SID/SPD very long post!!

1106 Views 11 Replies 11 Participants Last post by JohannasGarden, Jun 23, 2005

winnie0119

Discussion Starter · Jun 11, 2005

After seeing a post on SID/SPD I followed a google link...OMG this sounds exactly like my 4yr old and 2yr old. After reading they both dont exhibit exact symptoms, but they do have most of them. For those of you that have SID children, do I contact the OT through our hosp ? My doc left and started his own practice which isnt open until July 1st, and the kids health ins cancels at the end of this month. New ins is coming for them. The docs that our in the office where he was I cant stand. I know if I went in there with this info they would totaly not agree, and tell me they are just being kids. Let me tell you a little about them and see if you agree.

Olivia 4 yr
Very hyper, but can sit for hours infront of the computer games
HATES to have her hair comed, screams that it hurts no matter how gentle I am, what brush I use, and even spray detangler/conditoner doesnt help.
Refuses to allow me to put anything in her hair like baretts,hair ties etc...screams they hurt. Just now allows me to wash her hair, but is scared to death of rinsing.
Loves to brush her teeth.
Her tanturms are way beyond anything I have seen. As a young baby she would throw herself back, doesnt matter where she is, or what surface she is on. She will slam back and crack her head off the floor.
Very emotional. Some days I can say one wrong thing and she runs to her bed crying for long periods.
Runs through the house like a tornado, ripping and tearing in things. She will climb the shelfs that are attached to the wall and sweep her hand across just to knock everything down. If I have any clothes on my dresser she will walk from one end to the other knocking everything on the floor. I had some smaller clothes in bags to go out to the garage,she ripped those open and threw them all over everywhere over top of her head like it was raining clothes.
Is forever jumping/climbing on any surface, doesnt matter if it is a still surface. I got her one day on top of her Little Tikes kitchen, trying to stand on it and knock it over to ride it down like a surfboard. Jumps on beds, climbs on the back of the couch to jump off.
Hates clothes. Some days refuses to wear them to go out, its a battle. At home she will not wear clothes, no matter the temp. It can be 0 degrees out and she says clothes make her too hot. Only time she will wear clothes is if we have to go out. For me if she is comfortable with no clothes, I choose my battles, and while at home I could care less, but going out in public she has no choice on clothes, but a choice on what to wear. If we are in the store, she is trying to take her shoes and clothes off...telling me she is too hot and too itchy.
As a baby she was a VERY high needs child, and demanded soooo much stimuli. She refused to lay down, she had to sit strait up at all times, and was playing with reach toys at 3months, and had to be entertained at all times. She was able to entertain herself, but none the less it had to be all day long constant stimuli

Tyler 2 yr
Same as above but he has a vocabulary that a 1 yr old would have. Refuses to talk.
Very,very agressive.
Bites,smacks,pinches.
He wants to be in control of everything. It might be a toy he hasnt touched for over an hour and laid it down, and the minute someone touches it, and he hears it from 2 rooms away, he comes screaming. If he was on the computer and got off to go play, and he hears the chair creek from someone sitting down, he will come flying screaming his head off, then proceed to through himself on the ground, smacking his head and scream for hours, or sometimes tantrums himself to sleep on the floor. When he is like this the is NO soothing him, or loving on him. If you try to comfort him it makes him all the madder.
Both of them have a hard time leaving one place to go to another. If we are at familys house they both will scream when its time to leave. Many other places too, but this one sticks in my head.
As a baby I could tell he got over stimulated easily, and needed times in his quiet bed to recover. He has since acted alittle differntly and I dont notice much overstimulation while at home.
Both can not calm down after acticity. If dh plays with them on the floor at 6 pm they are still wound very high at 1am.
Both have major issues with falling asleep at night.

Im so sorry this is so long, but after reading this I thought there might be some insight. Does it sound like this might be what is going on, or is it im just that bad of a parent and they are out of control that bad ??????

Jen

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kitty waltz

· #2 · Jun 11, 2005

First of all, regardless of whatever diagnosis you recieve for them , if any, I sincerily doubt these type of issues are a result of bad parenting.

