Sensory Processing and motor planning difficulties. Tclanger?? or anyone??

[mumgoingcrazy]

I started this thread to avoid hijacking another, I've got a lot I want to know so thought that would be mean to the other mn'er.

DD2 has sensory processing issues and motor planning difficulties. She has weekly Physio/SALT/OT/Portage and is on a sensory diet. Her main sensory issue is that she is severely tactile defensive, however we are about to undergo a full sensory assessment as we believe she also has auditory problems too. We are also waiting for results of a blood test

Tclanger, I noticed on another thread your DC has the same and wondered if you would mind sharing your story. DD2 is only 17 months so early days. DD2 is very loud and I've been told this is because she has no awareness of her 'self' in space. I've researched this so much and it just gets so technical I wondered if you could explain this to me and also exactly what 'motor planning' is and why DD2 finds this so difficult.

Thanks very much in advance.

I'm not an expert but my ds1 is tactile defensive (less so since having OT help) and also has problems with co-ordination and motor planning.

My understanding of it is that motor planning is when your brain develops a strategy to carry out an activity. In order to do that it has to have information. If, for example, you want to pick up a cup your brain needs to have information about where that cup is (on the table) and where you are (a few inches away from it). You put the information together and work out how far to extend your arm, how to grip the cup etc.

If a child has no awareness of self in relation to other objects (like my ds1 and your dd2) then part of that information will either be missing or faulty. The child might move their arm too far and knock the cup over, or not far enough and miss the cup altogether. If you add to that other sensory difficulties (eg my ds1 has hypersensitive hands so as a toddler would have tried to pick up the cup with his fingertips) things get even more difficult.

Ds1 was very placid rather than very loud so I don't know much about that side of things. His hearing is very sensitive though and he can hear sounds that are usually outside of the normal range for humans. That means that he used to try to switch off his hearing altogether and so appeared to be deaf.

Possibly irrelevant, but on the motor planning front...we thought DD's motor planning difficulties were entirely due to her developmental delay. Then at a routine development appointment they asked us to get her eyes checked. Turns out she has basically no binocular vision - one eye perfect, the other extremely long-sighted. Hence the inability to walk downstairs, use cutlery, ride a bike...We are now doing glasses and patch on the eye and already seeing some improvement (after a week!). As I say, probably not relevant but it took us by surprise because it hadn't occurred to anyone to check before.

Sorry, meant to add that this apparently can cause issues with proprioperception and eye contact, and probably does in DD's case but a little too early to say.

Thank you all for this info, there's a lot of links and things for me to read through so will have a go this evening (when there are no kids around).

DD2 is already under opthalmology for an occasional squint (which they have never seen themselves) and they think her sight is ok.

Can I ask of your DC are all in mainstream nursery/school and whether they have help or not. It was suggested to be today by our SALT that DD2 attends a sn nursery which I was a little shocked at. It's always been at the back of mind that she'll catch up (and in my dreams be top of her class), maybe I just havn't quite accepted her additional needs yet, I don't know.

My ds has SPD since birth. We sent him to sn school because his auditory and mobility issues meant he wouldn't have coped in a large crowded school. He's doing great in small class of 5 (with almost as many teachers/assistants) and teachers all working out strategies to adjust to his needs. He did go to mainstream nursery with additional support. Hard to adjust sometimes to notion of sn school but take a look, only you can judge if it is in your dds best interest. MAybe sn nursery might enable the catchup in readiness for mainstream primary.

I've had a really quick look at those links and they seem to be exactly what I'm looking for. I'll also buy that book too (the out of sync child).

Coppertop, thanks for explaining the motor planning, it does make sense. Unfortunately she is very delayed due to not touching anything, although this is improving. She does occasionally reach for something but as you said usually mis-judges the distance and knocks it flying instead.

Ds1 is at a ms school. He gets help with his sensory issues at school. His fine motor skills are delayed so he does a programme at school to help with that too. He uses a sloped writing board and has headphones if he feels there is too much noise.

There's been a lot of improvement. At 3.5yrs he had the fine motor skills of a typical 18mth-old. There is still a delay but he is now able to write - something that we thought he would never be able to cope with.

This thread is very interesting, I see plenty of DS's issues in some of your posts.
TClanger, about what you wrote: "A move and sit seat has really helped him sit in the right postion and the little bumps on in give him the sensory stimulation he craves, which helps with the fidgeting, fiddling and mouthing of objects."

Sorry for my ignorance, but what seat is this? and where can I get one?

thanks xx

norlite.co.uk sell move and sit seats google it for others. Like flat cushion of air to sit on, wobbles a bit sending messages to brain to help sensory feedback.

