Is SPD an anxiety disorder

by Debbi B.
(St. Paul, MN, USA)

My granddaughter is days away from her 4th birthday. I care for her 4days a week, while mom works. Ava spends some time with her dad, he's been struggling with addiction all of her life, but his love is genuine.

My daughter has a very good job, she's a great mom, her life is centered around Ava. We all are mesmerized by this little girl.

She is very mature, well her vocabulary is. I read before she was born that if a infant learns sign language, they will have, at least, a vocabulary of more than 300 words than a child who hasn't learned the language, at the age of 5.

She rattles all day long. I've had to learn to be my granddaughters guide and playmate. She has an attention span of a gnat. She doesn't have much interest in reading, or learning new things.

I try all sorts of different things, trying to incorporate letters, numbers, shapes and whatever has her attention at the moment.


We play house, store, restaurant, we garden, go to the park, the days I have her are pretty exclusive for her. Though, the times I can't give her undivided attention she either destroys things, very intentionally does things she's not suppose to. Then the second I get my attention back on her she goes into a trance state.

She will sit on a chair and nearly holds herself up off the seat, pulling her legs close to her chest, tensing up, then releasing them. As to crunch her butt and leg muscles, sometimes she sweats, and she will hold her breath.
This behavior seems to be much more active when there's stress, good or bad. Especially when she's overly tired.

She won't communicate during these times, almost like she can't hear. But if she's told to stop, she does. We've all asked her why she does it. She gets mad at some people when they point it out. I've always have tried to get her to re-center, to do something we call meditation hands along with deep breathing.

I've talked to different doctors, therapists, I've done tons of research {that's only because there isn't much out there about this}.


I understand the masturbation argument, I've even considered it for months before. Oh, she's been doing this since she was 5months old or so. There's been some change in the actual behavior, her arms weren't long enough to hold herself off the seat for quite sometime. There's no gratifying ending, it's almost seeming torturous.

She will sometimes have bad chaffing in her groin area. She's complained the muscles in her legs and tummy hurt. She will even say it's from her 'butt crunches'.

But as she's grown I've kept a fairly close log on when she does it, times, what's been going on if it's causing stress for her. If it's at times when something new is about to happen. Her sleeping habits at the time. It's not every day. Then again it can be several times a day for periods of time.

I've tried different mindful activities with her, some yoga, even diet, changed naps times, or no nap. Read about how different dyes, especially red dyes for kids, in our food and OTC meds, can cause different experiences, like a allergic reactions.

So, coming across this site is kind of refreshing. I've almost had myself convinced that it's me causing it. We put in about a 50hr wk, her and I. That would be the ultimate blow, if I was causing her distress. I feel so unproductive and depressed when she's not around.

She starts pre-k right after labor day. When my daughter was choosing programs and schools, she came across one that has the parent or caregiver spend so much time in the classroom with the child. She goes 3days a week and I get to go for one of the days.