This week we had my older kids' evaluations done for SPD. Finally! I took my oldest daughter (Sassy Pants) in on Tuesday and we went through and answered all the questions and they observed her for a while. They haven't said for sure that they think she has SPD but do think that she has sensory issues that need to be dealt with. They referred us to go see a Visual Therapist to get her eyesight checked out and to see if her eyes move correctly to read, understand and comprehend what she's looking at/reading. So we go in for that on Monday. (I'll update on that later after we get back.) So now she is going in to have Occupational Therapy once a week. And Sassy's teacher at school has offered to stay one day a week to help her out more in school on a one on one basis; she already stays after two days a week for extra help with a reading intervention teacher. So I am hoping that after a while she will start to improve in school. She was always so advanced in everything when she was younger so all this really took us by surprise. But we will do any and everything to help her and make sure her future is a bright one.
Today I took my son in for his evaluation and they said that he definitely has sensory processing issues that also need to be dealt with. I really didn't expect for them to say that; I really just thought that he had been through so much in his life that he just had weird quirks. But they said that SPD issues would explain his: never wanting to wear pants, shoes and socks, sensitivity to light, wind and touch, his constant loudness (he always talks really loud), his aggressiveness and frustrations, his constant need to touch objects and people and so on. So now he is going to go in once a week with my oldest daughter to get Occupational Therapy as well.
We will have to take all three in to get positive diagnosis's from a Neurologist but that takes a while to get in. So in the meantime they all three will all three be getting therapy. I'll keep you updated on what's going on and how they are doing.
Do any of you have multiple children with sensory issues? Do you have any advice or tips that you can give me?
Showing posts with label support blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label support blog. Show all posts
Friday
Monday
Giving your SPD child more options
So far to help her throughout the day we have been doing yoga ball exercises (explained here). This is something she really enjoys and seems to really help her.
We are also getting her "control book" ready. I took pictures of all her things: things she eats, things she plays with, things that are in our schedule and so on. So starting, hopefully tomorrow, we will be able to let her have more control over what she wants. So tomorrow I will sit her at the table and give her two choices. I'll show her a picture of cereal and a picture of a bagel and let her pick which one she wants. Now this will be a little tricky because Little Miss doesn't point to things that she wants. She does, however, sometimes point to things that she wants us to look at but just not at whatever it is that she is trying to get.
Then at playtime I'll show her a picture of her little toy phone and a picture of her stuffed animal and let her choose which one she wants to play with. This lets her have more control over things throughout her day, which in turn will make her feel happy because she got to choose what *she* wants.
We will also show her pictures and explain what is going to happen next. Like a picture of the bathtub, "Ok Little Miss, now Mama is going to put you in the bathtub and (showing her a picture of her ducky) you get to play with your duck." Then at bedtime, "Little Miss now it's time for bed. Let's say goodnight." This lets her know what's coming, helps her put words with actions and routines *and* prepare herself for the next step.
Letting your child have more options is great. And after they get the idea that you show them the picture, they pick and you give it to them then you can move onto step two of the 'control book' process. If your child is like mine then helping them put words together and begin to form those words is a huge, very important step. So after she gets it I will then start to hold up two different pictures for her to choose from and ask her, "Little Miss, do you want the banana? Or do you want the apple?" but when I ask her I will hold the picture up close to my mouth and over-exaggerate the words. "...b-a-n-a-n-a?" or "...a-p-p-l-e?" and hopefully after a while she will start watching my mouth and start trying to say, instead of point, to which one she wants.
I am going to laminate my photos for her so that they will last a long time. You never know, maybe after she gets all this down we can figure out some new thing to do with them. But for right now this is enough. If you decide to do this with your child I highly recommend saving yourself some laminating sleeves and doing pics of foods on one side and pics of objects on the back. That way you can turn them over to do the next picture instead of having 100 pictures all one-sided.
What are some things you have made for your child that help in your everyday life?
We are also getting her "control book" ready. I took pictures of all her things: things she eats, things she plays with, things that are in our schedule and so on. So starting, hopefully tomorrow, we will be able to let her have more control over what she wants. So tomorrow I will sit her at the table and give her two choices. I'll show her a picture of cereal and a picture of a bagel and let her pick which one she wants. Now this will be a little tricky because Little Miss doesn't point to things that she wants. She does, however, sometimes point to things that she wants us to look at but just not at whatever it is that she is trying to get.
Then at playtime I'll show her a picture of her little toy phone and a picture of her stuffed animal and let her choose which one she wants to play with. This lets her have more control over things throughout her day, which in turn will make her feel happy because she got to choose what *she* wants.
