Need help and advice

by Concerned mom of 11yr
(Chicago, il usa)

My son (twin sister) is 11years old. The were premature, so we had physical, OT, speech help early on. When he was about 2 1/2 yrs. He would nag his head against the wall, or take pointy toys and poke himself or sister. One therapist stated he has a slight sensory integration disorder. He also disliked the tags on his shirt, preferred long sleeves, if his bottle of milk was not hot he would throw it at you. I'm sure more if I really think about situations. No one really suggested or explained sensory integration disorder to us. At second grade his teacher would complain that he does not sit still, his printing from early on is poor and still is. But since the public school system is not focusing and cutting penmanship out of there education how can children strengthen their OT skills?

Anyhow, he was hyper and the suggestion was ADHD. We took him to the doctor who referred us to a specialist and said he was ADHD. However he can sit for all periods of time on the xbox, make paper objects for 1-2 hours. Well we placed him on the ADHD meds and there was no change in fact my son said he did not like the way it makes him feel. That was last time he took the meds. Now in 4th grade his teacher was concerned about his printing, he got good grades, still rushing to be done first, can't sit still, twist his air, toe walker, bites nails, he is in sports and try's hard but comes up short then next season he accomplishes something and then needs to work on something else.

He has anxiety issues too. Been on planes early on, fear of ears popping, recent we all went on a trip and for one month he worried about the plane ride. Well he had no problems with his ears popping and things were fine. At school its the fire alarm. In his other school the principal would bring him out of class explain everything and he would watch him pull the alarm. Now since he is in middle school he heard there was a fire drill he didn't want to go to school that day we spoke to the school they did what was done with him before and he was fine. I guess I'm getting off track. How do I go about helping my son he has a low self esteem and needs confidence in himself. I tried googling can not seem to get info. Who do I make an appointment with to help him, and what are SD people good at? Because I would like for him to do something he is so good at it would help with his self esteem and confidence level. Any type of suggestions I would greatly appreciate.