Interesting things were happening with my 2-year old daughter

She didn’t like certain things touching her skin, or clothing tight on her skin. Wearing underwear would unnerve her. Food textures were bugging her. (She wouldn’t eat fruits and vegetables – still won’t). She didn’t like to be snuggled for long. She always was a strong-willed child so I let these things continue, figuring that they were just part of her strong independence.

By age 7, I knew this was deeper than I thought. I was telling my friend about her symptoms and she said she had been given a book by her caseworker for her adopted kiddo that sounds like what I was talking about. It was called The Out-of-Sync Child. I went through it and sure enough it felt like someone had followed my daughter around then wrote a book on their observations.

I went to my doctor and explained what I saw. I have the best pediatrician who trusted and validated my “mom” instincts. He referred me to an occupational therapist for testing.

The whole testing process was amazing

I couldn’t imagine how the way they were testing was going to reveal the diagnosis of SID. Not until they had her do a test were she had to move pegs on a board into a pattern shown on a paper. This involved crossing her right hand back and forth on the board, and across her body. She couldn’t do it. She would actually stop at her body’s midline and use her left hand to finish the movement. This, coupled with the results of the other tests, was confirmation that the right and left sides of her brain were not communicating well. Thus she was diagnosed with SID, or Sensory Integration Disorder. It’s also referred to as Sensory Processing Disorder, or SPD.

Walk backwards with something heavy!

The therapy was intriguing. Swinging, not spinning, brushing her skin. Doing brain exercises that including flexing her fingers together and then drinking a glass of water. These were especially effective right before doing her homework, on getting her brain engaged correctly. Carrying heavy things and walking backwards also helped her pull it together. A doctor who had the disorder himself came up with the therapy. Wow!

The downside was that there is more success with the therapy the earlier in life you catch it. After age 8, the success rate drops dramatically.

Success!

We have watched her grow into a 14-year old who can now more and more manage by using her coping skills (she would hate to know I wrote this, but she does now wear underwear!). I have also seen these symptoms manifest themselves in my youngest child and responded much more quickly in getting help. He’s a little different, he doesn’t like meat either, in addition to vegetables and fruit. It’s all about the textures, not them being picky eaters.

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