We will also show her pictures and explain what is going to happen next. Like a picture of the bathtub, "Ok Little Miss, now Mama is going to put you in the bathtub and (showing her a picture of her ducky) you get to play with your duck." Then at bedtime, "Little Miss now it's time for bed. Let's say goodnight." This lets her know what's coming, helps her put words with actions and routines *and* prepare herself for the next step.
Letting your child have more options is great. And after they get the idea that you show them the picture, they pick and you give it to them then you can move onto step two of the 'control book' process. If your child is like mine then helping them put words together and begin to form those words is a huge, very important step. So after she gets it I will then start to hold up two different pictures for her to choose from and ask her, "Little Miss, do you want the banana? Or do you want the apple?" but when I ask her I will hold the picture up close to my mouth and over-exaggerate the words. "...b-a-n-a-n-a?" or "...a-p-p-l-e?" and hopefully after a while she will start watching my mouth and start trying to say, instead of point, to which one she wants.
I am going to laminate my photos for her so that they will last a long time. You never know, maybe after she gets all this down we can figure out some new thing to do with them. But for right now this is enough. If you decide to do this with your child I highly recommend saving yourself some laminating sleeves and doing pics of foods on one side and pics of objects on the back. That way you can turn them over to do the next picture instead of having 100 pictures all one-sided.
What are some things you have made for your child that help in your everyday life?
Sunday
Stefanie's Intro
Hello my name is Stefanie (aka Bloggymommy) and I am the founder and owner of the SPD Life. I am a 28 year old mother to three beautiful, special children. It is my youngest daughter (22 months) that has SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder). My oldest has ADHD and my son has numerous health issues. I am getting both my other children evaluated for SPD in the next month as well.
Michelle and I met through an online group of mom bloggers and found out early on that we had more in common than we originally thought. Both our youngest children have SPD. We are both from different states that became friends as we both learn and experience the ups and downs of SPD and what it does to our children everyday. We thought it would be a good idea to create a blog where we could vent on our frustrations, blog about new ideas, therapy appointments, strategies and help other parents that are going through the same things that we are.
It is hard at times dealing with people in public that have no idea why our children act the way that they do. From their standpoint, not knowing about their disorder, they think we have unruly, hyper, bratty children. When really what they are dealing with is an inability to express their frustrations appropriately so they lash out and throw fits, scream, hit themselves and so on. Children with SPD look completely normal so it is hard for others to understand unless they know about the disorder or are going through it themselves with either their child or themselves.
It can be so difficult to deal with our children and their disorder. We are still fairly new to this and are learning as we go. To see your child throwing fits, hitting themselves, screaming and crying, not being able to use words to communicate and being so frustrated that all they can do is melt down is so incredibly difficult. As mothers we feel like it is our responsibility and motherly instinct to know the difference between every cry and whimper and be able to understand the "words" that they use. When we can't we at times feel like failures because we don't know what they want or how to make them feel better.
So through this blog you will hear about our children's therapy appointments, melt downs, tantrums, doctors appointments, new found strategies and us just venting about a hard day. We will try to do our best to incorporate other online sites that offer tools and advice about this disorder as well. And hopefully at some point will be able to do giveaways for tools to help with children's SPD "diets".
I hope you will join us while we learn about this and learn how to help our children. If you have any advice or questions please feel free to email one of us. We hope that we can somehow make you feel better and be a place for you to vent and share as well.
*We have been working on this blog for some time now before opening and already have some posts on suggestions and stories here. So read through and drop us a comment or two and let us learn more about you and your situation.
We will have an interview post up in a few days on a new mother we found whose child also has SPD. We will from time to time do interviews on parents so they can share their thoughts, suggestions and stories. If you would like us to interview you or you have something you would like to share please email one of us @ bloggymommy3@yahoo.com or michwinter629@gmail.com with your story.
Michelle's Intro
My name is Michelle, and I am the 29 year old mother of 4 children, ages 13, 11, 4, and 2. For a little while, I had noticed that my 2 year old son had some issues that my other children never seemed to exhibit when they were that age. He always hated being dressed, and would take off his clothes or diapers, or complain about the tags in his clothes.. He didn't like to touch certain toys if they had a bumpy texture, and didn't like things like play dough, or anything with an overly soft texture. He just had a hard time with ANYTHING involving texture, senses, etc. He would get really overwhelmed in public places and just have a complete and total meltdown, and it would take him a few days until his body completely calmed down enough. I just knew something wasn't right.
