Newbie - 8yo DS with sensory processing issues living overseas. Where to start!

[pupsiecola]

Hi all,

I'm new to this board. I usually post on the Living Overseas board as we moved to South East Asia last June. I?ll try to be as brief as I can.

DS2 (almost 8) has just been "diagnosed" with sensory issues (vision, auditory and reflex). This has come about because he has been completely withdrawn at school and refusing to do any work (when it?s something he struggles with. His teacher says ?he sees the mountain and if he doesn?t know how to get over it he gives up without trying?. If it?s something he wants to do he will). He is in a private International School here (1000 pupils) where standards are high and most kids are above grade level.

Until now we?ve just thought that he?s slightly below average and that his behaviour at school has been due to moving halfway across the world. But 8 months on and this is still carrying on. In the UK he was at a tiny village primary school and whilst he needed a lot of coaxing sometimes they didn?t flag this issue (maybe because he was too young to diagnose?). He was average/slightly below average there but the expectations were lower.

I?ve never heard of this sensory processing issue before. On one hand it feels like it fits. And when he was 2 he had failure to thrive, dropping from the 91st centile to the 4th in the 3 months it took to diagnose enlarged tonsils, deafness due to extreme glue ear and adenoids completely covering the nasal/throat space. After tonsils and adenoids out and grommets in he improved no end. So I can see that this might where it all started.
But on the other hand something just doesn?t feel right. He was a joyful baby (used to wake up laughing for his night feed!), isn?t sensitive to noise or pain, has lots of friend and is very popular, is advanced emotionally, is very good at sport, rode a bicycle early, isn?t clumsy, never walks into things or drops things etc.

The lady we saw here is an English lady. She wants to start him on a course of AIT. It will be half an hour, twice a day for 10 consecutive days. (I have just read frizzcat?s post which is very encouraging).

We also have to do an exercise where he sits on a chair in a foetal position and I have to touch him 5 times with his eyes closed (I was so overwhelmed with all the info yesterday I forgot to ask her what this is for and I confess I have no clue).

Really we?re just trying to get our heads around this diagnosis. We will do anything to help him. But there is a niggle that I can?t ignore. I guess it could be that he has a very mild form which is why it?s not so obvious vs all the known symptoms. Part of me (and DH) also wonder if this is a controversial condition and how well recognised it is.

It?s hard being in another country, especially Asia, where there is often a lot of pressure on kids to work hard (no offence to anyone). And I don?t know the procedure for this sort of thing here. In the UK I would go see my lovely family GP. So I need to get my head around that aspect too.

School is being very supportive so that?s helpful.

Sorry if these are daft questions/observations. I have always researched any issues with the kids (it was me who diagnosed the reasons for his failure to thrive when the doctors were testing him for things like cystic fibrosis). But I admit, having also gone through the upheaval of the move (still a bit of a rollercoaster) I could do with any help/guidance I can get!

Thanks for reading.

Thanks so much justabout. I just came back on to say I am not disputing that there are sensory issues for some children. I certainly don't mean to invalidate those. It was more of a "does it really sound like my son could have this" point.

Please don't apologise for being blunt - I appreciate your honesty!!

Thank you so much. What you say makes sense. A steep learning curve for me.

Sensory Processing Disorder can co-exist or be part of the symptoms of many other conditions e.g. Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, learning disabilities, ASD or sometimes, as a stand-alone condition.

It is not recognised in the DSM IV and there would have been a lot of agitation and hence disappointment that it was not included in the DSM-V.

It is wide ranging; if you look at PolterGoose's link, you will see a good description. You can also do a checklist which will help you to identify the senses that are most challenging to him.

Part of the difficulty in recognising that a child 'fits' with SPD is that we can be under- and over-sensitive to stimuli and both cause problems.
So for instance, one child will be oversensitive to noise and startle at any unexpected sounds; another will under-register and thus have difficulty attending to sounds they should listen to e.g. teacher.

Is the 'English lady' who is seeing your DS an OT?
Curling on a chair and touching sounds like doing tactile processing or could be part of Retained Reflex therapy.

PM me if I can clarify any of this.