Of frozen vegetables, squishy balls, & sensory processing
A new website, http://www.spdresources.com/, brings together information about “different patterns of sensory processing disorder (SPD),” namely sensory modulation disorder, sensory discrimination disorder, and sensory based motor disorder. SPD occurs “commonly” in autistic children; the website also providers a helpful list of additional SPD resources. SPDresources.com is the website of Auer Therapeutic Services, LLC.
My son Charlie definitely has a different way of processing sensory information, and I attribute this to his liking for eating frozen vegetables, his way of running up and down the living room and amid the aisles of a story or library, and his fondness for his “b’ue squishy ball” (which is actually green). Indeed, I tend to think of him not so much as having a “disorder” in how he processes sensory stimuli, but a very different way of doing so that does require specialized teaching (and Charlie did well with his OT today).
4 opinions for Of frozen vegetables, squishy balls, & sensory processing
Laura Cottington
Sep 25, 2006 at 7:10 pm
I agree on the “disorder” part of what you said. Our insurance doesn’t cover Sam’s Sensory Integration “Dis”function according to our OT. So she gave us lots of home program stuff to do when our insurance ran out. Our OT always talked like it was so “bad” the way he soothed his senses (crouching under tables when in loud places, rubbing head along floor, eating frozen Krusteez pancakes, socks always on and must be put on before pants). To me it wasn’t a disorder, it is the way he seeks comfort in stressful situations sometimes, or what satisfies him in other ways (like crunching Cheetohs with his front teeth). We all have things we do for comfort, to each his own desire!
Kristina Chew, PhD
Sep 25, 2006 at 8:34 pm
Charlie’s have changed—he used to have to have his blue blanket with him at all times in the house, and now he has only been using it at bedtime. But the squishy ball has taken its place….
Jannalou
Sep 26, 2006 at 10:17 am
The next edition of the DSM should have SPD in it, at which point the insurance companies will have to start covering OT for it.
However, treating it like it’s a bad thing isn’t a good idea. Wish people would get their heads around the thought that perhaps these sensory seeking/avoiding behaviours are the way the person is able to make sense of this crazy world they’ve been dropped into, and that the behaviours aren’t bad - just an indication that these people are different from others (which isn’t good or bad, it just is).
Bonnie Sayers
Apr 27, 2008 at 4:57 am
My son Matthew used to have to hold socks in bed and that has stopped after many years. I kept a baby sock from Baby Gap for 10 years.
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