At his 2 year old check up, his pediatrician suggested contacting Early Intervention in our state. I was so scared, because I had no idea what to expect. I had done some research on Sensory Processing Disorder, but just couldn't find a lot of information, and wasn't sure if my son had it or not.
The day of our evaluation came, and halfway through, the evaluator pulled me aside and said "He clearly has Sensory Processing Disorder. We'll do everything we can to help both of you work through this"
And that began our journey into Sensory Processing Disorder. It hasn't always been easy, and it hasn't always been pretty. It's been a journey of discovering new information, new resources, and new friends.
I was SO happy to meet Stefanie and to find out that we both have a child who has SPD. What are the chances?! We've helped each other through hard times with our children, and have listened to each other vent about the frustrations that SPD brings. We hope to be here to listen to you vent as well!
We hope you will find this to be a place where you can come for information, support, or place a place to come where you know you're not alone. I know sometimes when dealing with this, it feels like you're the ONLY one out there that has to go through this, but I promise -- there are others out there, and we're all in this together!
At his 2 year old check up, his pediatrician suggested contacting Early Intervention in our state. I was so scared, because I had no idea what to expect. I had done some research on Sensory Processing Disorder, but just couldn't find a lot of information, and wasn't sure if my son had it or not.
The day of our evaluation came, and halfway through, the evaluator pulled me aside and said "He clearly has Sensory Processing Disorder. We'll do everything we can to help both of you work through this"
And that began our journey into Sensory Processing Disorder. It hasn't always been easy, and it hasn't always been pretty. It's been a journey of discovering new information, new resources, and new friends.
I was SO happy to meet Stefanie and to find out that we both have a child who has SPD. What are the chances?! We've helped each other through hard times with our children, and have listened to each other vent about the frustrations that SPD brings. We hope to be here to listen to you vent as well!
We hope you will find this to be a place where you can come for information, support, or place a place to come where you know you're not alone. I know sometimes when dealing with this, it feels like you're the ONLY one out there that has to go through this, but I promise -- there are others out there, and we're all in this together!
Thursday
Tonight's tantrum.....
*Sigh* Tonight's tantrum was quite a doozy... It lasted for 25 minutes, and it was over chips. Yes, potato chips! Little Man has decided that he's on a hunger strike, and will only eat whatever junk food is laying around. Tonight he found the snack pack of individual chips -- dorito's, frito's, cheesies, etc. A little boy's dream!
So when we got home, I gave him a bag while I was getting everything ready for dinner. 45 minutes later, he grabbed another pack and kept shoving it in my face to get me to open it. He kept screaming "chips", "chips", over and over again. I tried ignoring him, but it just got worse.
He threw himself on the ground and started hitting his head on the floor. He rolled around and screamed, all the time yelling "chips". I tried picking him up to calm him down, and he hit me in the cheek.
Finally, after 25 minutes he calmed down. How did he calm down? I gave in and gave him the chips.....
YES, I know that was probably the wrong thing to do, but what was I supposed to do? I really saw NO end in sight of the tantrum. When he gets in those moods, I just feel helpless. I have no idea how to help him. The O.T. really can't offer any idea's, because she's never seen him like this... I just don't know what to do!!
Any suggestions?
So when we got home, I gave him a bag while I was getting everything ready for dinner. 45 minutes later, he grabbed another pack and kept shoving it in my face to get me to open it. He kept screaming "chips", "chips", over and over again. I tried ignoring him, but it just got worse.
He threw himself on the ground and started hitting his head on the floor. He rolled around and screamed, all the time yelling "chips". I tried picking him up to calm him down, and he hit me in the cheek.
Finally, after 25 minutes he calmed down. How did he calm down? I gave in and gave him the chips.....
YES, I know that was probably the wrong thing to do, but what was I supposed to do? I really saw NO end in sight of the tantrum. When he gets in those moods, I just feel helpless. I have no idea how to help him. The O.T. really can't offer any idea's, because she's never seen him like this... I just don't know what to do!!
Any suggestions?
Wednesday
Tantrum Strategies (ARTICLE)
This article was given to me by Little Man's O.T., and hopefully it can help some parents out!
