SPD... hyposensitivity?

[Janie Grace]

Does anyone here have a child with this? Not hyper but hypo sensitivity?

 

I have known something was up with my 8yo ds for years. I didn't know what it was, but I really think this is it. The ped suspects auditory processing issues, and we are on a list to be scheduled with a developmental ped in January, but as I was looking at a checklist for SPD in general (broken into the different senses), my ds has countless checks down each column in the "hypo" category for EACH SENSE (visual, tactile and audio). I mean, it is amazing how many of the characteristics/behaviors he has. It's like someone is watching a hidden camera of his life.

 

This answers "why" to so many of his quirks... why does he not feel that his nose is running, why does he see double but do fine on vision tests, why does he not care if his clothes are not fitting right (like if his pants leg is half up or his shirt is backwards with the collar against his throat), why does he drop/spill stuff all the time, why does he not understand when I say something easily understood, etc. etc. etc. So many other people say things like "he's just a boy" or "it's just his personality, he's a little spacey" but NO. I am his mother and I have known there was something different from before he was two. I have 3 other boys. This is not just boy stuff. Something is UP with him and I know it. Maybe it's not this, but I really think it is.

 

If your child has hyposensitivity, can we talk? I don't even know what I'm asking. I guess I just want to know there are others out there. What causes this? Do your other kids have it? Has your child improved? What helped?

 

This is the kid I am so grateful to be homeschooling. If he were in ps right now, it would not be pretty socially or academically. I want to help him all I can before his time comes to leave the nest. I'd love to hear what helps this kind of kid. :bigear:

 

Also, is this something school special ed people help with, or do we just wait for the developmental ped appt?

[pdalley]

I've got two and they scare me to death.

 

My oldest is almost fifteen and we're no closer to working around that now than we were when he was younger. Sometimes the only clue I get that he's not feeling well or is even seriously ill is his behavior. He cannot articulate pain. He's got a hugely high pain tolerance. I'm scared to death he's going to get appendicitis and I'm not going to know it until it's emergent. It was one reason he had issues with bedwetting into his early teens.

 

The youngest is a little better about communicating that he's sick but he's got a hugely high pain tolerance as well. That leads to him not being aware of the danger of getting hurt.

 

I've tried OT, ST and cognitive therapy. So far the cognitive therapy is having the best effect but it's slow going.

 

Not much help here but I wanted you to know you aren't alone. I get really worn out having to play detective when one of my two with this issue start acting 'off'.

[Janie Grace]

It was one reason he had issues with bedwetting into his early teens.

 

Thankfully, this ds is very healthy; the issue hasn't led to any scary medical stuff. However, he does wet his bed every night. I didn't realize this could be related. Is it because the wetness doesn't bother these kids (ie, they don't feel themselves going)?

 

By the way, thanks for posting. It helps to know we're not alone.

[pdalley]

Thankfully, this ds is very healthy; the issue hasn't led to any scary medical stuff. However, he does wet his bed every night. I didn't realize this could be related. Is it because the wetness doesn't bother these kids (ie, they don't feel themselves going)?

 

By the way, thanks for posting. It helps to know we're not alone.

 

Oh mine is rudely healthy too. Thank God. I just worry. :001_smile:

 

Our pediatrician thought that it was contributing. We had tried everything else - limiting liquids - going before bed, waking him up, etc. Didn't help. He put him on something that helped 'train' his kidneys or bladder he took it one month total I think. He's been fine every since.

 

Youngest has never had those problems. He potty trained and night trained very early.

[Janie Grace]

Two more things that I wonder about...

-- While is he hyposensitive in most realms, he is VERY sensitive emotionally. Very tuned in to how others are feeling, feels things deeply himself.

-- He struggles with inappropriate facial expressions, particularly smiling when someone else expressing anger or talking about something sad. He FEELs the right feeling, his face just does the wrong thing. :confused:

[pdalley]

Two more things that I wonder about...

-- While is he hyposensitive in most realms, he is VERY sensitive emotionally. Very tuned in to how others are feeling, feels things deeply himself.

-- He struggles with inappropriate facial expressions, particularly smiling when someone else expressing anger or talking about something sad. He FEELs the right feeling, his face just does the wrong thing. :confused:

 

 

That's my oldest to the tee. Smiles at the wrong time. Very sensitive emotionally. It's almost like he's one extreme to another - emotionally hypersensitive and physically hyposensitive.

[Janie Grace]

It's almost like he's one extreme to another - emotionally hypersensitive and physically hyposensitive.

 

YES!!! That's it in a nutshell.

