Category Archives: behavior

our spd life: the bouncies

15 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in behavior, sensory processing disorder, spd, spd tactics, z

≈ 5 Comments

It would make sense for me to say that the hardest part of having a child with Sensory Processing Disorder is the tantrums. Or, I should say, the extreme tantrums. I mean, they can happen at any time without warning, can last from 15 minutes to 2 hours (yes, the 2-hour tantrums have happened), and there is no consistent way to get him to calm down. Our poor neighbors.

It could also be the aversion to transitions. Any transition involves a major amount of drama. Putting clothes on? That means running around the house screaming “no.” Walking to the car? More no’s as well as an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out which toys must accompany him.

Both of those are hard. Exhausting sometimes. But, oddly enough they have taught us how to be more calm and patient with him. No, the hardest part of SPD for us are The Bouncies.

I’m pretty sure if you Google The Bouncies you are not going to come up with a definition as it is related to SPD. But, it’s an accurate description of what happens when he can’t regulate his nervous system. Technically, he is “seeking out excessive proprioceptive input.” As I (hopefully) understand it, it means his body is not accurately assessing the amount of input that is coming in, so everything he does he does harder, rougher, louder, etc in order to sense that input. He will literally bounce off the furniture. And on the furniture. And into walls. And crash into people, the dog, the floor, etc. With 5 people living in a small space, it’s hard when this happens. It happens a lot, by the way.

So, the trick we are finding out from his OT, is to regularly find ways to provide that input he is craving. It’s called “heavy work” and it’s amazing how well he responds to it. Pushing things, pulling things, finding safe places for him to jump, having him vacuum, using a weighted blanket, swinging, climbing and crawling over and around things, wrestling…the list goes on. We call it using his big muscles. He loves it and they are all great ways for him to organize his body. Since most of the things we do with him are normal kid activities, it sounds logical that he would be doing them anyway. But, he needs help in being able to do them in a structured way on a regular basis so The Bouncies don’t happen. When they do, we are starting to learn what he needs to calm himself. Doing some heavy work is good. So is yoga and deep breathing. He learned the turtle pose at OT last week and it’s extremely calming for him. He’s also responding well to sitting with his hands pushed together while doing circular breathing.

As hard as this has been for our whole family, I can honestly say that the blessings have outweighed the frustrations. Working with him in a deliberate manner has been a great way for us stop and enjoy playing with him. Let’s be honest: he’s the 3rd child and sometimes (OK. A lot of times) he’s left up to his own devices as we are trying to balance everyone and everything in our lives. But, he’s now getting a lot more focused attention from the whole family. How great is that? For all of us.

Baking bread. Using those big muscles to stir.

super z

17 Saturday Sep 2011

Posted by in behavior, sensory processing disorder, spd, z

≈ 1 Comment

I love this picture for so many reasons. Z has a new haircut that was 7 months in the making. His backpack is full of his new cars that he got as a reward for getting that haircut. He won’t let them out of his sight. He’s rocking his new cowboy boots that he wears everywhere. And those headphones. I love them. Here’s the story about the headphones…

It all started with the tiptoe walking. Well, it probably started sooner than that, when he was a baby and was super antsy and easily unsettled. But, the tiptoe walking is what took us to his pediatrician. He walks on his tiptoes all the time which we thought was no big deal. But, we decided to double check. 2 pediatricians, 1 social worker, and 1 occupational therapist later, we found out that Z probably has Sensory Processing Disorder. The diagnosis just confirms what we have already known. He’s super sensitive to low sounds (hair dryers, hair buzzers, hand dryers, vacuums, blenders). He craves routine. He gets easily overwhelmed if there it too much going on. He can’t handle restaurants or grocery stores. He will only eat cold food. He’s terrified of getting his haircut. He has tantrums that can last a couple hours. He’s a horrible sleeper. He’s super quirky, but we love all of the quirks. (Well, maybe not the tantrums, but it’s just part of who he is.)

Yesterday he got these headphones. He already knows that he can put them on when he feels like there is too much noise around him. He is so much more relaxed already. He also got his hair cut. I don’t think there are enough words to explain what a victory this was for him. The last time we tried to just visit a hair salon, he went screaming out of it and collapsed on the sidewalk sobbing. Full on panic attack. His OT recommended a kids hair salon that we stopped by yesterday. This guy was amazing. Amazing. Z wasn’t super thrilled with it, but he tolerated it and was so proud of himself afterward. We also got him an indoor swing. It’s his new quiet place. He sits in it with his headphones and a book. It totally calms him down.

There aren’t enough words for how much I love Z. He makes us laugh. He has a crazy good memory. He’s always discovering something. He knows who he is. Life with him is never dull. He’s such a great kid. I’m so relieved that we finally have an idea of what is going on in his little body and that there is hope for him. I’m so glad God gave him to us. I can’t imagine our family without him.