First, let me thank all of you for your kind words and support, they mean the world to me, really. I am constantly amazed at the kindness of this community. You brought many a tear to my eye. I will touch base with as many of you as possible over the next few days. I would also like to give a little more information about Sensory Integration as a whole, and also how it relates to my son. I know a few of you who know us in real life are wondering just what this means for Elliot.
I don't think I could possibly sum this up as eloquently as Taya did when she said-- "preschoolers, by definition, are learning to integrate the incredible,
overwhelming data from the world around them. It's hard, and struggling
with it demonstrates just how much there is out there to see, hear,
touch, etc.--it can point out the richness and beauty of the world to
us, the adults who are really good at integrating, and it can also help
us to notice the very sensitive little souls for whom sometimes it's
just too much."
Taya is absolutely right. Sensory integration really is the most important work little children are doing. Taking in information from their surroundings, interpreting it, and reacting to it. And all children have sensory issues, little things that make you scratch your head and go, hmmmmm. It is when these things add up and alter the way a child lives his life that it needs intervention.
I also want to clarify for those who read all of the comments the relationship between sensory issues and pervasive developmental disorders such as autism. Nearly all autistics have sensory issues, but kids with sensory issues are not necessarily autistic. My son is not autistic.
I suspect the reason it took me so long to figure out Elliot's sensory issues is because he does not have what I thought of as many of the classic symptoms. I thought affected children covered their eyes and ears all of the time, made their parents cut all of the tags out of their clothing, and only ate a few foods. Elliot doesn't do any of these things, he does subtly avoid some things, but in and of themselves they would not be significant. For example, he won't eat anything "minty" or "bubbly," hates swings, and has grown out of a variety of other sensory avoiding behaviors.
Elliot is primarily a sensory seeker. He loves preschool and asks us if he can go everyday, and stay for aftercare. He doesn't cause any significant problems at school, but does want to touch other children a lot, which I suspect is annoying to them. This is his only problem at school, and luckily he has very good relationships with his teachers, who incidentally, think he has sensory issues, but that they are within the range of normal.
At home, Elliot is more difficult. I think that holding it all together at school is very tiring, and he sort of lets it go for us. Again, he loves action, and if we were to run him around from the farmer's market to a restaurant, to a mall, he would be happy as a clam. It is mainly when we desire to stay home and do something besides entertain him every waking moment that we run into a problem. I'm delighted that my son is so bright and energetic, but there has to be room in the day for meeting the needs of more than one family member.
The other big frustration Elliot has is getting his body to keep up with his mind. I knew that he struggled with large motor skills, as he frequently injures himself (hello, emergency room) but I thought his fine motor skills were just fine. On the way out of the occupational therapist's office the other day I bought him an orthopedic pencil as a treat. When we got home he wrote his name on every piece of paper he could find. I guess he was not able to hold a normal pencil well enough to write.
So, our hopes are that through occupational therapy, they can teach his body how to better work with his brain, and he will have a lower level of frustration, which will lead to more peaceful times in our home. I also believe there is a strong connection between sensory issues and food allergy, and as proof of that would like to let you know that every single Mom who has contacted me privately has confirmed that her child also suffered from reflux as a baby, which I also believe is a food allergy issue. We will also be handling this from a food allergy perspective. (anyone wanting more info about the food allergy connection, check this link)
Finally, as I am sure is the case with any child's diagnosis, this has led me to examine my own issues, and I am confident I have plenty of sensory issues as well. This gives me hope, as I am functioning, as least reasonably well:) I also believe these children carry with them enormous gifts in their sensitive little bodies.