[Murmer]

I have a dd who is hyposensitive (diagnosed). Same with getting sick...full on strep throat and I only knew because she woke up with a fever, and I knew she was exposed. She also has not fully potty trained. She goes out of her way to seek sensory input of high degrees...and scares me when she does it. She is in OT but that is new so I will have to see if it helps.

[peacefully]

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[Dobela]

My son was more hyposensitive when younger than now. He struggled with night time accidents until he had tonsils and adnoids removed. Apparently his were large enough that they were causing apnea which was causing the bedwetting. He used to scare me because I just would not know he was sick unless I watched him very carefully. If I didn't, well, a couple of times by the time I realized he was sick he was so advanced that he was very, very ill. He also struggled with constipation. He simply didn't read his body signals. In fact I still don't think he reads them well today.

[Janie Grace]

My son was more hyposensitive when younger than now. He struggled with night time accidents until he had tonsils and adnoids removed. Apparently his were large enough that they were causing apnea which was causing the bedwetting.

 

I have wondered about this (on an unrelated note). Would enlarged tonsils and adnoids cause bad breath? He had bad breath all the time, even after brushing his teeth!

[Janie Grace]

This is my ds (7). His OT called it "low registration," as in all sorts of sensory information just did not register with him. He also walks around with his clothing twisted and inside-out and have no idea. He was also the sloppiest eater I had ever seen. He also has confluence of symptoms that sound a lot like developmental coordination disorder (or dyspraxia): poor motor coordination, articulation and speech dysfluencies, low muscle tone, poor sense of rhythm and timing, etc.

 

While OT did help ds with some things, it did almost nothing for most of these registration issues, and I felt like we tried the whole shebang that occupational therapy had to offer (at least this office): Wilbarger technique, Therapeutic Listening, a slew of exercises, a sensory diet with various sorts of tactile, vestibular, proprioceptive, visual and auditory inputs...

 

When he was younger, he didn't register pain, but now he seems to be a little hypersensitive to small injuries. He also potty-trained and night-trained easily. He had a heck of a time learning to write legibly though. Vision therapy helped in this area more than anything else that we tried. Ds seems to be learning strategies to help him with many of his hyposensitivities. Now he consciously takes small bites and wipes with a napkin. He looks himself over in a mirror while getting dressed, etc.

 

The more that I read up on DCD, the more I start to come to terms with ds's issues. DCD tends to affect children the most; most adults seem to have developed strategies to deal with their issues. The most troubling thing to me is that many folks with DCD tend to have health-problems that are related to the sedentary lifestyle that many of them adopt. So our focus has been helping him have fun while learning the skills to be active. And yes, he has actually needed help learning basic stuff like holding on to bars, running at a clip pace, jumping and landing on both feet, etc. Strangely, he took to riding a bicycle easily. He also does swimming lessons and gymnastics. I'm also thinking about getting a Wii Fit for Christmas. Other than a few educational videos and some educational iPad games, we don't have much in the way of electronic entertainment in the house. Ds would LOVE to have a gaming system, but I'm not so sure that I want his exercise to be in front of a screen... But if it motivates him... I just don't know. I'm torn.

 

Anyway, I wanted to chime in. I really don't think there's much that your school system can offer. I'll be all-ears to hear what your dev ped has to say.

 

Thanks. I don't think we have DCD stuff happening. My ds is really coordinated and athletic. I think it's just the SPD. How did you convince ds to CARE about the appearance and eating issues? My ds is completely oblivious to crazy stuff all over his face, but if/when it's pointed out (and we try to be kind about it since it's obvious he can't feel it), he really doesn't care. He wipes it off b/c we tell him to but isn't concerned, KWIM? How do you help him care (same with clothes that are backwards, inside out, covered with yesterday's food stains, etc)?

 

We need to get a mirror in the boys' room and teach him how to evaluate his appearance every day. Thanks for the tips!

[peacefully]

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[PeterPan]

The bad breath is from his gut (poor digestion, things rotting). People with SPD and low tone can also have sluggish bowels.

 

Given the other things you're saying, he may be on the spectrum. I assume you've already figured that out. That's a shame you have to wait to get into the developmental ped to get those answers. Will they also evaluate for speech and OT at the developmental ped? If they're not, you could go ahead and get those things done too. The SLP (speech) can integrate the social skills stuff into therapy. There are also games you can buy to work on it. I have one I picked up at the thrift store of all places. It's in german, but of course faces are universal. We just play with our own made up rules that fit the age. You can also find ABA apps to work on emotions, etc. In the Apple app store they're by kindergarten.com Also I thought I noticed some things at Linguisystems (books and programs, not apps).

