sensory issues and/or anxiety in 3yo DD

[meg-momto2]

3yo DD seems to have some sensory issues. she's very sensitive to sound. i haven't been allowed to sing to her for almost two years without her yelling at me to stop. i can't play music in the car and she became hysterical during a theater movie and fire works. public restrooms are always entered with hand on ears. she also seems to be sensory seeking in that she loves to jump off things and play rough with DS(6yo also with some sensory seeking behaviors). she's constantly covered in bruises at any given time.

earlier this week was her 3yo check up at the pediatrician. she has a terrible phobia of strangers and doctors. this goes back to at least her 1st birthday. if a stranger approaches her she tries to hide or yells "no!". if you touch her she'll become hysterical. if you try to exam her she will fight you tooth and nail to get away. i have to hold her down for her dental exams(her teeth are rotting out from an undiagnosed gluten intolerance). she's had a few visits to the ER and it took two adults to hold her down for a x-ray and we really could have used third to hold her still. our pediatrician was wonderful and gave us some info for play therapy which i plan on doing.

she also has to be with me at all times. if i mention i need to go to the store she immediately yells, "i go to?". if i do leave without her it's a complete meltdown for DH the entire time i'm gone. she usually cries herself to sleep from exhaustion when i leave. in the last few months she will no longer go to bed on her own and i have to lay with her. sometimes i can slip out if all the lights are turned on just right and the door is open how she likes it. she seems to have a lot of typical fears but her reactions are very strong with them. there's also tantrums where she's locked into them. even if you give her what she wants she'll still continue to scream and cry. even though she won't let me leave her side she also won't let me, or anyone, comfort her when she's upset. touching her just make things 100X worse.

i'm not sure if i should have her evaluated for SPD. does all that sound like it's sensory related? i plan on starting with the play therapy but i don't even know if she'll cooperate with it. DH and i are just so lost in what to do for her. DS had a lot of behavioral issues that we didn't address until much later and we regret not doing something sooner.

[Linda on the move]

I'd ask for a complete eval. Something is going on, and she needs a specialist to really spend some time with her and figure it out.

Has she hit all her developmental milestones on time?

[meg-momto2]

physically yes and way ahead of schedule. rolled over, crawled and walked very early. she didn't speak much until about 2.5yo. i kept going back and forth on if i should get her evaluated and every time i would go to call she'd have a verbal explosion and seem fine. she speaks fairly well now. she's knows most of her alphabet and can count to ten. she's able to do 24 piece puzzles with little help and has been drawing within lines in coloring books for many months. i guess i'll try to find a place that has an OT available for an evaluation as well. i want to get a handle on this sooner rather then later.

[idigchaitea]

Just wanted to let you know that I understand how hard it is when all you want to do is help your child but have no idea how! It was a maze getting my son to the right person--he had a developmental evaluation done at the Children's Hospital here right before he turned 3. He also has sensory issues. They diagnosed him with PDD-NOS, and the sensory issues just come along with it. So I think you should definitely get your daughter thoroughly checked out. Hang in there!!

Also, will she wear little earplugs to help drown all the noise out?

[meg-momto2]

she loves her ear plugs. the night of my last post a freak thunder storm came through. thunder causes meltdowns, even far off distant stuff will send her into a panic. i whipped out our silicone plugs and fixed her up, put her in front a movie and she passed out. i keep them in my purse so we can use them any time.

[mrsfru]

Please don't waste any time hunting for someone to help you. The right person would likely be a developmental behaviorial pediatrician, but you may not live close to one or might have to wait a really long time to get in. In the meantime, search our OT's, ST's, and possibly psychologists who have worked w/kids w/sensory issues. My ds has Asperger's and what you are describing sounds very similar to what we went through, just a bit more extreme. OT and therapy for SID helped a lot....and meds for anxiety have been a god send for him (and therefore, us!)

Best wishes!!

mrsfru