XP: Sensory Issues

[normadix]

Just looking for some feedback, suggestions, any words of advice.

DS is 15m and last night some things he does kind of started coming together for me so I did some googling and now I'm wondering if I should call the pedi (I'm pretty sure the answer is yes).

He has had trouble eating table food since we introduced it, gags and throws up, but he has gotten much better over the last month. I would still say he struggles more than most kids and I always suspected it was a texture issue vs a swallowing issue. Lately he tugs at his pant legs as if they are bothering him and he hates the feet on his footie PJs now. He will scream/cry and look at his feet until I distract him. When I started looking up sensory issues I saw that spinning may be a red flag as well. He shakes his head quickly back and forth to make himself dizzy and now that he walks he spins. Not constant or everyday, but enough that even daycare noticed.

Other than that I don't *think* he is displaying other signs. He likes being around people and other kids. He doesn't mind loud noises. He plays well independently. Other possible signs: he isn't very affectionate and doesn't like to give or receive hugs very often, he has quite a temper and will often throw things across the room when he is frustrated, he doesn't have any real words yet. He understands what others are saying but I would not say any of his sounds are real words yet. He is very vocal and will repeat sounds, he can sign a few words too (more, milk, all done).

I think that is everything. I'm pretty confident I will be making a call to the pedi to see if I need a referral or what my next step is, but I was hoping to hear thoughts from others on what I described. I'm not sure what above really might be signs of something or what is just age appropriate behavior. Any advice/insight would be greatly appreciated.

[dc2london]

A lot of pedis either aren't informed on or completely ignore sensory issues. Unfortunately, Sensory Processing Disorder is not a stand-alone diagnosis so, unless there is some comorbid developmental disorder at play (e.g. autism) you may have tough time convincing your school or insurance to offer him therapy. Have his eating problems seemed to impact his growth? If so, then it is becoming a medical issue and that will make it easier to get therapy.

Personally, my first step would be to contact my state's Early Intervention program. Tell them that you have some concerns about your son's development, and they will most likely send you a questionnaire and a series of play-based tasks to complete with him. You'll try each of these tasks and document what he does. There is usually an opportunity on these questionnaires to express any concerns not addressed by the survey and tasks. Most EI programs have waiting lists, some longer than others, but EI would be my first phone call.

Good luck! My oldest has sensory issues and autism and you can always tag or PM me if I can help.

[funchicken]

My oldest has SPD, and in hindsight, the signs were present from birth. Your DS is still really young, so I think it's good to talk to your pedi, but s/he might just want to wait and see. The gagging and vomiting on solids is the one that stands out the most to me given his age, but you did say that's getting better.

FWIW my 13 month old just figured out how to spin around, so she's been doing it a lot, but she seems very NT to me.

[normadix]

Yes, the food is getting better but I'm starting to wonder if I'm just used to the way it used to be and not seeing the problems that are still there. He used to gag and vomit every time we offered him something new, even some foods that weren't new. Now he only gags and throws up maybe every other week but it still seems significant given his age.

[funchicken]

normadix, that seems like a lot. I agree with dc2london, that it would be a good idea to contact EI. My oldest had texture issues with food, too. She has a really sensitive gag reflex. My younger two have never had problems with food textures, but I did BLW with them. I'm not sure if there would have been more of an adjustment if I'd started them on purees instead of whole food first.

Try not to worry too much, but it's good that you're on top of this.

[cam]

Great advice above. I recommend that you start keeping a log of behaviors, concerns, etc. Your pedi may refer you to a specialist now or may take a wait and see approach due to his age (or may refer to OT but wait and see before going up to DPs or anything). It is not uncommon to have to push PCPs for referrals, simply because the snippet they see of our kids makes it easy for them to not see the whole picture or not see it to the level it actually is (and some just take the wait and see approach for longer than necessary). Sometimes it is not that a behavior is atypical for the age but rather the intensity or frequency that takes it to the concerning level instead of it being no big deal. It doesn't hurt to be on top of things and have them checked out, and time will also make the picture clearer and clearer.

LO has ASD with a huge sensory component as the doctor worded it because his sensory list is a mile long (a lot of seeking and hyposensitivity but some hypersensitivity too). He has sensory issues around food, among many things. We were forced into BLW before I even knew it was a thing because he just would not eat purees. He still won't touch mashed potatoes though he loves the boiled chunks I pull out for him before I mash the rest for MH and I. He also likes some strong flavors (once cried because I didn't put enough hot sauce on his pasta, for example). I too have a variety of sensory issues, including texture issues with foods, discomfort from things around my ankles and wrists (hated sweatpants that had the elastic around the ankles, can't stand watches or bracelets for the most part, etc), etc. One of my relatives has such strong food sensitivities that he will puke (some is an issue with texture, some is a taste issue though that may just be a learned aversion caused by the prior puking episodes related to texture). Feel free to ask anything; happy to help if I can.

Welcome to the board by the way.

[normadix]

That is interesting cam, I never thought about my own sensitivities to things like food. I know my parents had a tough time with me growing up because I would gag on things like mashed potatoes (like up to 10) and DS is hit or miss with mashed potatoes.

[beautifultornado]

My DD was dx with SPD at 13 months, but her symptoms were extreme.
We were never able to spoon feed her. She would yell and shake her head when the spoon was close to her face. Now at 21 months she is more willing to attempt eating, but she spits a lot of food out.
Mealtimes can last hours.
Another thing to remember about SPD is that there are different types. DD is a sensory seeker with some avoidance behaviors, but if your DS has over sensitivity it could look like a completely different thing. In the beginning I thought all kids with SPD has problems with tags in shirts and loud noises, which is obviously incorrect.
We started with a private OT who gave the dx and insurance covered most of the therapy under lack of coordination. She now has other dx along with SPD, so she qualified with EI. They only thing that changed was that we went from paying $55 a week for the OT to getting weekly OT, ST, and PT without paying.
If you have any concerns, it never hurts to ask for an eval. One of the first things DD's OT said when we met was "as a parent we have to trust our instincts, even if every doctor thinks you are crazy, because I promise you the parent is right 95% of the time". I hope you find the answers you are looking for soon!

[akafred]

DD was evaluated at 18 months, and they said she had "definite sensory differences" but didn't qualify for a dx of SPD because she didn't have any delays and was hitting milestones on time. She was re-evaluated at 4.5 and because of a fine motor delay, she got a dx. (Of course it isn't a medical dx)

[dc2london]

Mar 18, 2015 17:30:32 GMT -5 normadix said:

That is interesting cam, I never thought about my own sensitivities to things like food. I know my parents had a tough time with me growing up because I would gag on things like mashed potatoes (like up to 10) and DS is hit or miss with mashed potatoes.

After reading up on SPD I realized that my mother most definitely has some sensory issues. As soon as I pointed them out to her she was floored, but she was glad to have an explanation for why she hated things that everyone else seems to like.  I think sensory issues exist on a spectrum.  It's probably true that everyone has some kind of sensory hyper- or hyporesponsivity, it's just what those particular inputs are and how much it impacts day to day life that makes it diagnosable.