If you scroll down you will see the Movin-Sit cushion [http://www.norlite.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Wobble_Cushions_33.html here.]]

They're so good that I even bought one for ds1 to use at home too.

www.norlite.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Wobble_Cushions_33.html

My DD is in mainstream school with NO HELP. I think we're not going to get anything until she's six because that's when compulsory school starts here. At the moment she really enjoys it but I don't know how much she actually participates in what's going on...However, her behaviour tends to be dancing round and singing and not paying attention rather than being aggressive, so we get away with it for now. Sometimes I really like her school - the normal teacher and the kids are lovely - but this week there has been a replacement teacher and suddenly it's all gone to pot! I'm hoping the regular one will be back next week.

oh, thanks for that. I have a wobbly cushion for DS but it doesn't have those little bumps. thanks.

Brioche, do you think your dc will have help once she turns 6?

Will these wobble cushions give self awareness? DD2 has only just started bottom shuffling so would they still be suitable for her? She doesn't stand yet as again this would involve having to touch something.

I had a home visit from our OT and SALT yeterday and DD2 will be starting 'therapeutic listening' in January. Has anyone come across this? and was it successful? and what did it involve?

Many Thanks

Hi my son as well as being down syndrome and severly delayed (8y functioning 18 mths) has severe sensory dysfunction. He too is tactile defensive, a sensory diet is also in place, however I feel it is not working. Cut the story short as he has a heart condition he is at risk of endochartitis and doesn't brush his teeth. This of course being my main worry. Just wondered what you are all doing for tactile problems and if anyone has overcome brushing teeth. He also doesn't like dressing, hair cut etc.

i am so glad lots of mums are reading the out of sync child, there is also another book called 'the out of sync child has fun' which gives lots of games etc., by the same author. my son has sensory issues, but they are much better now after two years of o.t. and 9 months of osteopathy, he is proproceptory and vestibular issues but with continous therapies, lots of soft play activity and going to the swings every weekend he is 80% better,he still puts his fingers in his ears but is much calmer.we do a sensory bag for every story book we sing it at home and bring all the props out of the bag, he now does this
unprompted. we also do music therapy at the amazing nordoff robbins which is helping him cope with certain tones, and in february we will be doing ait [auditory integration therapy] which helps with sensory stuff look up www.soundandlightcentre.org
with tactile we let him investigate sea shells, stones, lavender, sand water putty, the more you introduce it the more likely they will interact with its texture.

DD2 (18 mo) is severely tactile defensive (incl mouth area) and before our therapy started she wouldn't touch ANYTHING and would freak out if anyone touched her arms or hands (legs were maginally better). Our OT started us on a sensory diet and she is much better than she was, although we have a way to go.

We did 6 weeks of deep pressure brushing and joint compression. The first 2 weeks were fantastic, we saw huge improvements then we plateaued for 4 weeks so stopped. We are now doing a top up month (a week into it) and again we have seen more improvement. It was impossible to get into her mouth to even get toothpaste in there let alone brush. We tried every toothpaste and brush available and then our SALT suggested a face massage before meals and brushing teeth and then pat her lips to a song and then as a game quickly slip my finger into her mouth and out again. We also have to use the silicone finger brush with DD2, and after just 1 month of doing this we now brush her teeth (very quickly) without crying!! Our SALT just this week has now suggested the gentle vibrating brush from Jojo Maman Bebe. I've just ordered this (not in stock due to Xmas stuff being in but they are still in the warehouse) so I can't tell you whether this is going to work.

As you can see from my previous posts we are about to started 'therapeutic listening' in January and this is also meant to improve body awareness and defensiveness across all the senses.

Hope this helps, do you have an OT?

Forgot to say we also do loads of messy play, wet and dry. This can be a bit hit and miss but a big improvement from 6 months ago.

We have both out of sync books on order so from what everyone has said I can't wait to read them. I didn't realise how many books there were out there on sensory processing disorder. It was very hard not to get carried away and spend a ton.

This is great. Some of which I am trying to do anyway. But what do you do when you can't get near them to do the deep pressure etc which is 9 times out of 10. Tclanger I have read out of sync child and the last conference I went to the lady who was presenting it descibed different types of dysfunction. When she described what I say as my son she said it was the worst type to have and quite a dangerous situation to be in. So I asked what I needed to be doing and she didn't answer me except that he needs the right help. I am going to try and contact this woman again. By the way mumgoingcrazy I wish we had your OT and SALT, they seem to know what they are doing. Face massage, finger in mouth etc has not been mentioned to try with DS. However even they still need to restrain him at times.