Hi, Mamas!
My daughter, age three and a half, has some quirks. She is very sensitive to loud noises, and she has trouble in noisy places (she shuts down) or if she is surprised by a loud noise. That's the short version.
Also, she has to touch EVERYTHING. It doesn't matter how many times we tell her not to, she must touch. Thankfully, she finally figured out the "hot... do not touch" thing, but she has been burned more times than I think is normal. She gets her hands in everything (just look at the brownie batter on my kitchen counter, lol), and if there is a button, switch, knob, whatever, she HAS to flip it.
And... she can swing for hours. I usually have to rest my arms before she's done swinging. And she likes to run in circles. She thinks it's funny to be dizzy.
She is, in every respect, a normally developing child. She is very social, very bright, speaks well, etc. I don't think she has these tendencies strongly enough to be diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder, but I would like to help her do a little better with them all the same. Any recommendations? Thanks, Mamas!
I almost forgot... she still puts toys in her mouth all the time, and she pulls out individual hairs from her head to chew on. She also chews her fingernails and will keep them in her mouth. I keep telling her she's too big to put toys in her mouth, but she does it all the time anyway. It doesn't seem to be defiance. I can tell when she's being defiant... everyone can, lol. Thankfully that's not often.
EDIT: I have been around MANY children her age. I have been working with little ones since I was a teenager. Just FYI. She seems to be more quirky about these things than most kids. Like I said, I don't think she has SPD, but I think she would benefit from some of the strategies used with those children, and I need more info. I just don't know enough about it to know where to look.
Read "Raising a Sensory Smart Child" by Lindsey Biel (OT) and Nancy Peske (mom of SPD kid). It IS aimed at parents/service providers who work with SPD kids, but it's packed with use ful information that should help you to help her.
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I can't help you, but I think our daughters somehow got separated at birth. lol.
Mine has many of the same quirks as yours. One thing is that sensory processing disorder can manifest itself in many ways, with different intensities. If you think this is causing any issues, I would still recommend an OT. I will be doing that for my daughter soon. With mine, though, we have explosions, which I think are in part due to the sensory issue.
good luck!
Your daughter might have "sensory processing difficultites". Yes, these difficulties get better over time as she learns to accomodate her needs in a socially acceptable way. But until then, she may experience being rejected by her peers, anxiety, and unhealthy coping mechanisms that may impact her learning. Bring her to be evaluated by your school district and list all your concerns. If she does not qualify, I reccomend getting her private Occupational Therapy to help with these issues. It may involve a sensory diet. It really helped my son who had much fever issues than you describe but it was impacting his overall learning.
I can only speak to the loud noise part. My 4 year old son was having severe tantrum/meltdowns immediately when hearing something too loud, so we got him kid-sized noise cancellation headphones. I take them with us everywhere, and he knows to ask if we're at a performance, movie or concert that's starting to get a bit loud. Once he has them on, he's fine! We had his hearing tested, and it's fine, but he's extremely sensitive to noise.
I HIGHLY recommend this clinic for your child. I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Cavazos speak and he is amazing at looking at the WHOLE child and even being able to tell you what is going on neurologically without invasive testing. This is where I would go if she was my child; without a doubt!!!
Early childhood intervention services are free until a child is 4 years old. Find the local ECI and have her evaluated.
As Diana P. said, Raising a Sensory Smart Child is a great book full of real life ideas. I also like Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka (great for learning to support the child that is a bit "more" than others), and The Out of Sync Child Has Fun by Carol Kranowitz (full of activities for kids with SPD broken down into targeted areas).
Good luck!
I guess you haven't been around enough children her age. My daughter did all that and more. She grew up just fine and perfectly normal.
I was the same except for toys in the mouth. I hated to get dirty. I still have a thing about cleanliness.
