Checking the List twice...

In continuing my reading of "The Out of Sync Child" I have come across some checklists to help me understand where Abbi fits within the sensory integration disorder spectrum. I will list the items that Abbi seems to exhibit here. For more information on the various divisions of SID, i'd reccommend checking out this book, and finding these check lists for yourself on page 14. The first list I am going to go over covers sensory modulation. I will cover the other two at a later time.

Over Responsive:
~Abbi used to be the MOST in this area. She still exhibits a lot of these symptoms but not as bad as it used to be, thank goodness! She doesnt like to put her hands into "Dirty" situations such as mud or other ooey gooey substances. She also reacts negatively to certain textures of clothing such as tulle. She also is very particular about the texture of her food, and often will be so sensitive to it that she has a difficult time swallowing if we are even able to get it into her mouth. Meats particularly bother her. She gest over-excited and aggitated with too much to look at, has poor eye contact, is inattentive to desk work, and overreacts to bright lights (such as the big flourescent lights in walmart). She is ever alert and watchful. She covers her ears to close out sounds and voices. She strongly objects to certain tastes and textures of foods and often gags while eating.

Under Responsive:
~Abbi is like this occassionally... again its not the most noticable in her character but I can definately nod my head in agreement with many of these items. Some examples include being unaware of how messy her face is or how messy her clothes are. She often drops items and is bad about protecting herself when she falls. She has even injured herself as badly as needing stitches and fracturing a wrist as a result of this. Loves to swing for long periods of time and does not get dizzy. She often ignores obstacles in her path, and focuses on small bright lights (such as glow sticks or flashlights). She ignores ordinary sounds and voices but may "turn on" to exaggerated musical beats. She appears to be unaware of smells and can eat very spicy food without much of a reaction.

Sensory-Seeking:
If I were to guess, I would say that this most describes Abbi in this one particular category. She is notorious for chewing on inedible objects... anything she can put in her mouth really though the most common items are her hands, and her shirt. She rubs against walls and furniture when she walks and often bumps into people. She craves fast and spinning movement and does not get dizzy. She moves constantly, fidgets, gets into upside-down positions, is a dare devil and takes bold risks. She craves bear hugs, being squeezed and pressed. She seeks heavy work such as pushing a large 2-foot ball through a tube rather than smaller table work like coloring. She craves big playground activities more than "neuro-typical" children. She seeks visually stimulating scenes and screens for lengthy times. SHe is attracted to shiny spinning objects and bright flickering light. She welcomes loud predictable noises such as television, and speaks in a loud booming voice. She loves to lick and taste inedible objects such as playdoh and toys.


All of this leaves me wondering if Abbi really fits into one section of sensory integration disorder or if she is more of a "floater" as the author described, where she can go in and out of various types of sensory integration problems.

Categorically Speaking...

I had no idea that there were various categories and subtypes of sensory integration disorder (this book, the out of sync child, calls it sensory processing disorder). There are apparently 3 different types, with various sub-types.

1) Sensory Modulation Disorder:
-a- Sensory Over-responsivity
-b- Sensory Under-responsivity
-c- Sensory Seeking

2) Sensory Discrimination Disorder

3) Sensory Based Motor Disorder
-a- Postural Disorder
-b- Dyspraxia

The book also gave a great brief description of SID.... here's a quote from page 11.


"SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) happens in the central nervous system, at the 'head' of which is the brain. When processing is disorderly, the brain can not do its most important job of organizing sensory messages. The child cannot respond to sensory information to behave in a meaningful consistent way. He may also have difficulty using sensory information to plan and carry out actions that he needs to do. Thus, he may not learn easily.

Learning is a broad term. One kind of learning is called adaptive behavior, which is the ability to change one's behavior in response to new circumstances, such as learning to meet different teachers expectations. Adaptive behavior - or adaptive responses - is goal directed and purposeful.

Another kind of learning is motor learning, which is the ability to develop increasingly complex movement skills after one has mastered simpler ones. Examples are learning to use a pencil after learning to use a crayon, or learning to catch a ball after learning to throw one.

A third kind of learning is academic learning. This is the ability to acquire conceptual skills, such as reading, computing, and applying what one learns today to what one learned yesterday."


