Just a few of the things Skyler has had to deal with the last week or so.
July 21st
I made Skyler pick out a pair of socks. We were headed to XRtainment Zone where you are required to wear shoes (not sandals). She spend a LONG time trying to pick out a pair that feels right. She not only wears them inside out, she takes scissors to the seams that stick out. She then put on her new shoes. While going out to the car she was complaining of goose bumps on her arms. The sensation of the socks and shoes was giving her goosebumps. When we were all in the car she had a very hard time dealing with the shoe situation AND her sisters chatting. She screamed for her sisters to "BE QUIET" It was like her brain couldn't handle all of it at the same time. She clenched her fists, her shoulders rounded. Every part of her body tensed up with the stress of dealing with it all.
July 26-
We were at Wal-Mart We had worked our way up to the front of the line at the checkout. Skyler was busy thinking about something else and had not noticed that we were right next to the register. The cashier scanned and item and the register let out the typical BEEP. Skyler gasped, grabbed her head and began to cry.
Things like this has been happening more and more. I am now forced to look at reasons why.
July 27th
At dinner time it was her sister's fork scraping on her plate that set her off. She was in pain, real pain.
On July 29th
as we were getting into bed Max the dog tried to 'fluff' his dog bed by scratching and scratching at it. Skyler was on her bed. She screamed tore her paper into a dozen pieces and covered her head with her pillow crying.
July 30th
At Target. We all get in line at the register. The lights, the noise, the hubbub is all too much for her. She tells me kindly that she is starting to get 'that' feeling again. I take her outside to the front of the store leaving hubby at the register with our things. She instantly seems better.
That night the dog scratching on his bed caused another cry of pain. She asked me to stop reading the book (bedtime story has been Harry Potter) She said she needed time to try to get the sound out of her head. Dog had already stopped scratching. After a few moment with her head under her pillow she cuddled next to me and asked me to softly hum in her ear to get the sound to 'go away'
She has told me before. If a sound sets her off it is like her brain tries to hold onto the sound. She also told me last night that it is certain types of sounds that hurt, not all sounds. I have found that it is things like the blender and the vacuum are triggers. And loud bursts of sound that she is not totally prepared for really hurt her. Like turning the power on on the TV receiver and having the volume set up too high. If I have her prepare herself it is not as bad. She will cover her ears. She has this thing that she does where she will plug one ear with one hand and then lean her head to the other side so that her shoulder is blocking the other ear. That way she can still use her one hard. She does this when we are making shakes with the blender.
I ordered two books to help me with this journey of "Understanding Skyler". I can't wait till I get them. One is called "The Out of Sync Child"
http://www.amazon.com/Out-Sync-Child-Recognizing-Processing/dp/0399531653/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217525511&sr=8-1
The other is Sensational Kids
http://www.amazon.com/Sensational-Kids-Children-Processing-Disorder/dp/0399533079/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217525720&sr=8-1
I also just found out that the Charter School does NOT offer OT for children with SPD. :( They do however test and help with auditory, processing, visual, motor, and attention processing. I know that Skyler's problems are more than SPD but I am not sure what. I have played with the idea of Dyslexia but I am not positive. I do know, in my very limited knowledge of SPD that things like Dyslexia can also come with SPD. It is rare that SPD is the lone/sole problem for a child. Many (might be most) children with Autism have SPD. You will not find anything on SPD without the mention of Autism. But from my understanding SPD is not on the Autism spectrum. I at first thought it was.
My next step is to find out if her medical insurance will provide OT.
This is a scary journey for me. I hope that others will stumble onto this blog and either get help from my words or help me with the journey by their experience.
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