Hey all,
I am so glad I found this forum. We are super new to SN parenting, but we got a dx of SPD last week and I am just a little overwhelmed and not sure what all this means for our family.
I had been noticing things were different with my son for awhile. Firstly, he really, really likes to bang his head into things. At first, I thought this was a normal developmental stage and would pass, but he still does it a lot. Also, if he is redirected or transitioned into a new activity and that upsets him, he will hit himself in the face and the head. The thing he does most that is really unusual, however, is licking. And I mean constantly licking everything, especially sliding glass doors (or any glass door), windows and the floor. He will sneak to do it b/c he knows that he will be corrected. It was so frustrating to hear my parents say (and they still say) that he does it b/c we have dogs and he thinks he is a dog (even though NONE of our dogs lick windows!). I really need the head ramming against a brick wall icon, but I am on my phone and can't find it
We go to a music class once a week and instead of interacting with the kids, he tries to sneak off to the side and lick all the windows and doors (it is in a room with a full wall of windows). All the musical instruments go in his mouth, even things like blocks with sandpaper on one side. He doesn't really like to interact with the kids, he mostly parallel plays, besides patting them on the head occasionally. He also becomes startled and frightened by certain tones of voices or loud noises at particular times (usually right before bed or naptime, when his body is winding down). He has become frightened of my youngest brother, who has a deep voice and doesn't speak quietly to him. He will pout and cry pitifully and run to my mom or myself for comfort when my brother speaks (and this is a new development, he used to love spending time with my brother). He also becomes overwhelmed in the presence of more dominant or active kids. Back in December, I spent a few days with a couple girlfriends and their two boys. One of the boys was very aggressive, bullied the other boy (my son tried to avoid interaction with this boy), and was just generally rough. My son was almost catatonic. He was very, very quiet (the moms were telling me how easy I had it b/c my son was "mellow"), he sat mostly off to the side or in a corner and played by himself. I had never seen him react that way to any situation, but maybe that is related to SPD?
So, we had an eval with an OT last week and she dx him with SPD. She said he will probably only need therapy for 3-6 months once a week for 45 minutes. She implied that she didn't think his symptoms were that serious (although she told me they don't use terms like mild or severe, they just dx it and that's that). She did tell me the goal of OT would be to redirect his inappropriate behavior, like licking doors and windows into licking things that are appropriate (she mentioned a specific thing they use for kids who lick, but I forget the name).
Anyway, this is a really long-winded intro, but I guess I am just looking for been there/done that reassurance, any ideas on what to expect, or not to expect anything and go with the flow and see what happens.
Thank you if you made it all the way through this!
I am so glad I found this forum. We are super new to SN parenting, but we got a dx of SPD last week and I am just a little overwhelmed and not sure what all this means for our family.
I had been noticing things were different with my son for awhile. Firstly, he really, really likes to bang his head into things. At first, I thought this was a normal developmental stage and would pass, but he still does it a lot. Also, if he is redirected or transitioned into a new activity and that upsets him, he will hit himself in the face and the head. The thing he does most that is really unusual, however, is licking. And I mean constantly licking everything, especially sliding glass doors (or any glass door), windows and the floor. He will sneak to do it b/c he knows that he will be corrected. It was so frustrating to hear my parents say (and they still say) that he does it b/c we have dogs and he thinks he is a dog (even though NONE of our dogs lick windows!). I really need the head ramming against a brick wall icon, but I am on my phone and can't find it
We go to a music class once a week and instead of interacting with the kids, he tries to sneak off to the side and lick all the windows and doors (it is in a room with a full wall of windows). All the musical instruments go in his mouth, even things like blocks with sandpaper on one side. He doesn't really like to interact with the kids, he mostly parallel plays, besides patting them on the head occasionally. He also becomes startled and frightened by certain tones of voices or loud noises at particular times (usually right before bed or naptime, when his body is winding down). He has become frightened of my youngest brother, who has a deep voice and doesn't speak quietly to him. He will pout and cry pitifully and run to my mom or myself for comfort when my brother speaks (and this is a new development, he used to love spending time with my brother). He also becomes overwhelmed in the presence of more dominant or active kids. Back in December, I spent a few days with a couple girlfriends and their two boys. One of the boys was very aggressive, bullied the other boy (my son tried to avoid interaction with this boy), and was just generally rough. My son was almost catatonic. He was very, very quiet (the moms were telling me how easy I had it b/c my son was "mellow"), he sat mostly off to the side or in a corner and played by himself. I had never seen him react that way to any situation, but maybe that is related to SPD?So, we had an eval with an OT last week and she dx him with SPD. She said he will probably only need therapy for 3-6 months once a week for 45 minutes. She implied that she didn't think his symptoms were that serious (although she told me they don't use terms like mild or severe, they just dx it and that's that). She did tell me the goal of OT would be to redirect his inappropriate behavior, like licking doors and windows into licking things that are appropriate (she mentioned a specific thing they use for kids who lick, but I forget the name).
Anyway, this is a really long-winded intro, but I guess I am just looking for been there/done that reassurance, any ideas on what to expect, or not to expect anything and go with the flow and see what happens.
Thank you if you made it all the way through this!
. Good luck to you on your journey with your son.
book. I can add that at your child's age parallel play is absolutely developmentally appropriate. My 3 year old is just starting to notice other kids and do some more imaginative play with others.
. Ever since that day removing shoes has become part of the ritual, and often he does/we do (I mean, not me, but on my suggestion and now his initiative
) that in restaurants too because he often just sits on his knees or stand on the chair, and cannot sit still. He cannot sit (quietly) on a lap either, when it does happen he totally takes my by surprise! It's been an issue sometimes when bus/subway was getting full and people then expect a young child to sit on mother's/father's lap. Usually I would get up and stand right in front of his seat while him still doing his usual thing instead, sometimes, when there would be no proper space for me to stand we would keep on using the two seats, or I would share the same seat with with him standing and wriggling behind me or on my back
; on a bus it's happened that we just take kept our two seats (me putting my 'special' child's needs and comfort level above passengers' possible annoyance over a 'lost seat' - since it wouldn't do ANYONE good for him having a screaming tantrum through the whole bus when he would be forced to 'break' his 'pattern' and give up his personal space!) and/or it happened that someone would force/insist to sit on 'his/my' spot while I had to forcibly hold ds on my lap - and those where just horrible rides!
.
.
Lynn has given you a lot of great advice!
She took him out when she saw his reaction, and showed me a joint pressure technique to calm him. That seemed to help a little, but he was still pretty upset the rest of the appointment, crying off and on. She said we won't do swings anymore for now! 
