Dirty Dishes and Swim team

Until we got a diagnosis we just thought our son was a quirky kid. Extremely tactile defensive from day 1. (Didn't snuggle, didn't sleep.)




No haircuts from people with painted fingernails, one tshirt that had to be worn underneath any other shirt, socks worn inside out. If he had to carry a dirty dish to the sink, he would balance it on the tips of his fingers because he didn't like the way it felt AND it had dirty germy stuff on it.

The funny thing happened when I got a call from a friend who had him over for a playdate. She said she was worried because he hadn't eaten anything all day. She put him on the phone where he very quietly informed me that "THEY" EAT OFF THOSE DISHES. (I didn't bother to point out that this same situation occurs at restaurants.)

AT seventeen he still can't stand to hold a pencil. Thank God for laptops!

His 1st grade teacher complained that he was always swinging his arms, it was distracting to the other kids. Funny thing about that is that he is now a state champion swimmer!



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Jul 12, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Questions on Prepping for Swim Meet Challenges and SPD
by: Anonymous

Hello,

Thanks for the wonderful article. My daughter with SPD, age 5, is on swim team and adores swimming, but has sensory challenges at the swim meets. The noise, the tight swim cap, and the waiting between events without being active are hard. She gets nervous/sensory overload and vomits before each race -- the biggest problem (doesn't eat before because we found that minimizes the vomiting). She has a strong gag reflex due to her tactile defensiveness. The swimming itself goes great... it's the build-up to it that is a challenge

Any tips would be appreciated, thanks.

Congrats to your talented swimmer!

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