Sensory Processing Disorder

Hello, I have a five year old son, he recently stated school and a few days later his teacher called me in to ask if he was autistic, I told her no but we did take him to our pediatrician who said he was fine but if we had further concerns he would refer us to a child behavioral specialist, we haven't been to see anyone yet, but after his teacher talked me I started thinking back, his behavior to me was normal, I just thought maybe he was a difficult child and he'll grow out of it, he hums, he's always done it, and when I looked it up yesterday I found out about SPD, I'd never heard of it before, I read the article and found a lot of similar behaviors in my son, he hates brushing his teeth, it's a challenge everyday, he doesn't like sharing, he wants the TV to himself, toys to himself, he throws tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants, he will ask for something and want it immediately, he'll ask the same question over and over even after he's been answered, he doesn't focus if I'm giving him lessons I'll have to keep drawing his attention to what he's doing, he's a picky eater but if he's eating something he likes he'll eat a lot. I would appreciate any insight you can give me.

Welcome to Connect, Pamela.
I'm tagging @concernedmtnmom on this discussion. She is an amazing resource. Also, I'm tagging @melissa333 who lives with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). I hope they will offer some thoughts according to their experience.

Pamela, did you see the books that Concernedmtnmom posted in this discussion? "The Out of Sync Child" and "Raising Your Spirited Child" Perhaps they can help prepare you for an appointment with a specialist.

Thank you for your help, I'll also check out the books, we don't have a lot of resources for these types of diagnosis here in the Caribbean so I'm grateful for anything I can find out.

@pamelacelia
Hi, I am glad to share what I know about SPD. First, it is hard to diagnose if you don't have doctors familiar with it, but doing research online can help a lot. The books I mentioned, The Out of Sync Child and Raising Your Spirited Child are very helpful, but the Mayo site and other medical websites are great. Sensory Processing Disorder (it used to be called Sensory Integration Disorder) includes a wide range of symptoms. You can read what I wrote in the string below. But the key is to be an advocate for your child, get an occupationa therapist to help you, and just take it one day at a time. Pick your battles. Tactile defensiveness (can't stand tags in clothes, seams on socks, itchy or confining clothes, weird food textures, toothbrushing, hairbrushing, etc.) can be very challenging. My daughter wore nothing but velour stretchy pants and shirts for a couple years. I spent too much time worrying about what she was wearing, what other people thought, etc. She also had (has?) oppositional defiant disorder. Wouldn't take no for an answer, very stubborn, explosive temper...fun times. I think it's common to have the two problems at the same time. Pace yourself. If they get some OT they will outgrow it. There are SPD catalogs that sell seamless socks, weighted vests, balancing toys, and "fidget" toys to distract their sensory issues, etc. that will be very helpful, especially since you're in the Caribbean.

One thing that helped was learning how to give her time to transition from one activity to the next, and giving her time to work toward a comfort level with different sensations. The Spirited Child book helped with that. Don't give up on your kid and don't think you have to "fix" him right away. Just know there are good days and bad days and it's all a process. You are doing the right thing for your child by starting this process and researching how to help him. Yay you!

Thanks for the suggestions and advice, we haven't had him diagnosed with anything yet, he is scheduled for adenoidectomy next week so at some point during his recovery process while he's home from school I hope to get him in to see a specialist.

I stumbled upon a NGO here in Trinidad that deals with all sorts of disorders and disabilities including Sensory disorders, I messaged them so hopefully I'll get a reply soon.

Are you still moderating? We are getting a referral to Mayo for my 14 year old daughter as she may have a high functioning form of autism, but we have only just learned about this today. She saw an episode on aspergers and took some tests online and asked family doc about it. Just seeking information and stumbled upon this.

Hello @sqrlygirldad and welcome to Mayo Connect. I'm so glad to hear that you are getting a referral to Mayo for your daughter.

Yes, @colleenyoung is still moderating here on Connect. I would also like to invite @gingerw to join in this conversation as she might be able to add some information as well.

If you are comfortable doing so, would you share with us some of your daughter's symptoms or behaviors that led you to look into autism?

She discovered it and did some quizzes. After we found out that she was thinking this we thought about the past. Playing with dolls was going through a day in the dolls life, the exact same day. Setting up the kitchen and laundry machines just so, very early skill at pattern recognition. Obsessed about animal facts in Kgarten and before; not just dogs and cats, but animals most adults don’t know existed.
Food: very unique in texture preferences and dislikes; everything she doesn’t like “makes her throat thick”
yogurt good-pudding bad;
Blueberries great-blueberry muffins bad;
Anything with the word pie bad;
Some sweet things can’t eat enough of, other things too sweet even though everyone else in fam finds it less sweet than what she will devour;
Toast with almost no peanut butter is breakfast of choice but plain water makes the throat thick.
Chicken nuggets swimming in ketchup; chicken patty and bread only no ketchup because the ketchup makes the bread weird
Clothing: jeans do not feel good; wearing leggings and hoodie every day, everywhere, even in summer.
Obsession with being loyal to toys, meaning refused to get another doll or stuffed animal that could make the original “jealous”, but could get sister or child for the toy. In toddler years she had a doll named Lacey. Other dolls bought became Casey, Stacey, Gracy, and other rhyming names which I no longer have memorized. But Lacey was the best thing. And it was drug around through the dirt as a security blanket more than playing with a doll.
Went through a scotch tape phase where things got “wallpapered” with tape.
Went through a mustard phase where we had to bring mustard with us to the restaurant for her; now won’t touch mustard.
School: consistently ahead of class in reading especially but scores high in everything and handles it poorly if gets close to 95%, let alone the sole B she got in middle school two years ago. There are probably more that are not coming to mind.
I don’t think it is autism, but some kind of neurodiversity.
Also she got speech therapy at two, which we thought she was slow to talk because she had tonsils out at 18 months.
She is 14, and these were all just close enough to normal that it felt like uniqueness or stubbornness, but it is becoming apparent there may be something more at play.

You have certainly done a great job journaling all of these unique behaviors, @sqrlygirldad. This does seem like something to be investigated by an expert in the area.
Has your Mayo referral been processed yet?