Clothing etc

My daughter now 10 has not been able to tolerate wearing any type of knickers since she was four, she also has trouble with feel of clothes even when she likes the look of them, likes them soft and this all started around age four. She also began to hate the smell of bananas and still does though eats banana cake and dried banana. I was pregnant when she was four.

She also at this age began to not want to wear shoes, preferred sandals as got hot feet, this trend has continued but likes boots now and other shoes, generally likes to be cooler than warmer. You can notice it at bedtime, doesnt like many blankets at all and very fussy to the touch around falling asleep, used to fall asleep easily till age four then needed alot of time with one of her parents, till she was able to go to sleep. I have always thought it has something to do with the fact that she became a type one diabetic just after her seventh birthday. I think she had experienced perhaps mild case of vaginal thrush about 6 months prior.

From about age four couldnt stand anything except shirts and then couldnt wear an in between layer, like a cardi or a jersey, even in snow she would just be a cotton shirt then her jacket, once she went out in sandals and shirt only and later got very cold; she always has trouble with socks, we have learned to live with her ways and tried to accommodate her. Her food tastes have become narrower in the past few years and she rarely eats any veges now but has fruit occasionally, likes meat and starches.

Now I have a five year old boy with very hard to understand speech, seeing a speech therapist and I wonder if there is something like this sensory thing with him. Like his sister he only wore sandals through all seasons last year but now wears a pair of shoes thank goodness. Earlier this year the speech therapist said he could be selective mute. He is lately getting quite angry and physically hitting out for unexplained reasons. He only likes to play with his older sisters and their friends and gets upset about very little things. HE refuses to copy or join in very much with other kids, hates the attention spotlight been on him but has expressed wanting to be able to play with other kids but clams up and gets antisocial unless with older kids.

HE never liked being sung to like my daughters as a baby and gets annoyed with certain noises or music played. HE has never attempted to copy actions very much but has a few times. HE enjoyed gymnastics and has begun last week to play soccer with his father as a coach. I am worried about his clingyness, he refuses to participate and likes me to be right there.

He has been finding it hard to express his emotions and can become aggressive towards me and his siblings easily for no reason apparent often, I try to keep him occupied he has a great attention span ad enjoys being read to and doing practical tasks around the house. We homeschool but have regular contact with other families but there are parts of his behavior and my second daughters that I wonder touch on the area of your expertise.

I would like to hear your opinion of what may be happening. When he gets upset he screams and says go away even if hes hurt himself and resists being cuddled, often runs into another room and stays there till hes calm. Usually comes back to lovely self quickly but other times seems overwhelmed on a physical attack at everything and everyone which can be very confusing. I still allow him to breastfeed at the end of the day and morning which is good for him I believe and lately it seems this is really the only time he lets me give him a cuddle. He plans on giving this up soon, I am very happy with him going as long as he needs as had this with my daughters.

My eldest daughter is struggling to read still although she is 12 and now this thing might be genetic were wondering if there could be anything of this for her also. She has always had difficulty getting her thoughts out and has never been able to make up a story either, unlike her younger sister who is very verbal and able in as far as her imagination goes. I have always accepted their differences. This, my older daughter has Coeliac disease and has recently been diagnosed and I wondered if this possibly affected any of her development. She was always and still is prone to very strong emotional reactions and moods which can be difficult to live with, I think it could be getting better with age even as she hits puberty.

Our middle daughter first referred to can also be quite unbelievable in the way she can get worked up about an issue like her clothes not feeling right on her skin etc. She can be really emotional and be very anxious. This is not something people see in public though. All the children are so different but I see threads of issues relating to this sensory sensitivity spectrum and wondered if you could help please.

Thanks, J