Sensory Integration Dysfunction Means What?

"I can't wait for the baby to sleep through the night!" "Will the baby EVER sleep through the night?" "Oh she/he's just a Mommy's girl/boy." "The sun hurts their eyes." "They are afraid of loud noises." "He/she hates to wear socks/shoes." If you have ever said or thought some of the statements above, you may want to research Sensory Integration Dysfunction.

When my youngest child was born we found that she did not really like to be held by strangers. As long as my husband or I were holding her, she was happy. She woke up a lot during the night. At first we thought it would pass. Then it continued for months and became more frequent. "This too shall pass" became my favorite phrase. When she was about 6 months old she would rock from side to side if she would become upset. "Oh she is just comforting herself" we said. She did other non-typical things like hold her bottle with her feet or crawl like an inch worm on her back. She was/is quite remarkable you know. We would ask the pediatrician questions and were always relieved when he said she was fine.

By the time she was celebrating her first birthday she became so afraid of flash cameras. When we took her picture she would cry in pain. Then the sight of a camera or video camera made her cry and close her eyes. She hated riding in the car and she was still waking up 5 times a night. This went on for her first 3 years of life. The doctor asked all the right questions, unfortunately we didn't give him the right answers. "How many words does she have?" She had words, what she didn't have was language. We found out later that her speech was repetitive speech, she had no expressive language. She also spoke what they called jargon.

I am lucky enough to have a sister who is a nurse and she wouldn't let me accept the wait and see approach which the doctor recommended. At age 3 1/2 I took her to my school district for a speech evaluation. Within 5 minutes the Occupational Therapist who also evaluated her told me she had sensory issues. "What does that mean?" was my question. She did a good job of trying to explain it to me. She suggested a book called "The Out-of-Sync Child" by Carol Stock Kranowitz, MA. I sat down and read the book in one day and highlighted basically the whole book. She was talking about my daughter. I did the checklists: yes, this was my daughter!

Going through a school or medical evaluation for your child can sure be an experience. Here I was a person who never wanted to speak in public, sitting at a table with 10 different people. Convincing ourselves they were wrong, when they said all the things wrong with our child. Crying hysterically when they said she needed to attend their early childhood program. How could this child who has not left my side for 3 1/2 years go to school? Well, that was the best thing that ever happened to her and us. Within weeks of swinging, brushing and other occupational therapy, along with speech therapy we were actually seeing improvements. Brushing now that was interesting, along with joint compressions. Then came trying to explain it to my husband again and again and again. I have to admit, it really did work for our daughter. Oh yeah and she has problems with her vestibular sense. I didn't even know she had a vestibular sense, but boy did she have problems with it.

Two years later, my daughter was also diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Sensory issues are very common in children on the Autism Spectrum. My reason for writing this is because I had never heard of Sensory Integration Dysfunction before my daughter was diagnosed with it. I don't want it to take so long for a child to get help. The sooner therapy is started the better the outcome can be. The thought of a child suffering because the lights are too bright, their clothes itch them, they hate being touched or need to bump into everything is difficult to imagine for those of us who do not suffer from this disorder. Certain smells can make the children sick to their stomach and a fireworks display can scare them horribly. But education and intervention is available. We had no clue, now nine years later we want to share our story. If by doing so we help one child, it will all be worth it.

If you recognize any of these same behaviors with your child, you may want to consider asking your doctor for an Occupational Therapist referral. Please add your stories, your successes and your questions.