If your not sure, Come to my house for a day - You'll Believe!!

by Shara
(Roswell, GA USA)

When you discover answers and descriptions that truly make you say, "Aaah Haaah! Oh my God! That is exactly what has been happening!"...... When the information being brought to you by professionals and book after book is "SO DEAD ON" - it appears as if the person relaying their knowledge of SPD has spent a lifetime with you and your child; because, having NEVER met you before - they are able to CORRECTLY with detail tell YOU what behavior your child is displaying (even the quirky things that you thought only your child did)... In my opinion... THAT IS REAL........... SPD IS REAL!

My son was a preemie, he just turned 2. He was born @ 30wks and weighed 3 lbs 3oz. With all possible things considered and what could have happened. We have been and are blessed. The first year, he seemed to be just "truckin' down" that "development road" just fine - we thought...occasionally stopping along the way for quirky pit-stops like: licking metal, not all metal, he definitely had a preference ... touches his tongue to screws, cold air vent grates, furniture hardware, chain on the hamper and wildly walked around a car for 20 minutes, only to stop and place his tongue on the metal circular key lock on the door.......... BUT, Then the "quirks" started to concern us, and the tantrums and delayed speech no longer seemed "behavioral" - Still has NOT ONE word in his vocabulary, but will hum and babble all day to the tunes of his favorite cartoons. - He has Uncontrollable tantrums during activity transition, only to be calmed by being held very tightly and having his face rubbed with his blanket. (these tantrums happen all day, everyday)Bringing him from a toy to lunch is like trying to develop your strategy of disarming a bomb with success.

We do have plenty of good days, But, a good day for parents of children/and the children with SPD warrants its own definition in Websters dictionary! Our good days, would be difficult for most who are not familiar with and have not experienced a loved one with SPD.

My son needs his feet covered to sleep, face washed with only a wet COLD cloth, Eats only 5 items, will gag in refusal to just the approach of something new coming his way. If it lands on his lips - He throws up. Only drinks milk from a bottle, Knows how to use cup, spoon, etc. because he will pretend to feed us. But, shows not curiosity or ability to self feed himself with anything but hands. After dinner, hands must be immediately washed or the "Bomb" potentially goes into "Lock and Engage" mode. Nothing but Disaster Recovery from that point on. Poor little guy runs fast and climbs and plays, but with very poor coordination. When real excited and running, seems to run like a side-winder. He bumps into things that are right in front of him as if they just magically appeared. And at times backs up towards something and misses and falls down. He is the cutest thing ever and such a happy, loving little boy. He just needs OT help - which hopefully once all the red-tape paperwork is done he will receive it.

He has brought me so much joy, and sometimes is just so fun to watch as you can see his mind's wheels spinning when trying so hard to master some simple things. But he does, and he can, and They will! All of our children will.

It's like I told my family... My son isn't really different from anyone else. We all have areas in our lives that we excel at and some we just can't seem to master. My sister excels in Math, but can't spell AT ALL! My mother is an artist, but is so bad with computers, she can give it a virus by just walking past it. So,.... While dealing with SPD, All of our children excel in areas daily! Maybe areas that aren't so common to most. But, that is THEIR strength! Let's focus on those strengths, let them; and watch them be proud. Share in his/her excitement over the fact that they can be on the "sit-n-spin" for 5 minutes and not get dizzy! (I'd like to see most try to do that)While praising them for what they can do, it will give them the confidence to try and do the things they can't. WE WILL ALL GET THERE! - So, I will see you in school when we are all watching our children receive their certificates of excellence!!