Guest post by Dallas from Along the Road
Seams in clothes
Shirt tags
Wind blowing through trees
Haircuts
Clipping fingernails
Large open areas
That is a list of things that can completely send my boys into a meltdown.
When our now 8 year old was first diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder, I was completely in the dark. I had no idea what Sensory Integration Disorder was or what we were supposed to do about it. Not long after, two more of our boys were diagnosed with SID. We have a sensory avoider and a sensory seeker. One is incredibly sensitive to noise around him. One loves textures and another hates to be touched without warning.
I am the mom that carries therapy brushes in her purse and in the truck. I have lotions for rub downs. I carry crunchy snacks, chewy tubes, a compression vest, and bath mats with texture. I limit trips to Wal-Mart, or any large open store. I limit “noise” in the house. We swing-often. There are therapy bands on the boy’s school chairs. A box of fidget toys on the school table. We run stairs, crab walk and bear crawl as needed. We wear hunting earphones to block out sounds. We eat applesauce and pudding through straws. I let one wear his shirts inside out so the seams don’t drive him crazy.
I am the mom that sees you in the store and I see that your child is beautiful and kind and sweet…he just has too much coming at him at once and he cannot process all of that stimuli.
I am the mom that will step in at VBS and ask if I can take your sweetie out to the park so he can move and jump and slide and you can take a break and breathe for a minute.
I see you and your little one and I see the worry on your face. I see how overwhelmed you feel and I don’t judge you or your child. I don’t judge that meltdown. Because I get it.
I get it, because I live it. It is my opinion that it’s very hard to really understand, if this isn’t a daily part of your life. And it does get better. The boys are learning how to meet those sensory overloads without my direct involvement. They know when it’s time to go and swing. They know when it’s time to get the headphones out. They know how to recognize how their engine is running and how to get it just right. Years of therapy and wonderful Occupational Therapists have been a huge help in that area!
Everyday I choose grace, mercy and compassion-for me, for my children and for you and your child as well. Some days I am better at it than others. I have learned over the past six years of diagnoses and therapies that grace and mercy must abound in our house.
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Dallas is the stunningly average homeschool mom to 4 boys. She loves Jesus, books, cupcakes, sharpies and vanilla cokes from Sonic. She is stubborn and opinionated. She can often be found chasing half-naked dirty boys around the yard. She loves her life and wouldn’t have it any other way. You can follow Dallas on her blog or visit her Facebook Page Along the Road.
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My son with SPD is now 14, and doing great! I so wish someone could have come alongside me in his toddler and preschool days and told me what a fine, mature young man he’d become… and how his sensory issues would fade into the background and become non-entities in our daily life. To anyone reading this and wondering what the future holds: hang in there! It gets better!!!
Thanks for your story. Very informative.
Nice to meet a fellow sensory family! I have seekers who also have many sensitivities. When I began to understand my kids sensory issues, like you, I became so much more aware of all these other kids around me who might also have some as well. This was a really nice post, and I’m very glad to meet you! https://hide-n-sensory-seeking.blogspot.com/
i have a 2 year old daughter who is a seeker. She receives speech, and occupational therapy twice a week for speech and developmental delay due to epilepsy. How were your kids diagnosed? I had never heard of SPD before I had her but now that I know what it is and the symptoms I know my now 12 year old boy has some of that as well. He hates tags, rough clothing, he often has to sleep with a cold towel over his face because he’s always hot. He also screamed when the whke time while getting hair cuts and I had no idea that it was all due to sensory issues.
Thank you for sharing your story!
Thank you for writing this! I almost started tearing up as you say you’re the Mon that understands. Sometimes I feel so isolated in my parenting journey. Although loved ones try to understand, they don’t. My son is now 12 and doing so much better but we still have moments.
Sarah, You are not alone!! Three of my five children are SPD to some degree. I have two ADHD (one inattentive) one seeker, one avoider, one demander! LOL Yah, that demander is high maintenance. Actually the three of them are high maintenance. I wouldn’t have it any other way. They are now 16, 13 and 12. Their lives were lived in a tiny off the road system Bush Alsaka village until 2 years ago. Although the interventions we had access to were very limited, I met a couple of wonderful therapists that spent time with me teaching me what my kids needed. I did most of their intervention on my own through researching on the internet.
And I echo the other moms here. It does get better! My two youngest are amazing boys becoming men. They love Jesus, look out for the left out one in group situations, love infants and are the most popular kids on our block because “they are so helpful and nice!” These are the children who five years ago would have given “The Nanny” a run for her money. So hang on and thank God for every day. Do you have someone you can talk to? I found it so helpful to have someone in my life to whom I could talk without fear of judgment. Just saying things out loud helped tremendously. I am praying grace and mercy upon you today.
Thank you Dallas for speaking for all of us who have SID children. SO encouraging to hear from another mom who is in the trenches with me!
I look forward to visiting your website and getting to know you!
I’m just curiouse and want too know more .If it is posibble?
Dear Sarah, could you explain me please, what are the symptoms of this? My son is very energetic, and very sensitive. But all kids are sensetative. So could you explain me please, what are the exact symptoms of this? thank you very much.