Hearty

I can’t believe it is happening again. But it is. I have been aboard the Acronym Train stopping at each station for a new set of letters for years now. We have visited stations like OCD, ODD, SPD, GAD, PDD-NOS, MD-NOS, BP and now my train is heading to a new station: ADHD. Yes, the day has come for a new stop at yet ANOTHER letter station. It is time for me to take Gabriel to get evaluated for ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder – He is not hyper, but who knows what the test will show). This isn’t a revelation – that Gabe has ADD, I have always known this. And I have always said that actually having that diagnosis would only benefit him if we were to medicate for it. Unfortunately, it looks like we may just have to. As I am sure you have heard, ADHD shares many of the same overlapping indicators as SPD, which makes distiguishing between ADHD and SPD challenging, but not impossible.  Dr. Roya Ostovar, in her book The Ultimate Guide to Sensory Processing Disorder says, "The area of mot...

Sensational Links for 8/27/10 She Hates What I Do - Thanks Pal by SPD college student Maggie at Runaway Maggie May :  A great post about her friend's comment that perhaps Maggie was using her ADHD as an "excuse" to make school easier for her.  The Things We Do For Our Kids by SPD mom Michelle at She's Always Write :  The arrival of the first non-family birthday party invitation -- and the party is at Chuck E. Cheese.  Two Big Boys by SPD mom Kirsten at No We're Not There Yet :  Reaching the milestone of the last child officially potty trained! Rollercoaster by SPD mom Jaimee at Our Life With SPD :  A recount of her six year old's meltdowns and challenges during the second week back to school.

I find that I am always leery about going to the playground or the park with all three boys. I know, that kids are kids, and this is summer (will it ever end?), and that is what kids should do – play at the park. But honestly, it makes me anxious just thinking about it. I am sure you’ve done this before – you get all revved up about going to the park, pack the fifty thousand things that you need to get there, spend the two hours getting everyone dressed and ready (probably not yourself, I mean, you don’t have time to actually shower), pack the juice boxes and the change of clothes, the snacks and the kites, and get in the van. Now, you are driving to the park, going over with your kids the ‘expected behaviors’ that they should display while you are there, reminding them of their good social skills, how to wait for their turn on the swings, the need for them to stay with you, and that they have to stay out of the water, and away from the roads, and then there is of course the playground...

Many people ask me what a good sensory diet for school is, and unfortunately, there isn’t a simple answer. But, in light of how many people are interested, I am going to breakdown what we do/have done for Gabriel in an effort to give you a starting point in determining the best fit for your own child. PLEASE remember that I am offering mom to mom advice, which is in no way shape or form medical advice, and of course, should not be substituted for your own good judgment. Now that you have my disclaimer, here we go. Day begins (Gabriel awakes low): Eat breakfast with input . Offer breakfast items that provide input, like crunchy granola, yogurt through a straw or chewy dried fruit. We focus on high protein and low sugar. Use weighted lap pad or allow standing (or any other at-the-table option) to make sure he finishes his entire breakfast. Get ready for school . Dressed, teeth brushed, things packed, lunch ready, etc. This is all good linear movement for Gabriel, so I have included him ...

It's Friday, and I have rounded up some more Sensational Links!  Check them out -- Sensational Links for 8/20/10 I'm Overwhelmed! by SPD mom, Momma C at Our Out of Sync Life :  Great tips on how to do it all -- from house cleaning to school work, all with clean clothes and food on the table. At Home Proprioception Tools by SPD mom (x2) Chynna Laird at The Gift Blog :  A great post about getting your children the input they need, with tips on real life ways to accomplish it. Welcome to Normal by SPD mom Jen at State of Mind :  A heartwarming post about how great her daughter Jacq is doing.  Nothing better than a success story! : ) Let's Do The Twist by SPD mom Beth at In the Midst of Miracles :  A post about her daughter's need to twist her hair, and a request to help her find a solution.  Do you have any tips? Help Parents of Kids with SPD Raise Awareness by SPD mom Terri Mauro at SpecialChildren.about.com : A big thank you to Terri for blogging ...

