ulcers - he hadn't said a word. We bought some bits of eBay, believe it or not, that had diagrams to help him show us if he was in pain and where it was. Tom loves to be gently scratched all over, you know like your mum might've done on your back when you were little and you were on her knee? I know my mum used to! Except Tom wants it on his back, knees, arms, feet - everywhere! When you do this, he totally zones out... until you stop! His electric blanket he likes on a lot! He loves a fairly warm shower! So it's fair that he needs extra touching to keep himself at ease. The OT said when he asks to be scratched, his body is needing some extra sensory input to regulate itself - this finds it's way into Tom's moods! If we stay on top of his needs with what is called a sensory diet by OT's, he stops getting SOOOOO excited about things or SOOOOO cross/upset about things. Tom wears a sensory hug shirt all day every day as the tight pressure it provides him seems to keep him more content. Don't get me wrong - he still has melt downs and tantrums, but they are a little less often and a little less severe! Easier to settle.

If Tom is having a bad day, he's in a bad mood say, nothing smells right to him. Even his favourite dinners? his bedtime bear he'll say stinks...


An OT will assess and find out what and where the Sensory needs lay.. It can be visual, hearing, touch, hearing, taste or propreoceptive (excuse spelling). A sensory diet may be provided for your child's needs. It is a group of exercises - Tom's is being rolled up in gym mats (he calls this the hot dog) and you apply pressure on and off going up and down (putting mustard and ketchup on the hot dog!) - he pulls himself along a bench, he does some activities while sitting or laying on a gym ball! The list of possibilities is endless! A trampoline also helped Tom.

I don't know if any of this helped! But I had an interesting journey writing it!!

Any other questions... I'd be happy to try and help!

thank you for this, i found it very interesting. We have been told robyn may have sensory input issues when she is older but no one has really explained what that could mean for her so its good to read about the kinds of things we can maybe keep an early out for. as well as ideas to try out.

 

[lilbeanhoping]

Im not sure how old your lo is or how they communicate so I'll throw out a few ideas and if they sound like they may work u can adapt to lo's preferences.

You say that he gets upset when you leave the room. Do you ever tell him where ure going, how long you'll be gone, when you'll be back, what he can do until you get back, etc? For some kids its the unknown, not knowing what is going to happen next that is hard. so maybe if you have to leave the room you can tell him where ure going, what he can do while u gone, and that u will be back in "x" amount of time. You can do that verbally, with pictures or even written.

Something that is really helpful, although I kno it's a lot of work but it can help, when he has an episode of "violence" write down time of day, what he has eaten that day, how much/when he slept, what preceded the evet, what exactly he was doing during his "violent episode" and what followed the event. It can help to do this for a week or two and see if you can see a pattern anywhere. For some kids it can be as simple as they havent had enough food that day or more complicated for others such as a certain word or phrase you used.

If you have any questions feel free to pm me, I work with kids with sensory Processing disorders among many other children with many other diagnosis. and I enjoy problem solving and coming up with different strategies.

 

[kytwinmom]

Well, the OT has came in and assessed Jayden. He is under stimulated a lot of the time. He also has object permanence issues, which is why he might be getting upset when I leave the room, etc. He doesn't feel pain at all. One time he climbed over the top rail of his crib and fell onto our floor and he got right back up and was crawling around the bedroom like nothing ever happened. He's very clumsy and falls a lot and then never even acts like he's hurt. Right now the OT has just done the assessment so hasn't had time to really do some therapy. Jayden's mouth area is also over sensitive, so she has highly recommended that we get a vibrating teething ring and whenever he puts something in his mouth that isn't supposed to be in his mouth we can redirect him with the vibrating teething ring over time to get his mouth desensitized. He hates it when we brush his teeth and when we wipe his mouth off after eating, etc. So his face is over sensitive to things and his body is under sensitive to things. He really likes playing with stuff that are more substantial and have a bit of weight to them. So, she thinks that maybe a pressure vest may also help him. But, she has her pressure vest on loan and as soon as she gets it back we are going to borrow it and see if it helps Jayden before we buy one. I'm going to try explaining to him the things that were mentioned when I leave the room and see if that also helps. Any other advice/tips for dealing with an under stimulated child will be greatly helpful.

 

[lilbeanhoping]

Did she discuss a "sensory diet" with you? (things/acitvities u do through the course of a day not things u eat)

 

[TC52UPL]

Well, the OT has came in and assessed Jayden. He is under stimulated a lot of the time. He also has object permanence issues, which is why he might be getting upset when I leave the room, etc. He doesn't feel pain at all. One time he climbed over the top rail of his crib and fell onto our floor and he got right back up and was crawling around the bedroom like nothing ever happened. He's very clumsy and falls a lot and then never even acts like he's hurt. Right now the OT has just done the assessment so hasn't had time to really do some therapy. Jayden's mouth area is also over sensitive, so she has highly recommended that we get a vibrating teething ring and whenever he puts something in his mouth that isn't supposed to be in his mouth we can redirect him with the vibrating teething ring over time to get his mouth desensitized. He hates it when we brush his teeth and when we wipe his mouth off after eating, etc. So his face is over sensitive to things and his body is under sensitive to things. He really likes playing with stuff that are more substantial and have a bit of weight to them. So, she thinks that maybe a pressure vest may also help him. But, she has her pressure vest on loan and as soon as she gets it back we are going to borrow it and see if it helps Jayden before we buy one. I'm going to try explaining to him the things that were mentioned when I leave the room and see if that also helps. Any other advice/tips for dealing with an under stimulated child will be greatly helpful.

Hi there!

Are you in the UK? We bought Tom's sensory hug shirt for £17.00 and he wears it all the time! We've noticed big differences in his meltdowns - frequency/hysterics. You can also get some weighted things from eBay. I know some might say don't buy them, wait until you get OT's one -but you never know how long it'll be until you get it and if it doesn't work, you can easily re-sell.
My OT gave me a leaflet explaining the issues and rememdies for each - i.e Tom's mouth - Tomorrow we have the dentist, so he'll have some gum and maybe a few carrot sticks to de-sensitise his mouth before we get there!

Try google - I google a lot! Someone somewhere will have posted up help!

Good luck!

 

[DHime]

My DS also has Sensory issues. The offending sensory item can be anything. Simply start removing stimuli and see how he reacts. It took me forever to figure out my DS was overlaoded (i like to call it) by the combination of painting on the wall and the sound of my A/C unit. Now I have to turn off the ac when in my living room. The combinations change as they get older. Many outgrow it with OT. I have been slowly adding stimuli for my DS and he is tolerating it for longer periods of time. Depending on the cause of his problem and the amount of time you can dedicate to this will definitely change the outcome. There are many studies done that you can find online. Sensory Integration Disorder is a general term that will help you search for better info.

 

[kytwinmom]

Well, the OT came by today and also brought her weighted vest with her. We have had to wash it so we haven't gotten to try it on Jayden, yet. She recommended that he only wear it for periods of about 15 minutes three times a day to start. If we notice that he needs to wear it more or less to adjust the time/length that he wears the vest. I think that it might help him but I don't know. We will start trying it tomorrow morning and then go from there.

 

[DHime]

FX for you two. Let me know how it goes.