Not sure if this is the right place- sensory issues

[motherofboys]

Does anyone have a child with sensory issues? One who is not developmentally delayed? And was it something that always seemed present or did it seem to slowly develop over time?

My 3rd son is 5. I can't remember (but doesn't mean it wasn't there I guess) him showing any signs before 3. I thought it was just him being him, and even just being a pain in the butt! But the last year he has started with clothes he doesn't like too and it's got progressively worse. I was complaining to a friend how hard it is to find clothes he will wear now and she said with other things I had said about him in the past it sounded like it could be a sensory thing.
I started trying to research online and there are a lot of things in the list that are him. But he doesn't have any developmental delays. He reads and writes well, isn't overly clumsy, no speach problems etc
It's mainly the clothes, the hyperactivity, the constant activity, he still won't eat any hot foods. He loves rough housing and is too rough with other kids. He hates teeth brushing and hair washing or any water near his ears. He chews his coat, but only his coat and sometimes blankets while watching a film. I have to turn all his socks inside out, his pants have to be too big because he moans they are tight round his legs but won't wear boxers. He will only wear 1 pair of boots, even on nicer days or going to the park to play football, and they are 2 sizes too big. He can only wear zip up jumpers, even if I put a pull over/hoody that's too big so definitely not tight he'll say it's too tight on his neck. The newest one is trousers. He doesn't like jeans with adjustable waists as the buttons dig in (even when at their loosest so they are not tight against his skin. But he won't wear joggers or elasticated waists so it's really difficult to find any trousers he is comfortable in. He is only really happy in pjs.

 

[Cattia]

I am in a similar situation with my DS. He seems to have a lot of sensory issues that have got worse recently. He is almost four. In his case, it is sensory seeking. He craves constant movement, is very hyper and almost impossible to control when he's tired; even his cooridination goes. I am pretty concerned about his behaviour and have booked a Dr appointment. I did also read somewhere that they have a testosterone rush at about this age so I don't know whether that is contributing to things? Some of the time he is an angel, but some of the time he is impossible to deal with.

 

[motherofboys]

He is constantly on the go too and is too rough and always jumping and bouncing. He keeps turning himself upside down, and somersaulting on the furniture etc
But he also will avoid the clothes and hot foods etc

 

[Cattia]

Yes my DS does this too, runs into furniture, loves to get his head in weird positions, it's like he can't get enough movement somehow. His language is pretty good for his age and he is very sociable, great imagination too. I am going to start with the GP. I don't know how much of it is just an age thing or whether it's more than that. To me it seems quite extreme, but then I am very focused on it and anxious about it. It's certainly exhausting!

 

[pinkpolkadot]

Hi, yes my DD has big issues with clothes. At the moment she will not wear jeans at all, hates coats, she goes mad of her socks/tights are slightly twisted/wrinkled or she can feel the seams and she hates tags/labels.

She also won't sit still, is a picky eater and hates hair washing/brushing amd teeth brushing although the hair and teeth have improved lately with lots of work!

Strangley she also has sensory seeking issues where she will put her hands in her dinner, poo (over that now thankfully!!), paint her arms and legs instead of the paper etc....

She doesn't have any delays but she has other ASD symptoms such as repetitive speech and play but I know it is poss to have stand alone sensory issues.

 

[motherofboys]

I was looking at something that refered to 'the out of step child' or something, and it appears that even his eating can be a symptom. Something about not being able to self regulate his hunger. He is "starving" then full after a few bites then minutes later starving again.
I'm going to speak to his teacher when he goes back after easter.

 

[Cattia]

There is a book called The Out of Sync Child which is all about sensory processing disorder. It describes the symptoms and gives you ideas of activities you can do. I'm also going to talk to my son's preschool teacher, although she always tells me he's fine, as wellness as the Dr and health visitor. My husband thinks I'm just being neurotic but to me it's more extreme than other kids his age.

 

[motherofboys]

The thing I found on Google that mentioned the eating habits was referring to the out of sync child.
I thought mine might think I was being silly and over reacting but he just said "right, so what do we do now? Who does he need to see?" I think because he is our 3rd son and although they are all different his reactions seem extreme and to have lasted past the toddler years that we would expect to see them in.

 

[Cattia]

Are you in the UK? Will you try to get him evaluated? My DS is still only three but almost four so I think I would expect some improvements by now. My DD used to have quite a few sensory issues when she was that age, mostly she was very scared of noises and especially frightened of hand dryers and balloons. However she has mostly outgrown these now, although she is still a picky eater and hates having her hair brushed.

 

[motherofboys]

Yeah I'm in the UK. I will probably have him evaluated just to put my mind at ease and give me a better idea on how to deal with him. I caught him jumping off the top of the bunk beds today.
My 2nd son had a thing about socks for a couple of months, and I think all kids have a fussy eating stage, and my 2nd son used to have his hyper moments but this seems so much more. Grandparents are resistant to looking after him because he is such hard work.

 

[Cattia]

Yeah I'm in the UK. I will probably have him evaluated just to put my mind at ease and give me a better idea on how to deal with him. I caught him jumping off the top of the bunk beds today.
My 2nd son had a thing about socks for a couple of months, and I think all kids have a fussy eating stage, and my 2nd son used to have his hyper moments but this seems so much more. Grandparents are resistant to looking after him because he is such hard work.

