Sensory processing disorder officially diagnosed

We have suspected for a few months now that Rebecca has sensory processing disorder, after first hearing about it from her speech therapist. People with sensory processing disorder don't process information they take in through their senses the same way that normal people do. They are either over-sensitive or under-sensitive to various stimuli from the environment, and often have a combination of sensitivies. It is estimated that up to 5% of children in the U.S. have SPD. It is something that is never completely outgrown, but it can be tamed as children (and parents) are taught how to live with it.

We finally saw the occupational therapist yesterday, who said that Rebecca had sensory processing disorder of every sense (visual, auditory, vestibular, tactile) except oral (I guess they don't or can't measure smell in kids this young). Children with oral sensitivities are very picky about what textures and temperatures of food they will eat, and obviously Rebecca does not have that problem.

The other good news is that even though her sensitivities are broad in scope, they are not nearly as strong as they could be. For example, some kids with tactile sensitivities can't stand to be touched at all; Rebecca usually loves being cuddled, and only has problems with light touch, hair-washing, nail-trimming, and walking barefoot on certain textures (like grass). And even though Rebecca is overly sensitive to loud noise (she cries when she hears the vacuum or blender, or if we go to a crowded store), she at least stops crying as soon as the noise is gone, whereas some kids take a long time to get over it.

The OT gave me a few suggestions on how to help Rebecca cope, and is going to send us a list of suggestions of activities to do with Rebecca so that she gets what they call a "balanced sensory diet"; in other words, so that we can get as close to possible as helping her use each sense just the right amount so that her body is not overloaded. This is especially important for children because they cannot learn when their bodies are overloaded with irrelevant stimuli, but they do need to be aware of input from the environment so that they don't just shut everything out. We are definitely looking forward to figuring out how to help her. I even already put one suggestion into practice, after which I trimmed Rebecca's bangs yesterday without her crying. It worked great! I'm ready for more!