I have 2 suggestions for you:

Take your little ones to the pediatrician. Even if the doctor acts like your crazy or something, insist on an eval by a specialist - a ped. neurologist or a developmental pediatrician. Many times I have met/heard of doctors passing off parents concerns uneccessarily.

I convinced our skeptical doc to give us a referral and my dd was dx'd autistic by a neurologist.

Also, try posting about this in the special needs parenting board. you will get more responses from parents of SID/SPD or Autistic kids.

My kids have many of the same sensory issues you describe - the hair issues, the destructiveness and aggression. But my dd also has social issues, and language issues, as well. I haven't had my son dx'd yet - but I am not sure if he wil be dx'd autistic or SID, because his language is developing nicely, Im not sure if he will have any social issues or not. So in my opinion, after my experiences with my kids, is that you're probably not off the mark but a specialist will best be able to determine where on the spectrum your children fall. {aside: Am I correct in saying SID is on the spectrum? I think so... but anyone can correct me if Im wrong.}

Hope this helps.

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Proudly AP

· #3 · Jun 12, 2005

my 3 year-old dd presents with several of these characteristics as well.

i have friends who are OT's, and i asked if they thought she had SID. first off, there is controversy about whether there really is SID. we all fall along the continuum of how we perceive and interpret sensory input. (not saying i don't believe in it, just repeating what i've been told).

at any rate, i really found the book raising your spirited child helped with a lot of the 'issues' i had with dd and her reactions to things. it is worth a quick read. there is a companion workbook, as well. i find that it really helps me to see things from her perspective, and to recognize ways that i, myself, have some of these same issues.

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quaz

· #4 · Jun 12, 2005

Your 4 year old, sounds similar in ways to my kids. In my case, though, I don't think they have SID/SPD. My youngest is just VERY high needs. She is passionate, opinionated about things, and seems somewhat 'smart' for her age, and just freaks when she doesn't get her way (been like that since very young)... and I think that is what contributes to making her HN's.

She is going through the no clothes stage now. It is taking two of us at night to put her pajamas on, b/c one of us can no longer do it by ourselves. She HATES sticky things on her hands. My oldest freaks with washing her hair and with combing/fixing her hair.

The interesting things I've found with some cases of SID/SPD, is that I think many of the symptoms can just be toddler quirks. I guess that is why ya really need an eval done to know, and with that I don't have any advice on. I know someone going through that now... the parent doesn't know if it is SID/SPD or just an age thing.

One interesting thing I've seen with my oldest, though... she was very adverse to sticky items on her also... she even hated stickers (and everyone at stores always seemed to be offering them to her). I don't know what happened, but she know actually likes stickers... it's like she got past that point.

Tammy

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mmaramba

· #5 · Jun 12, 2005

I don't know enough about SID to comment, though I certainly believe it is real, and would talk to a professional.

However, one note-- the vocabulary issue with your DS may very well be a non-issue. Apparently, by gender and birth order, first-born girls are the MOST talkative and second-born boys with older sisters the LEAST talkative-- mainly because their talkative sisters talk *for* them. This happens with a lot of second-borns and is something that they usually grow out of very quickly as soon as their older sibs go to school... All of the sudden, they double or triple their vocabulary-- within weeks! Nothing to be overly concerned about.

Not saying that this is your son, but certainly a possibility...

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LoveBeads

· #6 · Jun 12, 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by quaz
The interesting things I've found with some cases of SID/SPD, is that I think many of the symptoms can just be toddler quirks. I guess that is why ya really need an eval done to know, and with that I don't have any advice on. I know someone going through that now... the parent doesn't know if it is SID/SPD or just an age thing.

The difference between quirks and SID is that one can enjoy life and not have to limit one's exposure to life based on a "quirk". In other words, if you don't like sticky things on your hands, you just wash your hands frequently or avoid things like finger painting, etc.

If you have SID and you don't like sticky things, you will probably recoil in absolute terror at the notion of having to finger paint. You will scream and rip off your clothes if you get a drop of water on them. You will insist on going home or have a huge tantrum if you are at a friend's house and their mom breaks out the play-doh.

