Trying to find strategies to help 7 year old

by D
(Brazil)

Hello,



I am homeschooling a 7 1/2 year old child who I believe has SPD, although I can;t quite put him into any one specific category of the disorder. Here are some of his behaviors:

-hyperactive and always in motion
-constant daily melt-downs and tantrums over EVERYTHING, from losing a game to being told NO about something, to his sister teasing him
-melt downs that last for hours, with a pre-occupation on the issue that caused it-relentlessness
-sensitive to teeth brushing, hair brushing
-oral fixations-still puts inedible objects into his mouth for exploration
-when he eats he shoves all of his food into his mouth until he can't fit anymore…he has to be constantly told to chew and swallow his food-sometimes, he has to spit it out because he can't do anything with it.
-can't fall asleep unless he is swung (we live in Brazil, so he sleeps in a hammock but must be swung hard)
-when he gets tired, he completely becomes either irritable and cranky, throwing tantrums, or crazy and hyper active-he has no self control whatsoever-he 'crashes'
-he has no self regulation-extremely impulsive-his hands are quicker than his head
-often needs to be reminded to make eye contact (although this has gotten much better over the time I have worked with him)
-HIs speech level extremely loud
-he often grabs, or hurts animals (he has killed a few of the smaller ones)
-Shows symptoms of OCD

These are just some of his behaviors..he seems to be getting worse with his meltdowns rather than better…

are there any strategies that can be suggested to help him? I am not a psychologist, but I have my MA in working with Children with Disabilities…we do not have any sort of resources where we live as far as therapists are concerned…I'm just ordering if there are any behavioral strategies I might be able to use with him to help him (and his family)?
Thanks!
D



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Jul 30, 2014
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starstarstarstarstar 		PACE Place
by: K. Danforth

PACE Place. A husband and wife team from Oregon. They work with many families in Brazil. We spent two weeks working with them and our eight-year-old son and it had changed our lives. This is their website: www.paceplace.org Best wishes! It is a challenging journey.
May 14, 2014
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starstarstarstarstar 		Ditch the gluten
by: Anonymous

Hi there,

My son has SPD and he also is intolerant to gluten. Removing it has made a big difference. He is also seeing an OT. Also, just wanted to say that according to my son's doctor gluten intolerance is still not well understood, especially in the U.S. According to him, ALL grains, including corn and rice, contain gluten. There is so much hidden gluten in food, you would not believe it. Often times, you may think you've gone gluten free, but you haven't. When i removed all grain from my son's diet, I saw a marked improvement in his health. When I just took away the wheat, barley, rye and oats, the improvement was minimal. My son's doctor is Peter Osborne. His website is glutenfreesociety.org

May 13, 2014
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starstarstarstarstar 		MY SON IS VERY SIMILAR
by: Anonymous

Hi there,

Just wanted to say, you are not alone and this is tough. My son is very similar, almost exactly except for the need to swing to fall asleep. My son just has a very hard time falling asleep and all the other things that you mentioned too.

We have put him in OT again. He was in OT from 18 months until 3. Has been out of OT for about 5 months now and the issues have escalated. Tantrums are more frequent and longer. Now he has started flapping his hands and is extremely moody.

We had him tested for food allergies and nothing came back positive but I think I am going to try elminating gluten to see how that fares. You could try that. We tried taking out high fructose corn syrup and that didnt make a difference.

Good luck. Its tough. OT, Hippo, Swimming, strict routines, food allergies would be my suggestion.
May 13, 2014
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starstarstarstarstar 		7 year old
by: Anonymous

some of his symptoms fit attachment disorder? i have a now 8 year old that was very similar. He is adopted so the attachment disorder was an obvious first place to look. however, after years of research, doctors etc... we found he has severe food intolerances; corn, gluten, dyes, sugar. He is much better when his diet is clean. He has also been dx as gifted - I never imagines this because he has been a struggling reader though very bright. But gifted doesn't always mean academically and children hat are gifted are often mis-diagnosised as SPD or Aspergers. Children like this little boy and my son are puzzles and it takes so much work to figure it all out. food is the easiest best place to start - it's the easiest thing to rule out. good luck and so nice of you to be trying to help!

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