Undiagnosed SPD?

I ran into a lady recently, and we got to talking...turns out she has a son on the autism spectrum and another child hanging in the balance between a diagnosis of ADHD or bipolar disorder. We talked for quite a while in the middle of the store. She didn't know that SPD could be a stand alone diagnosis. I told her to get the book "Out of Sync Child" (how I wish I carried several copies with me to give away when I meet people like this). I told her that undiagnosed and therefore untreated SPD could cause some major emotional issues in a child. These kids are frequently considered a behavior problem, especially those fortunate enough to be "sensory seekers". My heart goes out to all the families and kids that have yet to find the help they need, SPD or otherwise. I encourage anyone seeking an accurate diagnosis and treatment for their child to pray about it and let God lead them to the right place! It's scary what damage can be done with a wrong dianosis and treatment plan. God knows our kids and He knows exactly what needs to be fixed in their little bodies. While we pray for their healing, we can also pray for God to lead us to the knowledge of what is needed to help them. God bless!

Baby Sign Language

A few weeks ago I taught my baby (8 1/2 months old) how to say "eat" in sign language. We worked on this for a couple of months before he got it. Every time I gave him baby food I would do the sign for "eat" several times and say the word. I really didn't think it would work, but it did, and HOW EXCITING! I am so proud of my smart little guy! He does the sign a little different than he is supposed to, but hey, he is only a baby! :)

Big Changes!

This summer has been a summer of change for us. Mostly good changes, but still, it is a lot to process. I've been trying to get my little one, 9 months old now, to sleep somewhat at night and get into a routine in preparation for our upcoming school year. After a hectic summer, with no sleep I might add, I finally just gave up and took it to the Lord. Many give advice about letting them "cry it out" or other tips, but I have to say, I just felt like if he was crying, then he needed something, so I was up taking care of him. He would get up between 2 to 4 times a night for a nursing session and maybe a diaper change. He got 6 teeth this summer, so I am thinking this is why he was not learning to sleep at night. He was in pain. It took forever for his little teeth to break through. Now that teething is temporarily over, I decided to get back to work on a sleep schedule. This is what I did...I prayed! :) I asked a friend to pray as well. Within a couple of nights he was sleeping through the night! God is good! I know that there are times that we have to be tough on our little ones (and ourselves) and teach them to do things, but for this particular milestone, I felt it was best to go to God! My little guy deals with acid reflux and takes medicine for it, so I never quite know if his reflux is bothering him, or if he is just overly attached! :)
Another big event for our summer is that we have changed churches. I grew up in this church since I was in 3rd grade (I'm 34 now) and my whole family goes there as well. We left a couple of years ago for about 10 months, and then returned as things were looking better at the time. Sadly, we have left again, and this time I feel that it will be for good, unless the Lord directs otherwise. We have been attending a church that is a different denomination than we are used to, but similar. We love it! God is really working in me and I just love every little part of it! Amazingly, my parents also left our former church within a month of us. They are now looking for a new church as well. God is good, and He is leading!
We finished Vision Therapy this summer with DS2 and DD3. It was a lot of work, but I'm hoping to see some of it pay off this school year. We drove about 45 minutes to get to our therapists, but they were really great and it was worth the drive. We intend to go back to OT with our first therapist (that specialized in sensory therapy) eventually...gotta get the other therapy paid off first!
Well, I'm hoping that with the baby sleeping thru the night and therapy temporarily finished, that we will be able to really have a fun time with homeschooling. I will just have to pray about that too:)
Until next time...

Thanks to a dear friend!

Thank you to a very dear friend for the help with my blog header! I love it! The picture in the header is a church down in Kentucky that a my mom's family used to get together at. My mom actually was in KY recently and went looking for this church...no easy task! :)