I had the most amazing time talking to Lisa Davis at It’s Your Health Radio this last week. It was truly like talking with a good friend – we laughed, and exchanged stories about our kids and our husbands, and of course talked a lot about Sensory Processing Disorder and my book This is Gabriel Making Sense of School . But the best part? Laughing about our own sensory issues. Yep, that’s right, turns out that we as parents of SPD kiddos seem to have our own sensory issues. Just call me Captain Obvious. There is always time to chat about our kids, and exchange stories about their therapies or quirky and funny behavior, but how often do you actually talk to another sensory-mom about yourself? Never. I know . So, when Lisa and I started laughing about our childhoods and how those little sensory quirks of ours are playing out in our kids, it was just a blast. And, I wanted to include all of you in the discussion too! When I was a child I had definite sensory preferences that lean towards b...

Do your kids love music? Mine sure do. It was probably 4 years ago now, and I was driving out of our subdivision with all three boys in the van – Gabe was in Kindergarten, which makes Nick 2 1/2 at the time and Matt around 6 months. From out of the back I hear the boys talking about playing musical instruments. “Mom,” Nick starts, “Can I have a drum set?" I grin, “Maybe someday.” “Can I have a Tuba?” Gabe interjects. “No.” I laugh out loud at the image of my son, much smaller than a Tuba, attempting to play it. But, that planted the musical seed for all of us. Flash forward four years, and I am contemplating putting Nick and Gabe in Piano lessons. Why Piano? Because it seems that might be the most convenient to actually attend. And, Nick tried Drum lessons at three different locations, but he was just too young at the time. Not to mention, I don’t want a drum set in the house, but could live with a keyboard. I bet you’re shocked that I am not interested in a drum set, huh? My husb...

Before I ever got a diagnosis of any sort for my son Gabriel, I think everyone I knew had told me some version of the line, “It will get better”. I knew they all meant well, but I wasn’t dealing with your run-of-the-mill toddler tantrums with Gabe. Not even close. My son had meltdowns . Big, long, scary and excruciatingly loud, meltdowns. Gabe would cry for hours on end, for no apparent reason and crashed into walls for fun; this wasn’t typical development in my book, and I couldn’t understand why people were so quick to dismiss it with any of the old standbys (“He’s just a boy” or “He’ll grow out of it” or the non-committal, “It will get better”). How could people think that it would just get better ? I wanted to believe them, I really wanted to , but I had lived with the ‘out of sync’ behavior for years, with no sign of it letting up, so I wasn’t convinced that my son would just magically ‘get better’ one day. When Gabriel’s diagnosis came in at age 4 as Sensory Processing Disorder, ...

My new "Sensational Links" post series is inspired by the blog No Hands But Ours , where they list the best articles the special needs adoption blogosphere has to offer each week.  What a  genius idea.  So, logically, I am copying it. Each week, hopefully, I am going to collect the best from the SPD Blogging Community and leave it here for you to check out.  Cool, huh?  If I don't follow your blog, but you think you have something that would be perfect for this, please feel free to  email me the link. Enjoy! Sensational Links for 8/13/10 (odd that we are staring on Friday the 13th...) Second Fiddle , from SPD mom Caitlin Wray at Welcome to Normal :  A great post about how her high needs child ( Me First ) always takes priority over her toddler ( Me Too ), with tips to help you focus on your Me Too kids. Car Wash , from SPD mom Martianne Stranger at Training Happy Hearts :  How to turn washing your car into a mult...

