Mild SPD?

by Elena
(Oregon)

Our son is now 7 yrs old and in 1st grade. He is an intelligent, fun, loving and warm boy. He does have some of these symptoms but I don't know waht to make of it.(1) He has always had an extreme sensitivity to clothes: especially socks, pants, tags on shirts, rough feeling clothes. cuffed pants or pajamas. It never became a issue because once we recognized this was real we worked with it.




Once he was able to be more verbal at age 3 we were able to help him with it. We got him seamless socks, soft pants (sweats of a certain brand), soft & only cotton shirts with no heavy stitching...e.t.c. Till this day he needs to wear clothes we these specific characteristics. (2)He has always had certain foods he will eat and certain ones he will not. (3)He will lay still to go to sleep but will often take a very long time to do so and will often wake up in the middle of the night. (4)He is normally ok with noise but there are days when he asks for the music to be turned off in the car, for no one to speak or sing in the car because it is too loud and gives him a head ache. (5)He can be fidgety i.e. at the dinner table or when downloading creative ideas to me. (6) He takes a long time before he will include himself with his peers, especially when new to the group. He will be more of an observer for weeks or even months before he feels he is part of that group.

We/our son do not have major issues with these I believe mainly because he has always communicated to us and we have always tried to work with him on resolving them.


With all that in mind this is the first I have heard of Textile Defensiveness or SPD...a few days ago when shopping for new dressy shoes for our children to wear to Easter Mass, I mentioned to the lady helping us out that we needed soft, comfortable and roomy shoes for our son (if possible)because he has sensitive feet. To make a long story short this very helpful woman seemed to recognize his sensitivity and as our conversation grew she mentioned to look into Tactile Defensiveness, she herself had gone through this as a child. So here I am looking into this because it does resonate with me but after looking at this huge list of symptoms, our son only has a few in comparison. Unless there is more and we just haven't noticed.

Anyway, is this enough to raise concern? Should we be looking to consult an OT? Are these symptoms enough of an issue to be causing him issues through out his life?



Comments for Mild SPD?

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May 12, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		It is worth the eval
by: Anonymous

We just took our son and found there are things you might not "see" he has never really been clumsy or obviously uncoordinated, however when he had the evaluation they found him to be 3yrs behind in his core strength!!! This leads to a lot of the symptoms you can "see". I was on the fence about whether to take him or not and I am so glad I did, just three weeks of OT and we notice a huge difference already. Good Luck.
May 03, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Utah
by: AJ

wanted to get on here and pass along another resource that was introduced to me recently, it's:

www.modelmekids.com

several resources for helping children learn different rules, boundaries and strategies for dealing with all types of life situations.

May 03, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		im glad you...
by: caro

hi,im glad you made a decision, that its going to take away the overwhelmed...please remember you and youre family can get help, youre son its just going to be fine because he has a worry loving parents that going to learn and ask for help whenever they feel they need it. Always always always believe in you as a mom, you know youre son better than nobody... this can help you too making decisions. wish you the best
May 02, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		we're doing it...
by: Anonymous

Caro, This is so true...asking ourselves the simplest questions can help answer the bigger ones. We are going to consult an OT before officially taking our child to one.

Thank you for your helpful perspective on this.
May 02, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Elena
by: Anonymous

AJ thank you for the resources and tips. This is great help. My husband and I have discussed and we are going to consult a couple od these OT sans our son before we decide to take him or not. Thanks agian for your insight!
May 01, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		mild spd
by: Caro

Hi, I think its something that starts to worry you, maybe you feel it hasnt being a problem for you as a family, because you seem to be a close family, but the main question to ask is... does he has troubles in daily life activities? If he stars going to a friends house is this going to be a problem?, if he goes to a summer camp is he going to feel he needs special cloth or food? maybe this questions will answer you if your son and youre family needs an OT.

A sensory diet can help him to accept more textures or food and help him learn strategies for those he wont accept, so I believe you and youre family would benefit from an ot orientation. I really hope youre son its just fine¡
Apr 25, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Utah
by: AJ

i've read that if you suspect sensory issues, if possible, try to find an OT that has specialized training or certification in that field.

here's a link to search for OT's with this type of training:

http://portal.wpspublish.com/portal/page?_pageid=53,83247&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

however, many OT's have experience diagnosing and working with children with sensory issues even though they have not had 'formal' training.

the OT i have worked with for the last couple of years does not have SI training and she's fabulous!

i would recommend searching around to see what options are close to you and then make a couple of phone calls to see about the OT's in those clinics and just ask a few questions. tell them what you suspect about your son and that you have some questions you would like to ask an OT and is there anyone there qualified to do that.

my experience has been those clinics are more than happy to help and answer any up front questions you may have. also, you may need to look at insurance coverage if that's a concern. many of them have a website you can look at and read about the OT's and their background and experiences. that helped me kind of narrow it down, plus close proximity was important for us.

my OT was able to write up my son's diagnosis under a certain standard so that he qualified for insurance coverage. so we only have a co pay each time we go. WHICH, at this point, with the tools and benefits we have gleaned from going to the OT, i would have paid for the services even if it had not been covered by insurance because it's been worth every penny and every hour or therapy! :) you won't probably be able to know about insurance until after you've actually met with the OT and addressed your concerns with him/her about your son. from there, you'll have a better idea of what he needs (if he needs) and how to go about it.

i don't know if you've looked at the spd blog, but here's a link to the tactile defensiveness checklist (and the other senses as well). might be worth printing it and filling it out ahead of time so you can sit down with the OT with that in hand, if you do that you'll be one step ahead because they will probably have you do something very similar anyway. :)

(when i did the checklist, i was surprised to see that things i thought were not really an issue or weren't really happening for my son, actually were! very eye opening for me.)

anyway, i hope this helps. good luck. ps-many clinics have wait lists, so that might be a question to ask up front as well, depending on how urgent or quickly you'd like to get him in.
Apr 25, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Thank you
by: Anonymous

Thank you for your input Aj from Utah! Your comments are very helpful.:)
When looking for a good OT do you have any tips of what I should be looking for?

Thanks again! Elena
Apr 24, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Utah
by: AJ

i have a 5 year old son that (from your description) has many of the same tactile challenges that your son does. he is also on the mild end of the spd scale. he has clothing issues and issues with food textures, etc. we have benefited greatly from working with and ot. i would recommend that if you are concerned about it at all or have questions even that you might like to ask someone who really understands spd, make an appt and go talk with an ot. they can be such a wealth of resources and suggestions.

my understanding is that these children who have spd, will always have it. it may come and go in intensity or frequency but it will always be there because they are neurologically wired just a little bit differently.

the key is to learn about and try to understand what they need and then help them find and implement tools to help them deal/cope with the things that present challenges/issues for them. which it sounds like you are already doing this for your son and are on the path. :) but really, my personal opinion is that seeing at ot can't hurt right?! :)

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