Is your DS in reception? How does he cope with school? My biggest anxiety is how my DS is going to manage school, I am beside myself about it already. His childminder and pre school teacher say he will be fine but I'm worried he'll be out of control and be in trouble all the time

 

[motherofboys]

He had some trouble when he first started in September. It was silly things really, being noisy at times when he should be quiet. In the first week he lost 5 minutes of play time, 1 minute for every time his teacher had to ask him to be quiet that day! Sitting still can be a problem for him, and at Christmas when they were rehearsing the play he had to keep being moved to sit by the teacher because he couldn't be still or quiet. He is a bit of a show off too so during the actual show all the other kids were standing still singing normally and he was pulling faces and having a dance.
That being said at the last parents evening in February his teacher said he seems to have settled a bit, I've not had any notes in his book lately. One of the biggest problems is that he is so rough, he isn't trying to be nasty by it was always that he pulled a child over or knocked a child over or crashed into a child. My youngest is 17 months and he still struggles with being gentle with him.

 

[Cattia]

Oh he sounds so much like my DS! The only time he gets Into trouble at pre school is for beibg too rough but his teacher says he never means to hurt people, he just kind of doesn't know when to stop. It's like he has no off button. My DD is the total opposite so it's hard. Let me know how you get on as it sounds like our DS are on the same page! Xx

 

[motherofboys]

I will do, he still has another week off for easter at the moment. I kind of feel a bit silly, like I'm going to go in there and the teachers going to think I'm mental. She doesn't see the struggle getting dressed in the morning if you grab the wrong pants or put his socks on without turning them inside out. It seems like a big over reaction, shaking his foot around and freaking out about it, but I always just thought he was a drama queen lol

 

[ReReKitty]

Hello! My 3 yo daughter was JUST officially recognized as having sensory processing disorder last week, after spending 2 weeks in a therapy daycare setting. We have had a lot of issues since she was born, where the teeniest things will set her into tantrums and she had a lot of nightmares. So her doctor referred her to the daycare therapy. She has always been impossible to soothe, we could never rock her to sleep, hyperactive, and did dangerous things like climbing too high or jumping off steps (thank goodness never hurt herself). They discovered after a therapy session that she does not present nystagmus (wiggly eyes) after spinning her on the spinning platform. This is a tell-tale sign of hyposensitivity, where the brain does not register sensory input. Basically, her brain does not recognize at all that she is spinning (she can honestly spend an hour spinning in place or walking in circles). She has never felt the sensation of dizziness. Have you noticed this with your LO? It may be worth looking into. I only broke down and asked her pediatrician for help after she became "more difficult" with the nightmares and out of control pickiness and everlasting tantrums and now I'm glad I asked about these issues. I hope this helps at all!

ETA: The spinning thing was just a concrete example of hyposensitivity, it just means her brain isn't registering the sensory input and it displays in many different ways such as wanting everything to be loud, displaying hyperactivity and the inability to sit still, taking too many risks and being "overly" touchy with other people, etc etc

ETA again: My gosh I keep going back and reading your original post and forgetting to type everything haha. Your LO sounds like he may have hypersensitivity. Here is a really helpful link that explains the different types of SPD you can look into https://www.developmental-delay.com/page.cfm/250

 

[motherofboys]

Thanks, its good to have the input of someone who's child has been diagnosed where as I'm still just speculating.
He confuses me, and makes me doubt myself when I read things that list the different signs, because he shows some from one type and some from another. For example he is very funny about his clothes, but he is also hyper, jumping from top bunk on the beds yesterday. But I read it was possible to display different sighs so I just don't know.

 

[ReReKitty]

It is very possible to show different, sometimes contradicting symptoms with sensory issues. It is absolutely worth asking the doctor about Especially if you feel it is impacting him negatively and you feel he would be happier with treatment. Even the peace of mind from "knowing" what might be causing the issues is worth making an appointment for. Although my girl is hyposensitive and "seeks stimulation" she is also very picky with certain sensations like sticky hands or if her cup is still wet from the dishwasher (she will toss the cup across the room and scream for a towel), so it can go both ways. I know how frustrating it is when you aren't sure what's wrong, but you can tell something is off. I really hope you get some answers soon!

Oh! And in case this helps, my LO isn't developmentally delayed in any other aspects and hit all her milestones so far on time. No speech issues or anything else except some fine motor skill issues (spilling when using spoon kind of things) but she is overcoming that very quickly.

 

[motherofboys]

Thank you, it's all very well seeing it on a list, but when someone who's been through the process and had it confirmed that their child does have SPD to say that yeah they display signs from contradicting disorders is reassuring that I'm not reading too much into his behaviour. It just seems 'more' than a normal childhood dislike or over excitement. The link a friend gave me that got me wondering had a chart in it, you could tick avoids, seeks, mixed and nuetral. In one block I ticked almost everything as avoids. In the next almost everything was seeks.

 

[Cattia]

My DS seems to be almost entirely seeking. I am very nervous about getting him assessed, I guess my big worry is that they are going to tell me that he has ASD as the two so often go together and I worry that some of his behaviour could be classed as stimming. He has a lot of friends, gets along great with other kids, has a brilliant imagination but I keep reading stuff online about people whose kids had all that and still turned out to have ASD. I will update after my Dr appointment on Thursday.

 

[motherofboys]

Good luck at your appointment.