5 Year Old with SPD

Hi M.,

I have a son who has this he will be 5 in oct..We are not going to send to reg. school he goes to O.T. TO LEARN 4 days a week..Has has O.T. once a week, speech, once a week, development as well as them helping him to get ready for next year when he goes to reg. School..He has come a long way but still has a long way to go..Can you ask your O.T person to order you a special brush and so you the way to use it..Never let your son do this to himself..We have one and I can tell you it works soooooo well for him!! We also have a rocking horse and an indoor trampoline. This helps him calm down..I didn't believe it but now that he uses these things what a difference in him!! We also watch for to see what is his trigger and work very hard with him to use words to tell us that things are an overload and take action to help him how to calm down before it gets to the point he can not control himself..He is a very smart young man!! active as well but he loves to help dad with the wood and works with him outside with things..I thought that having him help with the wood was to much but I was informed that chidren who have this loves to do these kind of things..I will find the paper work for different sites so as you may be able to read the kinds of things to help him o.k.
S. :)

Hey M.:

My son is now 14-1/2 and has special needs, so I speak from experience that began when he was 2-1/2 with his first evaluation with Child Development Services.

If you as his parent believe that he still has the need for OT then stick with it. You are his BEST avocate and know him the better than anyone. No degree or amount of time will ever change that.

You will be suprised from the psy eval, or at least I was when my son has his 2 years ago. I only wish it was done sooner. In any event, it's a baseline that can be use for comparision in the future and if you're lucky, you won't have to use it for any comparision.

PLEASE DO NOT do the "wait and see" game that the professional and schools will want you to do. Proactive is always better than reactive especialy with your child and how he will learn.

So...stick with what you think is right no matter what the "professionals" say, continue to study up on all issues as you have (Great job, by the way !!) and you go girl !!

It's a trip but one that empowers you as it is all about your child, his education, how he learns and not only making sure he is "not left behind" but that he is successful and confident.

God speed.

Smiles-
-W.

I'll readily admit that I don't know what your acronym stands for and I'm intrigued, but the first thing that came into my mind when I read your note was this:

Professionals are professionals but you are still a mom. You have to trust your gut instincts. A second opinion can't hurt; in fact, it might shed light on it from a completely different perspective. The odd thing is that you've seen improvements, so how can the professional say he doesn't have something if whatever she's doing is helping? I dunno. I still say, stick with your instincts. Get a second opinion, and keep in contact with the pediatrician.

Best wishes,

R.

i have a 4 year old little boy that is autistic. he has the very rough behavior with his peers and towards me. you need to keep on the teachers to help him. it will only get worse in school if it isn't treated now. quinten was dx at 1 1/2 years old. we did all the Ot and behavoir people and we had to do speech. school has been the best thing for him but it's still a challange everyday. keep a journal of everyday and all the events. have the daycare do the same thing. that has worked really good for us. also keep him an the same routine. Bed Bath even dinner that may also help him. please feel free to write back. i've been doing this for a while and i've done all kinds for testing for my son.

Hi M.,

I am a special ed. teacher in a public elementary school. My advice is that when you go to a team meeting for your son, remember you are an expert, too. A parent's observations and input are very important parts of the puzzle being considered to make life better for the child. I would hesitate to relinquish services if you think your son still needs them. It's usually harder to get services re-instated than stopped. In your job you must see plenty of 5 year olds and have a good basis to compare your son's level of activity to his peers. You can use this objective comparison to raise your concerns about his activity level, too.
Good luck with his evals and I hope you get the services for him you want and need.
Take care,
D.

M.,
I would suggest you write down all the things you're still seeing at home, and bring them to your appointment. As you know from working with children, many evals rely heavily on parent input. And you know your little one better than anyone, so go with your gut instinct. If you think he still has some issues, speak up about it. If the daycare director thinks he is unchallenged, she should be challenging him more then. If he was delayed, it would be her responsibility to accomodate that, so why not the other way around? I would also be proactive about kindergarten. The public school setting can be tough for a sensory kid, and making sure his teacher knows that he needs more input can go a long way to prevent so-called behavior problems. You want him to be seen for who he is. And if he's always motoring, or always talking, and you know that it's a sensory issue, you want that clear from the start so you don't have someone pushing for an ADHD diagnosis and meds, when you already know what works for him.
Good luck!!

My son, frmr preemie has severe SPD. My suggestion would be for you to get an outside evaluation from a private OT. Make sure this person is SIPT certified or has certifications in Sensory Processing disorder. THis makes a world of difference in diagnosis and in treatment. I don't know where you are located but I know a few places in North of Boston that are great. You can e-mail me and I will get you the info.

As a teacher, I think they should look at continuing services through next year. The transition into school may take a toll on your son and if he continues the OT it could be in his best interest. You are doing a great job being an advocate for your son, he is very lucky to have you in his corner! Good luck!

K.

HI - I have afriend aht has a son that is 3 that sounds pretty similar- he has been to an ot 1 tiem aweek as well and is doing poorly in school becuase it is not enough physical things for him- she finds if he pushes and pulls and crawls and jumps it better for him- anything tactile and that uses muscles- running is bad- she would love to help you anyway she can if you are intersted contact me
L.

I too have a 4 1/2 year old with SPD. He was diagnosed early at 1 yr old because of his weird eating habits. His sensory is not so much tags and seams on socks -the typical sensory stuff. It's more behavior - hitting, crashing into things, disrupting his class - things like that. We actually had him seeing an OT on our own and of course he was good there. Like you said, his sensory needs were being met. But I was given some great tools on dealing with his sensory in school. He attends a montessori school which really caters to a sensory child, especially a SPD child with spacial issues. I could write volumes on what my husband and I have learned and what works best for us and our VERY, VERY active, bright 4 1/2 year old. We also send our son to a pediatric chiropractor for the past two years to hopefully help his sensory. I know this is going to sound a little strange, but for a year his chiropractor kept telling me to give my son Omega 3 fish oil. For a year I kept saying Oh-ok-I'll-try-it-sometime, never really trying it. When things got really desperate last November, we had taken away every toy etc., I started giving him a dose of pharmacutical grade Omega-3 fidh oil. In 4 days I had a noticed a change. Within 2 weeks, I felt like I had a new child! I'm not kidding. I religiously gave him his fish oil but ran out at the end of February for a copule of days. All of the sudden, I was getting calls from school again etc. I immediatly ran out and bought more, within 5-6 days, he was back on track. Now, I'm not saying this is the magical cure, and he still needs to work on some behavior like all 4 year olds -- but he is able to sit still and process things much easier. This is just something that worked for our family. I know what it's like to be at the end of yopr rope and desperate. Please feel free to email me if you want to talk more. Good luck with your active guy! ____@____.com

M.,
I would keep pursuing. You can't go wrong, the earlier the intervention the better outlook. If its nothing then he will only get better and you will have gained some extra help for him. but... if it does turn out to be something then you have acted on it and feel confident that he got the intervention at the earliest possible time. As far as him receiving services and you seeing a positive change in him already, thats great, thats what you want to see. Remember this, if you have a child that needs glasses you go out and get him glasses, right. Well, what do you think would happen if you said " oh he can see now, everything is fine, now we can take away the glasses." Your son is doing well because of the intervention he is receiving, take it away and you will probably see the behaviors coming back.