..... For Abbi, I see so much of this in her.... the learning problems. Developmentally she is skewed somewhere between about 12 mos in speech and cognative abilities, to just around 2 years old with motor skills. Bear in mind that she is 4 1/2 years old. Every day that passes, she gets further behind, and while she can never be a disappointment to me in any way whatsoever, I hurt for her, to see her struggle and be so frustrated... and to know that others, particularly kids her own age, see a difference and dont know how to play with or react to her. I hurt for her to experience all of this, and not be able to enjoy life as a "neuro-typical" child can.

I'm hoping that in learning more about this disorder, I can help her overcome a lot of her obstacles to at the least just work WITH her instead of what has often felt like, against her very strong will, to help her grow. I see hope on the horizon... as they say - knowledge is power.

Failure.

One of the first things I have uncovered in this book "the Out of Sync Child" is a slightly different approach to looking at Abbi's actions and emotions. After 4 1/2 years of trying to figure her out, and being unsuccessful, I myself felt like I had failed.

So how does Abbi feel? How does she feel when she cant get her mind to move her foot correctly so that she can get over that step without falling? How does she feel when she cant get her fingers to grasp the puzzle and transmit the information from her brain to her hands to put the piece in the right place? How does she feel when she sees me get so frustrated at her frustration? She feels like a failure.

For myself, my own failure is one of my biggest fears. I am so afraid to fail, ESPECIALLY at parenting. its my life's highest calling... to pass the torch and be a good parent to raise and love and nurture my children to be the kind of people who feel loved and supported and grow to be contributing members of society who love God. Knowing that my frustration at my own feelings of failure regarding parenting have rubbed off on Abbi, to where she feels as though she has somehow failed, is heartwrenching.

This only furthers my goal of wanting to explore what it is that is making Abbi tick. I will not let her feel like a failure. She is amazing and wonderful as she is today... every day I love her more and more even though I cant imagine having the capacity to love more than I do now. She amazes me and has taught me so much not only about her, and about beauty, and love... and yes, special needs, but also about myself. She is truly God's gift to me... and I wont let her feel like a failure. She isnt.

Sensory Integration Disorder

I am going to be delving deep into the study of my daughter, Abigail. She was diagnosed with sensory integration disorder when she was 18 months old. Now at 4 1/2 she has undergone years of occupational and physical therapy, speech services, and neurological services. She has had testing of all kinds to determine what caused her to experience her epilepsy and delays including CT scans, MRI's, an EEG, biopsies of her lymph nodes, a spinal tap, and endless blood and urine tests on top of dozens of evaluations by experts. 3 years after her diagnosis she is still struggling, and most of her doctors dont know what more to do beyond her diagnosis and therapy, which essentially *is* helping, though mildly.

I've studied Sensory Integration Disorder as much as I have been able to online, and have recently picked up a slew of books on the topic, and on Autism, which I also believe Abbi has (and will be pushing the doctor for a formal test soon).

So... What is sensory integration disorder? Well... that's a big part of what I'll be examining over the coming weeks & months (maybe years). In short, I will share some information from the forward of the book "The Out of Sync Child."

"Individuals with these changes look typical. Yet, subtle areas of their nervous systems are not functioning as they should. These changes result in behaviors that confuse, frustrate, and anger parents and teachers. They wonder why these children lack self help skills, become agressive or withdrawn in a group, or refuse to participate in activities or sports"

Some of the problems SID kids experience include learning, language, and the inability to process information through the senses properly (sights, sounds and senseations of touch and movement). For example, it might upset someone with SID to experience bright lights or loud sounds, or to be touched or moved unexpectedly.

People with SID also often have motor skills problems, and have a hard time controlling and orchestrating their muscles effectively. Essentially it is a problem for them to get their body to do what their mind is thinking.

I truly cant imagine what it would be like to be sending the message to my brain for my foot to move forward in a step and it just not "work"... i imagine it would be something similar to like when my leg falls asleep and i just cant seem to get it to move correctly no matter how hard i try. my whole body being like that 24-7 is something i cant even begin to fathom.

The authors of this book, "The Out of Sync Child" state that it isnt that the child needs to change behaviors even though they may sometimes be destructive. Rather, it is the probable underlying reasonf ro those behaviors that we must learn to understand. Behavior is a symptom - not a diagnosis.

"Our task is to not react tot he behavior with the same frustrations and feelis of failure the child experiences. Our job is to understand the behaviors."

That is what my goal is... to understand Abbi. I want to know what makes her tick... what causes her to do (or not do) the things that she does. I think that the more I understand her, the more I can help her to grow into the person that I know she can be. We can work together to help her get through what she struggles with. I hope this journey benefits us both.