My ds's child psch told us about sensory intergration and gave us an article in his office to read...while he waited. It was our son to a T. Then he told us about the book called the Out of Sync child. We then went to our school and had him evaulated. The OT is the one who actually dx'd the Sensory Intergration. We also used an OT that wasn't involved with the school because they can only handle things that relate to his learning.
My ds was terrified of not so loud noises..the hairdryer..the vacuum.. flushing public toliets. He also had tacile defensiveness. He didn't like the feeling of his clothes..he didn't like to be touched lightly..didn't like to get his hand dirty. A great OT can overcome so much.
Good Luck.
We found that the brushing program and joint compressions have helped tremendously with his tactile defensiveness. He now wears clothes that he won't have worn before. We also find that he keeps his clothes on the entire day. He still doesn't like socks. That is the first thing he does when he gets home is takes his socks off. That I can live with but the running around naked had to end! Also the battles over what to wear to school. Before we knew what was wrong I thought he was just fashion concious at 3. Turns out that certain fabrics drove him nuts it had nothing to do with fashion. This also helped with light touch. When a teacher would walk up to him and lightly touch his arm or head and say good job that would send him into a tizzy. The teacher just didn't get it. After I finally explained that the light touch drove him crazy along with it being unexpected. She learned that to make his days good she had to keep her touches to a mininium and instead praise him with just words.
He kindergarten teacher still says he has some problems when he gets glue on his hands and finger painting is a chore. But with a good OT he has come a long way.
We had sensory bins in our house for years for him to play in and now I finally think that we are over that hurddle and I am donating the bins to the birth to three program.
I am so glad that our child pshy pointed us in the right direction. I couldn't imagine going through life when every thing you touch bothers you.
This is what I am working on figuring out myself. I live in a smaller community and seem to hit road blocks with people (professionals - OTs etc..) not being fully bought in to this disorder. I did not know what my son has- even had a name til recently, even though I have mentioned his dislike for the feel of paper for over 3 years to teachers and such. I feel I will make progress if I persist and am anxious to get my son help. Good luck to you.
My son's sensory issues were first identified by a therapist who then sent us to an OT for the evaluation. Unfortunately we couldn't get OT services through the school because "it wasn't affecting his ability to learn", and at that point we could not afford to pay out of pocket. Luckily his problems are fairly mild and we've managed to help him enough at home (with the help of the book The Out of Sync Child and trail and error) that he's been ok. That's what I was thinking. I am more convinced than ever if we treat him for that, he will make GREAT PROGRESS in the classroom. He goes back to the doctor on April 6 and then we might discuss a child psy. evaluation, but I may push for an OT first.Just a quick question. What doctor diagnosis Sensory Integration. Is it the occupational therapist or is it the Child Psyc. My son was diagnosed ADHD by a behavior health psyc. with sensory sensitivities. He's been treated for ADHD but not sensory. Because he continues to have problems intensly with implusitivity his regular doctor indicated after I asked that it could be related to sensory issues and he may go for a Child Pscy evaluation if this higher dose of medication doesn't work. But would it be the Child Pscy to diagnosis that or an OT?My son also has sensory integration issues and had been treated for that by the occupational therapist. It was the O.T. that identified the sensory issues and worked with it. He is much better with much of it now. Good luck!I think that's a good idea. My son used to be afraid of things that were loud (like fireworks, sirens, etc.) and things that were big (like characters dressed up that you see at the amusement parks or Chuck E. Cheese, etc.) and he is really into sports but when we would take him to a game at a ballpark or a stadium he would cling to me and his heart woud be racing because he was so overwhelmed by all the stimulation. Now he is fine with all that. In fact, he kind of went to the other extreme and actually LOVES all that stuff now. He goes on BIG rides at the amusement parks and shakes all the characters hands. He is still very afraid of dogs and the other thing is that he is really stuck in his little repitoire of foods that he likes and absolutely refuses to try anything new. He eats hardly any meat and is VERY picky. He won't use the same spoon or fork for two different kinds of foods. He won't even eat pizza! Oh well. He is healthy and the ped. says not to worry about it, so maybe he'll eventually out grow that as well.WOW, mom0611 that explains my son 100%. Was he treated by an OT at all.OTs diagnose sensory integration issues. I think a child psyche can tell you if there are signs, and whether you need an OT evaluation. I've heard of people on this board getting their own OT eval, and then the school declining services. My son's psyche reported sensory issues and recommended an OT asssessment. I took that report to the school and requested that they provide the OT assessment. They did the assessment and offered OT services.