Experts by Patty Porch
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Earlier in the week, after a particularly gruesome play date in which my toddler son, Danny, had ended up screaming uncontrollably, I broke down in my car. I had no idea what had set him off, and I didn’t know why he always acted so differently from other kids his age. I knew something wasn’t right.
No one would listen to me, but I knew in my gut that something was wrong.
So, I went to the library desperately trying to find a book with some answers in it. I read books on strong-willed children and parenting techniques, but nothing fit.
I didn’t know where to turn, but I distinctly remembered thinking, “Oh, if someone could just tell me exactly what is wrong and what to do about it, I would never ask for another thing. Ever!”
Once Danny was diagnosed with SPD, I was filled with enormous relief. Finally, someone could tell me what to do. I had some answers. Answers, at last!
Since then, I have sought answers wherever I could find them. I have read every book, magazine article, and website I could find, desperately hoping for answers. And each of these resources has helped. A lot.
But I never found the one SPD Bible that could give me every piece of information I needed. Worse still, some of the advice in these sensory books didn’t work for Danny. Much of it I needed to tweak and adjust for his personality and his sensory needs.
Throughout all this, I often found myself wishing Danny had a more clear-cut disorder, one that had one simple cure or treatment.
The thing is, Sensory Processing Disorder is anything but clear-cut, a fact that has been brought home to me more than ever, now that my 5-year-old daughter has also been diagnosed with SPD. Her sensory issues and how she reacts to them are vastly different from Danny’s. So, what has worked well for Danny doesn’t always help Charlotte. It’s so much a process of trial and error.
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