ds1, 9.5yo, adhd and has some sensory issues (easily overstimulated). likes to be by himself, at least, when he's on his meds. if he's not... wow. you ever see over the hedge? you know who hammy the squirrel is? yeah.
ds2, 7 (in a few weeks), pdd-nos and adhd. needs a lot of deep pressure/heavy work type activity. has very little understanding of personal space. shuts down if overwhelmed.
ds3, 5, pdd-nos (tested 1 point above the cutoff for what the dr referred to as "true" autism). has a LOT of sensory needs. will run in circles, crash to the floor, run into walls, etc. for a long time he would only eat crunchy textured and strong or spicy flavoured foods. he's gotten better, but he's still picky.
ds4, 3, NT as far as we know, but had a little occupational and speech therapy to bring him up to speed with his age. seems to seek a lot of deep pressure stuff, but no signs of autism. he's also fond of screaming and making strange noises, loudly.
so.... this is what we do. the boys do a lot of wrestling, with each other and their dad. there's a lot of pillow fights, crash landings on the couch, etc. we walk most places in town, the kids carry their backpacks to carry stuff home from the store for me (that counts as heavy work!) we also do some supplements and the gfcf diet (which helped #3 and #4 but didn't do much for the older ones, so they eat gfcf at home but get school lunch). we saw a dan! dr for #1 and #3 and they kind of slid 2 and 4 in while we were there, but i just can't afford to do everything that they have recommended, no matter how helpful it may be.
i haven't found any magic tricks yet, nothing that makes all the behaviors stop and my children little angels. it just ain't out there. i can only wish it was! right this second, my oldest is having a whiny fit about having to watch his lil brother in the backyard cuz i can't leave the other 2 in here by themselves and they don't want to go out. so he is having a cow, right there outside the back door. argh.
eta: i really am long-winded, aren't i?
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