1. BEST TREATMENT: PREVENTION
a. Pick your battles: Avoid confrontations when it really doesn't matter. If they are not at risk for harm or harming something, give them time to get bored and try to get your way later.
b. Identify when and where your child has tantrums to see if there are particular triggers. Is it only in public, when they are hungry or tired? Is it during transitions from one activity to another? Knowing this info will help you prevent tantrums.
c. Be careful about setting yourself up for a NO answer. Do not ask your child a question if they don't have a choice to make. "We are going to leave now, okay?" is better stated, "We are leaving the store in 1 minute". Don't ask, "Do you want?" If you can't have the answer no!
d. Make a big deal often during good behavior that your child does. The key is letting your child know what pleases you and will get positive attention for.
e. Give your child cues that will help them prepare for what lies ahead. Sometimes telling a child when they have 5 minutes, then 3 minutes, then 1 minute until a transition is to occur helps them prepare for a change.
f. Always leave a small toy handy in your bag for distracting or providing an activity for those tantrums caused by boredom. If the toy is reserved only for when you are 'out', the interest in it will last longer.
2. DURING A TANTRUM:
a. Stay calm! The crazier they are, the calmer you need to be!
b. Let them know that you understand what they want, but that it is not going to happen now, then you stop talking!!.
c. Be careful not to reinforce the tantrum with extra attention and words that may actually be encouraging or rewarding the tantrum. Kids want our attention more than anything and often even negative attention is better than no attention at all. to work effectively, a tantrum needs a sympathetic audience.
d. Use isolation when ever possible for the tantrum. Establish a routine with total predictability. Put the child on a soft surface and IGNORE them for a few minutes, staying close enough to make sure they are safe. Occasionally reassure them that when they are calm, they can go play.
e. If they get up and move, do not chase them but make sure they are safe. If they are tearing up a room, then hold them on our lap tightly until you feel their arms and legs surrender. Holding can be reinforcing for some children.
f. Some kids can't calm themselves, and the tantrums last for longer than 30 minutes. These kids sometimes need to be rocked and held quietly when it appears they are 'stuck' and can't calm themselves. Sometimes giving them a pillow and a favorite blanket helps them to calm.
g. When the tantrum is over, let it go. Give them a hug and let them know that it is their behavior you don't like, but you love them all the same.
h. BE CONSISTENT with your words and actions. It is normal for tantrums to increase in order for your child to see if you react the same way every time. If the tantrums then decrease, your strategy is effective!! If the tantrums do not decrease, then you are doing something that the child finds reinforcing!!
1. BEST TREATMENT: PREVENTION
a. Pick your battles: Avoid confrontations when it really doesn't matter. If they are not at risk for harm or harming something, give them time to get bored and try to get your way later.
b. Identify when and where your child has tantrums to see if there are particular triggers. Is it only in public, when they are hungry or tired? Is it during transitions from one activity to another? Knowing this info will help you prevent tantrums.
c. Be careful about setting yourself up for a NO answer. Do not ask your child a question if they don't have a choice to make. "We are going to leave now, okay?" is better stated, "We are leaving the store in 1 minute". Don't ask, "Do you want?" If you can't have the answer no!
d. Make a big deal often during good behavior that your child does. The key is letting your child know what pleases you and will get positive attention for.
e. Give your child cues that will help them prepare for what lies ahead. Sometimes telling a child when they have 5 minutes, then 3 minutes, then 1 minute until a transition is to occur helps them prepare for a change.
f. Always leave a small toy handy in your bag for distracting or providing an activity for those tantrums caused by boredom. If the toy is reserved only for when you are 'out', the interest in it will last longer.
2. DURING A TANTRUM:
a. Stay calm! The crazier they are, the calmer you need to be!
b. Let them know that you understand what they want, but that it is not going to happen now, then you stop talking!!.
c. Be careful not to reinforce the tantrum with extra attention and words that may actually be encouraging or rewarding the tantrum. Kids want our attention more than anything and often even negative attention is better than no attention at all. to work effectively, a tantrum needs a sympathetic audience.
d. Use isolation when ever possible for the tantrum. Establish a routine with total predictability. Put the child on a soft surface and IGNORE them for a few minutes, staying close enough to make sure they are safe. Occasionally reassure them that when they are calm, they can go play.
e. If they get up and move, do not chase them but make sure they are safe. If they are tearing up a room, then hold them on our lap tightly until you feel their arms and legs surrender. Holding can be reinforcing for some children.
f. Some kids can't calm themselves, and the tantrums last for longer than 30 minutes. These kids sometimes need to be rocked and held quietly when it appears they are 'stuck' and can't calm themselves. Sometimes giving them a pillow and a favorite blanket helps them to calm.
g. When the tantrum is over, let it go. Give them a hug and let them know that it is their behavior you don't like, but you love them all the same.
h. BE CONSISTENT with your words and actions. It is normal for tantrums to increase in order for your child to see if you react the same way every time. If the tantrums then decrease, your strategy is effective!! If the tantrums do not decrease, then you are doing something that the child finds reinforcing!!
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