You are referring to the program “How does your engine run?” In case people want to look up more info on it.

I work in the schools as an OT assistant and understand your frustration. Your doctor should be more help however it is often not the case. Even in school it is difficult to tell what is sensory processing and what is bad behavior (spoiled) and what lack of exposure to different environments. Therapists, doctors and psychologists hesitate to label children at such a young age and a lot of parents have difficulty accepting that there is a problem. If you feel there is a problem i would suggest you find a pediatric neurologist, as well as an Occupational therapist and get your child help with outside thearpy. Remember while in school, the school based O.T. Gives treatment for school related activities and rarely has a sensory gym that can benefit your child. Therapy inside school and outpatient therapy is ideal…keep in mind it is a long process.

As a past teacher and now as a mother of an 8 year old girl with SPD and extreme anxiety -separation/social, my advice is to really believe the parent is not just spoiling their child. It’s so embarrassing for both my child and me. The last thing in the world my child wants to do is stand out. However, that’s exactly what happens when the anxiety hits. My little girls goes into fight or flight in front of her class and others. I would never force a child to stay work through a panic attack in public. pick a private place (like the nurses office) for them to go and calm down. I would also get students with these problems referred to the occupational therapist at the school. Tell them how it interferes with their school work. That should qualify them for help. We’re just starting to work on our issues. We’re doing some Cranial Sacral therapy and trying Q96, a vitamin supplement specially formulated for brain health. I’m also using essential oils like ylang ylang.

I really do understand your pain. My son is 20 now. I sensed the problem before even he is two. His Dr keeps telling me he is fine and passed her test. When he was three, I took him to the nearest school and they diagnosed and started to give him speech therapy. I didn’t know even the term or there is this kind of problem, but I described his great, and fine motor struggle, and his sensory issues. They told me he is fine. After a year, they told me he has a sensory deficiency and needs a therapy. He lost one year help. My point is, don’t take their words. Trust your gut and keep reading. You are his best therapist. My son still has issues, but what I did made a huge difference. Some of the things they said he will never able to do it, he is able to do it today.
I wish you and your daughter the best of all.

Oh, I’m so upset for you! II hope that you ignore what you know in your heart isn’t true — whether it’s comfort or control or whatever, it’s not the school’s job to judge, it’s their job to support! Sometimes it is hard to know, and that’s why we did therapy for 3 years before we figured it out.

My daughter was tested by an OT at our Children’s Hospital. They gave us a protocol of brushing and other things to do at home called a “sensory diet” — that’s one thing you can try because you might know if you see results. We saw a huge decrease in meltdowns, etc — although the clothing thing never got that much better honestly.

See if you can join a FB group or something online to get support from other parents — there are a lot of amazing people out there who are more than willing to help and share information.

Hang in there — keep taking it one day at a time. HUGS!

Michelle,

It is SO hard — and some pediatricians won’t even know how to help so it requires a lot of work on our parts as parents. And patience. So much patience!

Sending you lots of love and hugs!

Melissa