That's the difference.

Of course, there are varying degrees of SID and the sensory processing disorder makes many other things challenging - balance, coordination, transitioning, sleeping, etc. So it is not just the stickiness that is an issue - it's many other things.

Good luck in finding a diagnosis!

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winnie0119

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 13, 2005

Thank you all for your ideas and oppions. I will be calling and talking with the OT dept at the hosp aand see how familiar they are with SID and go from there. I hate to say this but at times life is very miserable around here with the behavior. Somedays I just get so overwhlemed. One way or another I will get to reading the books you all have mentioned and try to speak about an eval, and we will get results !!!!! At least thats my hope for today

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meemee

· #8 · Jun 14, 2005

since the whole process of eval is a lengthy one in the meanwhile borrow or buy 'the out of sync child'. it will really help u see things. adn empwer u more for eval.

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Finch

· #9 · Jun 14, 2005

I'll pm one of the mods of the special needs forum and see if this thread can be moved there, as you'll probably get more answers there too.

My ds has SID.

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pilesoflaundry

· #10 · Jun 16, 2005

We suspect my 3 year old has SID, my 20 month old *does* have SID (EIC did 2 evals) and I know realize that I do have it and have had it my whole life. Yes it does exist very much so. It's a pain in the rear honestly to have it, I've adapted some now that I'm an adult but I wish they had therapy for it a long time ago. I'm just grateful I not only know how to help my dd because of my own issues, that she can get therapy with an OT young enough to help her.

My 3 year old sounds a lot like your 4 year old, she isn't really hyper though. My ds has mild autism and SID and he is very hyper!

The best thing to do is have an eval done. And I second the Out of Sync Child book rec.

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MMP

· #11 · Jun 17, 2005

Hi Jen,

My son has special needs and has been diagnosed with language disorder and SDI. The best book out there is Carol Kranowitz-The Out of Sync Child and The Out of Sync Child has fun. Both are excellent, there is also an on-line survey you can take at www. otawatertown.com. I would recommend getting her evaluated by a childrens hospital (ususally covered by insurance) for a diagnosis. You can also get an OT to evaluate the make the diagnosis. If you start OT, it can really really help them manage their little bodies. For your 2 year old (kids under 3), they can be evaluated by your states early intervention program and if needed, will provide services. Over three, kids can be evaluated by the school district and if needed will provide services. In both cases, you do not need to enroll them to get the special services (like Speech therapy or OT). They can be used even if you home school.

I have found many pediatricians to be uninformed about these issues for the most part, I have met many parents whoose children didn't get "noticed" until after 3 or 4 and at that point missed many years of work. Esp. with a diagnosis on the spectrum (autism etc.) early behavior therapy can work miracles (but needs to start early). I believe that SD is NOT on the spectrum, but many kids with learning issues or special needs often ALSO have sensory issues.

Please feel free email me off post if you want more information. ([email protected]),I have learned a lot about this and there a TONS of great resources out there. Good luck!

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JohannasGarden

· #12 · Jun 23, 2005

I also recommend having the eval. done. After much debate, we're having our son evaluated for sensory issues, possible fine motor delays (both of these by an OT) and Tourette's/tics (by a pediatric neurologist). Along with a new round of tests relating to his encopresis (even on 34 g of miralax and 1 ex-lax daily, my son still retains poop, so we're moving on to looking for anatomical abnormalities), it's like we have an endless schedule of tests and evaluations lined up this summer.

The reason I'm really posting though is to recommend the book _The Explosive Child_ with a subtitle that has something about chronically inflexible children. I've found it really helpful in starting to sort out which issues are non-negotiable for me, which I need to stay flexible enough on to invite DS into a calm conversation, and which I really should just let go of for now. One thing I've read repeatedly is that parents of kids with behavior problems tend to overcorrect their kids, kind of habitually telling them to do things differently instead of choosing a few focus issues and working them out in a way that invites the child's cooperation and involvement in making the change. Good luck with a challenging situation--whether or not there's a diagnosis.

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