I had such a huge response to my post, “ What is Sensory Processing Disorder ?” that I wanted to talk a little bit more about how it presents itself. I want to start by talking about Sensory Modulation Disorder – or in basic terms: Sensory Avoiders and Sensory Seekers (for a full definition, click here ). For the purpose of this post, I am going to list sensory seeking and sensory avoidant behaviors, to paint a more accurate picture of what sensory-based behaviors look like. You can consider these 'symptoms' or a 'checklist' but my real goal in posting them is to help parents and caregivers recognize the sensory challenges in the children in their life.  In addition to that, I hope to paint a bigger picture of specifically of the kinds of behaviors Sensory Seekers have, as they seem to be the least understood. Let's start with Sensory Seekers . Read more »

While looking for an expert to speak with about IEP Meetings, I happened upon the book Guns A’Blazing: How Parents of Children on the Autism Spectrum and Schools Can Work Together – Without a Shot Being Fired , by Jeffrey Cohen. I immediately liked the title, because most families I talk with do attend meetings with their ‘guns’ (at least in their holster) – and few are able to actually leave them at home. So I looked up the author, Jeffrey Cohen , to learn a little more about him, and here’s what his Amazon page said, “Jeffrey Cohen started life as poor street urchin, orphaned and taken in by a gang of pickpockets led by an older man named Fagin. No, wait. That's someone else, entirely.” And I laughed out loud. Really hard. Which was just refreshing, because you know what, this parenting a special needs kid is HARD – and you all know my motto: If you can’t laugh at my life, you have no sense of humor . Read more »

With school around the corner (finally) I realize that the impending stress of IEPs, transitions and new teacher worries have begun to weigh heavily on my mind, and the minds of every special needs parent I know.  So to honor the new road ahead, I am reposting my school prayer. Silent Prayer for School Please let this year be successful. Give me the strength to get through the IEP process. Let my child qualify for everything he needs. Let the school be on our side. Let us work as a team. Read more »

Recently I have seen a rise in the number of articles, Facebook posts, and even tweets claiming to define what Sensory Processing Disorder is. This should be good news, and it is -- mostly .  But, some of them are full of misinformation. Although I am thankful that anyone wants to help spread awareness, it frustrates me personally that these people could very well be doing more harm than good. I have dedicated such a large portion of my life to spreading awareness that will hopefully benefit kids like mine all over our country and arguably the world, that I would really like to see people get good, solid and accurate information. Wouldn’t you? It is with that goal in mind – the goal to educate and help – that I am taking my personal stab at answering the increasingly popular question, “What is Sensory Processing Disorder?”  My answer, and this article, will be specifically geared towards helping parents with SPD kids prepare a response for the dozens of strangers (and even family memb...

Back to school is in full force around here -- it isn't hard to miss:  the stores have officially begun to remove the pool toys and BBQ tools and replace them with binders and crayons.  This is the time of year that my boys begin the 6 week long whine for a new back pack -- and pencils, and crayons, and paints, and...you get the idea. This is also the time of year that I start to cringe with the thought of buying all of their school supplies, new backpacks (because we chew ours up each year, of course) on top of new shoes and new clothes -- who can afford that?  Especially for 3 kids? Now add to that I have to buy new fidgets and other sensory diet tools for the classroom (yes, I know that the school will supply these, but my kid can't wait that long), and as you might imagine, back to school costs big money at my house. So, when I heard from Jessica Ralli at Soft Clothing that she wanted to include my book in her Back To School Giveaway, I of course was flattered. But...

Here is August's First Things First article, which was written by Cat Lichtenbelt who writes at http://www.sensoryflow.com/ .  Like all of our articles, I hope it provides you inspiration to take care of your own needs! For more information about First Things First click here . There is also a list of the previous First Things First articles under the " Interviews, Guest Posts & FTF " tab at the top -- with the obvious title of "First Things First Articles". ------------------------------- I see acceptance as coming to an agreement. It is like going to a meeting of the minds and everyone walking out on the same page with the same purpose and goals for the future. As much as I’d like to say I am there, I am not, at least not yet. I have had some meetings, but I have never walked out with the same purpose, I merely walked out glad to have the meeting over with. Many of these meeting took place in my head and only Me, Myself and I attended, and we still did not...