Is my kid just sensititve or is there more?

[MelissaD]

My DH and I are having a bit of a disagreement. Our oldest is almost 7. He has always had a few "issues". Deep, low sounds (my FIL's Australian digeriedo, for example) have always made him cry. Slow classical music would also make him cry (not so much anymore but I think that is because he as learned to walk away from it). He won't go to a movie theater because they are too loud. Big things like a lighthouse used to scare him because "they are too noisy". At our homeschool Valentine party last week, he ate with one hand while trying to cover his ears with the other because there were a lot of people talking. I could go on and on.

I think he is just sensitive. DH thinks that he might have a real problem that we need to get him checked for (although he doesn't know what the problem could be or who we would call).

Thoughts?

Melissa

[OneRoomHomeSchool]

Hmmm, it does almost sound like some type of Sensory Integration Disorder. If he were my child, I might have it checked out. ;)

[abbeyej]

It sounds to me too like something far beyond the normal range of "sensitive child". If it were my child, I would have it checked out.

[MelissaD]

Hmmm, it does almost sound like some type of Sensory Integration Disorder. If he were my child, I might have it checked out. ;)

Where and how:o?

[OneRoomHomeSchool]

Your pediatrician should be able to refer you...

[one l michele]

Mention it to his ped at his next check up.

[Jean in Newcastle]

BTDT with my eldest. This is the child I had to warn and give him ear protectors to put on if I put on the vacuum or the blender. We gave him his own industrial strength ear protectors at age 3! It is not a hearing problem for him (we had him checked). I've wondered about the sensory thing (I cry easily with stimulation of my senses). But in our house it has calmed down some with age. (He is 10 now and can run the vacuum. He still hates the blender but he's usually ok if he's in the other room.) This is also the child who did not sleep for his first year - constant colicky behavior for much longer than the "experts" said - I think it was that his nervous system took a lot longer to be able to handle the stimuli of the world.

[T Baer]

It's doesn't bother him as much now as he's making lots of noise. I think as he is also a visual learner, busy places plus loud noises was disturbing to him. In fact, I;m a bit like this esp if we go out for dinner.
What helps him is being around familiar or having something familiar. He no longer carries his blankie with him, but he has his favorite clothes.
Oh, he also doesn't like getting stuff on his hands. We bought a sandbox and enrolled him in swimming class to help him. He plays in the sandbox, but doesn't get his whole body in and he loves to dive in the water and splash around.

[Stirsmommy]

I think that either way until you know perhaps ear plugs might be nice. I have a friend that carries them for her sone and husband. I hadn't thought of this although my son 7 and I don't like a lot of noise. The ear plugs allowed her son to sit through the lion dance that is very loud when he wanted to leave. She had some for my ds too and he was thrilled. He said he could really enjoy himself with them in his ears.
Melissa

[Margaret in CO]

I have one like this--2.5 years of "colic", no sleep for that time. The organ at church would set off screaming for days. Smells did too. We had to take the coal furnace out of the house and not use the wood stove. The first day of swim team practice, with lots of kids, screaming coaches, etc., she got out of the pool and didn't compete for 8 years. For the first year of her life, having a light switch flipped on would make her scream for 18 hours. She finally learned to handle it by controlling the noises. After we left a church because of the out of tune, poorly played piano, she became the church organist. Low notes? She took up the cello. Loud noises? She took up pistol shooting. Screaming people? She deliberately put herself in that situation. She went back to swim team and made State all 4 years of high school. She ran x-c, complete with people yelling at her. And the ultimate--she's at the Naval Academy, where she was screamed at for one entire year! It was not the usual way to handle the stimulus overload, but it worked for her.

[Tracey in TX]

I would agree that it sounds like SID, sensory integration disorder. Talk to ped/family doc about it. There's lots of information available and seems to be commonly diagnosed now. Several friends have kiddos with it. Once you have the knowledge, you can avoid overstimulation, or help to find a solution.
fwiw, when I'm overstimulated sometimes I retreat to Bose headphones. You can still hear everything, but it's filtered and not quite so shocking.

[dirty ethel rackham]

It sounds like my son with sensory integration issues. Get him evaluated. I could not get a school to look at him for anything other than his language processing delays (from avoiding sounds including the spoken language.) I ended up getting services from NACD. They have been WONDERFUL. My son smiles again, has fewer issues with sound (and other things) and his language processing has improved.

[Angel]

My dd has this. For us it fell under the Asperger Syndrome umbrella. I would see your ped and bring all your concerns, along with some research so they know you are serious about finding out what's going on. When we first went to our doc he said it was the new baby. It took us 2.5 more years to figure out what was wrong because he didn't take us seriously.

I would like to recommend a book. "The Out of Sync Child" by Carol Kranowitz. Excellent book with tons of helpful information. You'll know right off if you recognize your child while reading it.

Angel

[Claire]

My DH and I are having a bit of a disagreement. Our oldest is almost 7. He has always had a few "issues". Deep, low sounds (my FIL's Australian digeriedo, for example) have always made him cry. Slow classical music would also make him cry (not so much anymore but I think that is because he as learned to walk away from it). He won't go to a movie theater because they are too loud. Big things like a lighthouse used to scare him because "they are too noisy". At our homeschool Valentine party last week, he ate with one hand while trying to cover his ears with the other because there were a lot of people talking. I could go on and on.

I think he is just sensitive. DH thinks that he might have a real problem that we need to get him checked for (although he doesn't know what the problem could be or who we would call).

Thoughts?

Melissa

Sorry, don't have time to read the other responses. An occupational therapy evaluation can assess whether he has sensory integration disorder (SID, or the new terminology is sensory processing disorder, SPD). SID involves hyper- or hypo- responsiveness to sensory stimulation. In your son's case, it's probably hyper-sensitivity to sound. OTs can provide therapy to normalize the responsiveness to stimulation.

I would advise first finding a good OT. Call the clinic, describe your son, and ask if an evaluation would be a good idea. Then ask about medical insurance coverage for the eval. Clinics deal with medical insurance every day, and the clinic should be able to tell you *exactly* how the referral needs to be worded or coded for coverage. Take that information to your doctor so the referral gets written up correctly.

[Barb F. PA in AZ]

I agree with the others on the SID. My oldest daughter suffers from the same sensitivities, so we've always encouraged her to take breaks when things are too overwhelming. We would cover for her at parties by saying she had a headache and needed time for the pain killer to kick in. People who don't have experience with this sort of thing can't really understand how it affects the child. It's a physical pain coupled with mental anguish. The good news is, we've never had her formally evaluated....just didn't want to go through all that... and she has largely outgrown the worst of it. Homeschooling is the best possible intervention because it gives them time to mature without always being at the mercy of their sensitivities. Meghan has inched out into the world a little at a time, taking classes at the college, working at a busy restaurant, going to concerts...that sort of thing. She is still sensitive, but it's manageable now. Acknowledging it and working with it was the best course of action for us.

Barb