[PeterPan]

Janie, just read your handwriting thread. I've already forgotten, has he had an OT eval yet? That was the very first thing we went to the OT for. You could sit here stewing over it, trying to figure out for yourself the specific causes, but it's something a good OT can sort out for you pretty easily. There are a LOT of things that go into writing. Bula clued you into it on the other thread. People with SPD usually have praxis and proprioception issues as well. It just all goes together. In fact, not to digress, but there's a book (Gut Psychology...) that basically says the poor digestion of milk, etc. causes the bad chemical byproducts that go into the brain and cause the dyspraxia, etc. But anyways!

 

So you need the OT to look at him and sort out whether it's low core strength, proprioception, how he weight-shifts, his pencil grip (which is probably tight to compensate for all those other things), etc., and then make a game plan of what to do about it. The OT can give you specific exercises for how to work on those issues. Or you can take that knowledge and transfer it into well-chosen LIFE ACTIVITIES that also work those areas. But at least then you know what you're needing to work on.

 

I say this as one who never had anyone tell me this. We finally got the OT eval when she was 11. That was a lot of needless years of pain.

[Janie Grace]

Thanks yllek, that was really helpful (the stuff about teaching manners and how to do that sensitively.) Protecting his self image is a big concern.

 

Oh Elizabeth (sorry, posting on a phone and don't know how to quote) -- I am confused as to why you think he may be on the spectrum. His ped evaluated for this last check up and said it was not an issue. Also, why dyspraxia and a speech eval? I never mentioned speech and I thought dyspraxia was a gross motor thing. Not trying to be difficult, just confused. What does an OT evaluate for? The developmental ped is for SPD and ADD. Should I aak for an OT appt. and if so, why? This is a new world for us.

 

Interested in learning more about the gut thing for sure.

[Sugarfoot]

This may not work for all kids, but mine are very responsive to "social skills" picture books. Somehow, information that is in print carries far more weight than anything Mom or Dad have to say. :rolleyes:

 

So we read several books about manners, ostensibly for ds's little sister, but he always listens in on her read-alouds too. We started making a big deal about manners and the impression that we make on others. Dh told a few stories about some of his own "fashion malfunctions." I guess we just started talking about it in a very impersonal, matter-of-fact way. After a couple weeks of this, we began to very gently point out ds's little food or clothing mishaps, and we explained how he could avoid being "mistaken" for having bad manners. He's a bit self-conscious and perfectionistic to begin with, so a little nudge was really all it took for him to be highly motivated to figure this out.

 

There are few things that we just made part of his routine. After dressing, check in the mirror. Place settings (especially where the drinking glass goes) all have a spot on the place mat. Certain foods have to be eaten a particular way.

 

All this sounds completely rigid, but I can assure you, we are a really informal family. It's just that he needs all this extra support to make him aware of issues that everyone else just takes for granted. We just decided that we would have to make these behaviors ingrained habits for him, because he wouldn't really notice any other way.

 

I think these are helpful for SPD kids, too, even though they're more often suggested for children with Asperger's or other spectrum disorders. My DD5 has SPD, though she's sensory-avoiding rather than sensory-seeking. I have to say, you gals make me smile just reading your descriptions of your sensory-seeking kiddos. It's hard for me to even imagine having one like that. ;) Mine is the polar opposite. If she accidentally drops a bit of pudding on her dress (that must be a certain fabric with no "scratchy" parts, the tags must be removed, and on, and on, and on...) she screams until it's cleaned off. She can't stand for her hands and face to be messy. She feels every. little. thing. She's like The Princess and the Pea. :lol: She likes these types of books, and OT has definitely helped. I know her therapist deals with sensory-seeking kids, too, because she mentions how different they are from each other, yet each is a form of SPD.

 

:grouphug: to you. I know it's hard and I can't imagine how scary it must be when they're sensory-seeking.

[The Governess]

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[Murmer]

Thanks yllek, that was really helpful (the stuff about teaching manners and how to do that sensitively.) Protecting his self image is a big concern.

 

Oh Elizabeth (sorry, posting on a phone and don't know how to quote) -- I am confused as to why you think he may be on the spectrum. His ped evaluated for this last check up and said it was not an issue. Also, why dyspraxia and a speech eval? I never mentioned speech and I thought dyspraxia was a gross motor thing. Not trying to be difficult, just confused. What does an OT evaluate for? The developmental ped is for SPD and ADD. Should I aak for an OT appt. and if so, why? This is a new world for us.

 

Interested in learning more about the gut thing for sure.

 

Not Oh Elizabeth but I have my hyposenstive 4 year old in OT and it is wonderful. Basically there is a lot of crashing and banging but they are also working on body control and awareness. They will also work on her fine motor which is really bad. So it has been an amazing thing to have her involved in.