Anyone have experience of Sensory Issues with a 5 yr old

[Snoots]

I need to find someone who has experience of dealing with a child who has the following symptoms.....at first we just thought our little boy was naughty, then we thought he was hyperactive.....now two years down the line we are slowly coming to the end of our tether. ADHD has been assessed but paeds cant fit him neatly into a box. He has difficulty sitting still, difficulty sitting at all, he tends to sit on his heels. He licks his hands constantly, licks other children in his class and licks walls etc. he is a loving little boy and we adore him but he is struggling at school and i need help. The last opinion mentioned "sensory issues" but ive no idea what that means......HELP!!!!!!

This means that all the sensory information that is around every moment of every day isn't taken in the same way as others.
Strongly suggest you try and get an OT assessment, and one who specialises in sensory issues.

An Ocuppational Therapist will complete a sensory questionaire with you.

A wobble cushion which you can buy on Amazon is good for my son when sitting at the dinner table or doing homework etc as it give the stimulation of moving when they are not. :) An OT can provide school with one.

Giving him something to fiddle with or chew to keep his focus and hopefully avoid licking something else might help.

Plenty!

Look for The Out Of Sync Child by Carol Stock Kranowitz, It helped me a lot with DS1 and nothing that DS2 threw at me was a surprise after reading it!

And be prepared to try a lot of different things, possibly, before you find some things that help. Things like fiddlesticks and the wobble cushion did not help at all for DS2, but they do help for other children. Each child is different.

Sometimes we think "oh this is great, it helped so-and-so" and get sooooo incredibly upset when it doesn't help. I was like that with the wobble cushion. It had such good reviews from others, but DS2 hated it. My dream of him sitting still at the dinner table blew up in a puff of smoke. It sounds silly, but it is unbelievable how much we sometimes hinge our feelings on a small thing.

i've got a 'licker'!

she also reacts to suddon noise, sniffs, tickles, strokes and stares and now realises she can't sit still, no matter how she tries!
her staring has just 'clicked' with me, if she sees something she likes, she will stare at it for ages drinking the sight in.

i haven't read 'The Out of Sync Child' yet, but am almost finished 'Parenting your Sensitive Child' and that's been a great insight for us.

she still has blankies/comforters and she knows now if she feels the need to lick/sniff then this is 'socially acceptable' but her stroking compulsion is harder to control at times - especially as she loves to touch running water.

how does your DS cope with school? is he progressing? what 'troubles' him in school (if anything)

Hehe at lickers dd2 was locking the changing room wall the other day and couldn't understand why she wasn't allowed [insert sick emotion]

DS is struggling at school, his reading ability is nowhere near the others in his class, in fact my 3 yr old is overtaking him already. He almost "blanks" tasks he finds hard. In fact, at a swimming lesson he nearly parted the water to escape showing his skills..... We have tried the 'fiddle' stuff but he ended up being more distracted by them. I am trying to lower my expectations at mealtimes etc but it makes me anxious when he starts distracting my 2 other boys........breathe breathe!!