Sensory Processing Disorder

Being diagnosed with Autism is such a broad category. There is no one symptom or behavior that identifies children with autism.....therefore there is no one treatment. Our Easter Seals pediatrician says, "If you've met one child with autism, you've met just that....one child with autism." So, during Ethan's diagnosis clinic, he was given the overall title of "classic autism" with several sub-categories that are specific to Ethan.

Official diagnosis is "Autism with Receptive/Expressive Language Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, Fine Motor Delay and Feeding Concerns."

Today, I want to focus on Sensory Processing Disorder. I learned so much from our clinic about this particular issue, and I can't wait to share it. First of all....what is it? Well, I found a video on youtube.com that describes it perfectly! Basically, a person with SPD has difficulty processing their senses. For Ethan, his major struggle is with sound. Not to say the other senses aren't an issue, but the main one is sound. Fireworks, loud music or voices, hair dryer, people cheering and the vacuum are just a few things that send Ethan into a super-terrified state. When these things occur without warning, he screams/cries & tries to leave the room. Our occupational therapist told us that when Ethan screams/cries, it actually blocks out the sound of the object & allows him to only hear his own voice screaming/crying. Brilliant.

These are things we already knew before the clinic on Saturday. However, we learned 2 very important things during our clinic. The first thing we learned is, for Ethan, due to his SPD, he is VERY aware of his surroundings. This seemed odd to me because Ethan doesn't interact with people in his environment, so I didn't think he was even aware of things/people around him. But interacting with and being aware of are different. OK...that makes sense. A coping mechanism for people with SPD is to scan their environment for anything that will be difficult to process...for Ethan, anything that would be loud. This was totally an "ah-ha" moment for Corey and I. This explains why Ethan knows so many "logos".

We will be driving in the car, and you can hear Ethan saying, " What's that? Applebees! What's that? Verizon! What's that? South Side Bank!" I just figured it was part of his amazing memory, but this sheds even more light on this "game". A few weekends ago, we were at my cousin's wedding in St. Louis. We were on the 11th floor of a building, and it included an outdoor patio area. To escape some of the sound of the reception, we decided to venture to the outside balcony & check out the view of St. Louis....even Corey agreed! (He's afraid of heights.)  So, the three of us are looking out over a beautiful city night, checking out the lights & sounds. I loved it! Then, Ethan says, "AT&T!" After double checking to see if we heard him correctly, we started looking for something that had the AT&T emblem on it....a phone, a banner, a poster, etc. Then Corey found it. WAY across the city on the top of a very tall building in blue neon lights....AT&T. It was so far away that it was hard to read....for us. What an amazing child! He was scanning his environment for noise-makers, and he found something he recognized...AT&T. Mind-blowing!

The second thing we learned was that when noises bother him, they actually hurt him. An older child was able to put it like this, "At church on Sundays, the sounds all gather in my ears and stay there amplifying and echoing. It is very painful....". This news broke my heart. Corey & I deal with Ethan's SPD very differently. Corey likes to keep him away from loud noises, and I tend to push him into settings with noises. Granted, I do give him warnings, let him use his ear plugs & his chew toys, but I have had the theory of "the world isn't going to cater to you, so suck it up & get used to it!".......man, I'm a great mom. HA!

However, I didn't realize it was PAIN. I just thought it was scary & caused great anxiety. So, knowing is actually hurts Ethan, I'm leaning towards my husband's way of thinking. Not totally, but some. HA! Ethan is only three, and he doesn't have to endure all of the loud noises now. Maybe fireworks are out of the picture for now, but school is not. I guess like everything else, we will need to pick our battles....I could give up vacuuming....ya know....for Ethan. ;0)