Response to "The Out of Synch Child"

[lingle]

Many thanks again to Sphil for lending me this book.

I thought this was an excellent book. Learned but accessible and I'm not surprised it has helped so many of us. My only quibble is the presentation. The prose is quite dense and there are no illustrations. Given the genetic element to these disorders, and therefore presumably the preponderance of visual learners among us/our spouses, maybe the publishers could have spared a thought for mums and dads who don't veer towards this kind of presentation (and are probably suffering from sleep deprivation) and stuck in some Hanen-style illustrations and cartoons? They need a "Sensory Processing Disorder for Dummies" version written in cartoon style!

The essence of sensory processing disorder is unusual responses to touch or movement btw if anyone's wondering.....

I saw a few behaviours that DS2 exhibits and he clearly has subtle sensory issues, but SPD clearly isn't "him". His only touch/movement issues are inability to pedal, going downstairs one step at a time and dislike of the hairs falling on him at the barbers but everything else is appropriate (if a little delayed/dyspraxia-like on the gross motor side perhaps). Hurray, one acronym to cross off the list.

Shall I post it back to you now Sphil?

[sphil]

Blimey you read fast Lingle .

DS2 has exactly the same sensory issues as your DS, together with some sound sensitivities, which are improving all the time, and a tendency to put his hand across his eyes when moving to a new visual situation, ie. round a corner or from one room to another. I do think that his visual processing is a problem, but didn't find the book (or any other books on SPD) very helpful in that area. I'm going to look into behavioural optometry when he's a bit older and his verbal responses have improved.

Post it back when you've got time, but there's no hurry. I tend to lend it out to other people more than using it myself now, but it's a handy quick reference.

[lingle]

DS2 narrows his eyes when overwhelmed -either in a psychological or visual sense - last week he felt a bit overwhelmed on a playdate with a far more verbal child and retreated to the train track, keeping the train still and looking at it closely and not letting the other child move his train past. A few months ago, he used to narrow his eyes when standing on a platform watching the giant train slide past him - a bit like you or I might move our hands to our face in a pleasurable yet defensive way if floating in the sea as something extraordinary like a blue whale moved past..... once or twice he's darted his eyes to the side and fallen over, poor lad.

But all these subtle sensory issues are very much secondary to his receptive language problem.

[sphil]

Oh that's interesting - I see the son of a friend of mine doing that every morning as he goes into school. He also does it when I say hello to him - he used to just ignore me and look away; now he looks, but through the narrowed eyes.

I used to put my fingers in my ears and shut my eyes when ever anything scared me, or I anticipated being scared - did it a lot right up to my teens - and that is still my 'default' mode if put in a frightening situation, say if we have a near miss in the car (when DH is driving, in case you're worried )

[lingle]

all seems eminently sensible to me......