SPD and chocolate

Ok, so yes, food is a major issue around here, as you may be noticing the number of post titles containing a food item! I wanted to share with other SPD families what happens to my son when he eats chocolate (or ice cream, cheez-its, doritos, and a few other things). Last Wednesday night we tried out a new church. We have been attending that church on Sundays for about 6 weeks, and felt it was time to give it a try on Wednesday nights. I would be going it alone, without my husband this time, so I was a little nervous. I left my 6 year old daughter (also has SPD) at home with him, thinking it would be easier for me to handle the other kids. I had my 8 month old baby, my 12 year old daughter, my son (SPD, 10) and his buddy with me. We get there and I am already nervous as church lasts 2 hours on Wednesday nights! The kids stay in with the adults for a very loud but wonderful worship service, then they are dismissed to their classes. When class is over, I go to pick the kids up and my son says to me "mom, I almost ate a Reese cup, but I traded it for something else". Now, mind you, I know my son, and he might as well have said "I ate a Reese". He is not very good at lying, thank God, but on occasion he does try to get away with it, just like every other kid. I grill him and try to find out the truth, but I'm interupted by people welcoming us to the church. A very sweet lady comes over to me and introduces herself and her friends. After a few minutes, one of her friends asks me if I have any kids that dance. I look just a few yards away from me and there is my son, in the middle of a crowded hallway, doing cartwheels and spinning. That's when I knew...HE ATE A REESE CUP! I must admit, I kind of laughed and told her, "does that count?" lol! She goes over to my 10 year old son and extends her hand (to shake his) and introduces herself and asks him his name. He backs up. She steps forward and asks again. He backs up more, not looking her in the eye, but looking up and to the side frantically. She leans in to touch his arm to get his attention. This time he backs into the wall and climbs up onto the arm of the beautiful leather couch that is in the hallway. OH MY! I told him to get down. She tells him to listen to his mom and that the church is the house of the Lord, all of this in a very sweet way, I was not all offended, but by now she is holding his arm. This whole time I was thinking that I needed to step in and take control, but at the same time, wanting to see how my son would handle it. He has been doing wonderfully, with OT and a strict ban on all things dairy! I know he would have done much better had he not had the chocolate. Well, back to the story...It was at this point that I stepped in, baby on my hip, and very kindly said to her, "he is very uncomfortable being touched and I'm sure he will do much better if you would let go of his arm." She was very kind about the whole thing. She just said "OK" and let go of his arm, at which point my son was able to stand still. I think it surprised her. They were able to have a short conversation consisting of "do you want to join my dance team", "no"! lol! At that point I knew it was time to say our goodbyes and head to the car. When we got to the car I asked my son to do some push ups against the car and on the ground, and a few jumping jacks...hoping the input would calm him down for our ride home. I know that there were a lot of things there that were aggravating his SPD, but he is usually able to control himself much better. OT has done wonders for him and I have received many comments that he is a totally different child. He used to be like that all the time, now it is only when he eats something with dairy in it (although pizza doesn't seem to bother him). I have often wondered if I should attempt the GFCF diet with him, but he is already mostly cassein free (with the exception of pizza). When he was in first grade we were letting him eat mac n cheese and chocolate since he ate so little of anything else and he loved them so much. The teacher told me that he was hitting himself in the head a lot during the day at school and it was worrying her. I decided to remove dairy since I noticed a dramatic behavior change right after he would eat it. The change was amazing. We were shopping with my mom one day this summer and my other daughter was eating ice cream and my son was broken hearted because he wanted some too. My mom had the idea to make my son promise to be on his best behavior for our shopping trip or he would never get ice cream again. I went along with it. Needless to say, my mom said she will never give him ice cream again! LOL! I was wondering if any other SPD families had certain foods that reacted with their kids that way. At this point, his diet is mostly dairy free, with way too much salt on the few things he does eat. He also has never in his life tasted beef of any kind! Well, now it's off to fix supper, not a fun thing to do when dealing with SPD! :)

Doctor today

Well, the fever that my little one had Thursday and Friday turned out to be a virus. He has no runny nose or other symptoms, though, which is good. I took him to the doc today because yesterday he broke out in a rash. It started at his scalp and spread today to his neck, shoulders, trunk, and back. Glad he didn't have to take medicine, just tylenol. He's taking a nap with daddy now.

My baby is sick...

Yesterday my little one woke up with a fever. It's been ranging from between 95.5 to 100.6 taken under his armpit. Sounds like no big deal, and probably is, but he has been acting much more sleepy than usual. He is still eating. Mostly, he wants me to hold him. It's so sad. I'm hoping it's just teething. No new ones popping thru at the moment, though. I gave him tylenol last night twice and it brought it down temporarily. If he still has the fever on Monday, or if it goes up, I will take him to the doctor. Say a prayer for my little one. :(