What Sensory Processing Looks Like in our home

With a recent diagnosis and 2 weeks of occupational therapy behind us we are getting smarter.  I read a lot.  I have 3 books and I'm learning on a crash course. I search the web for information and similar stories.  It is hard for people to understand what this diagnosis is and how it impacts our family.  Espen LOOKS like a regular little boy.  I shelter the information and drama from the world about what happens in our home (and sometimes outside of it) because who wants to know?!  In public we look like a regular mom and dad with a WILD little boy who needs some good strong discipline.  Believe me if it were that easy, I'd be swatting his behind more often! 

So what does our house honestly look like?  Espen is a generally happy 3 year old who loves to play outside especially if it is warm (jumping on trampoline, riding ATV or bike, rollerblading, digging in the sand or playing in the water).  He loves to play but after a few minutes he is so wild that he runs-runs faster and faster from one activity to the next.  He seems as if he just can not stop.  He is much like the Tasmanian Devil - just swirling around barely stopping to get a breath. 

I am the mom who has lost her son in a snow storm, in a hotel, in a store.  I am the one with poison control hotline in her phone and we call often for help and information on what has been consumed. I am the one who wears dirty clothes much of the time because my delightful little boy is a mess.  I am dehydrated a lot because in order to go to bathroom I have to lock him in with me or be prepared to see what he can get into in a short time frame.  Espen doesn't "hear" a lot of my voice so I feel like I yell most of the time.  He has fine motor issues and has hard time feeding himself.  He is not yet completely toilet trained and sometimes he pees on my furniture because he will not wear pull-ups anymore.  Shopping is nearly a nightmare because he has a drive more than most to touch everything and smell most things.  I can't even begin to recount the number of gross and disgusting things he has consumed.  He talks non-stop.  And I mean non-stop... questions and chatter all the time.  One second I am discussing God and the next I am discussing where the water goes when you flush the toilet.  His mind is curious and his body is consumed by movement. 
 
And now I read.  I consume all the information the therapists tell me and show me.  To understand more, one needs to understand the eight senses and what their purpose is.  The five that everyone is aware of are:
Auditory Sense – your ability to hear sounds and ‘tune in’ to a particular person in a crowded room or hearing instructions to complete a particular task.
Gustatory Sense – your sense of taste and helps you recognize flavours and textures.
Olfactory Sense – your sense of what things smell like, from homemade apple pie to soaps and skunks.
Tactile Sense – your sense of touch that relays information to your brain.  Recognizes things like vibration, tapping, heat, cold or pain.
Visual Sense – your ability to see and process the information around you.  It may be picking out a particular object in a group, recognizing faces or expressions and adjusting your eyes to lighting conditions.
The last three are ones that you are probably less familiar with:
Interoceptive Sense – relates to internal regulation and is responsible for knowing things like if you are hungry or need to use the bathroom.
Proprioceptive Sense – it is in our joints, muscles and body parts.  It tells us about our movement and body position.  Close your eyes and raise your hand in the air.  You know where your hand is even though you are not looking at it because the muscles and joints in your hand and arm are sending information to your brain telling it the position of your hand.
Vestibular Sense – relates to movement and balance.  It tells us if we are lying down, jumping, running, etc.  As a child did you ever spin yourself in circles?  Were you able to walk straight afterwards?  Not likely and that’s because your body was receiving impaired vestibular information.

Espen is a child who has an extremely hard time processing information received through some or all of these senses.  Imagine the challenges this would create while trying to perform everyday tasks!!  For my little boy there are challenges at home and school.  On a playground or in a swim class. 

And now I am aware and I think about the light, the décor, the movement, the noise levels... If we get someplace and he starts to melt down I notice all that I can so that I can try to figure out what is happening.  We know he needs to move those muscles so he pushes and pulls things at home.  He carries.  He lifts.  He "works out".  Every couple hours I know I need to stop doing what I am doing and help my child work it so that he can calm himself.  My kitchen is becoming the mess zone.  My house is a play gym of interesting sensory objects.  My child holds up walls to just feel the push of his body against a solid object.  He hammers nails into logs so he can concentrate on the fine task or smash his finger but it also helps him feel his joints and muscles.  He blows cotton balls down the hallway with a straw.  He jumps off his bed onto a pile of blankets.  He chews ice and gum like crazy.  He likes to have a new fork for each food on his separated plate.  He takes at least 2 baths a day.  He watches TV or listens to a book often standing on his head.  He will continue to swim and skate this winter and mommy will take him to the pool and ice as often as necessary.  He doesn't wear clothes with tags.  His socks and underwear have to be just so or they don't stay on him.  We eat fruit with a great variety of textures and shapes and smells because he loves that.  We crack nuts because that is some challenge and there is a reward.  He doesn't feel gravity like I do so falling and crashing are fun.  He is never dizzy and can spin for long periods of time while I just get dizzy watching!  And my friends I do all of this in ONE DAY as well as the tasks that are necessary to running a house. 

So if you see a mom in the store with a child who looks like he or she just needs to be held down and disciplined, have some compassion.  This little person may be having some trouble and that mom may need a break! 

I may continue to share our sensory journey because now that I know I wish I had known sooner.  I wish someone would have seen through my protective covering and told me I could find some answers.  I think there are more moms and dads out there who may need some help like I did.  And really it makes me feel a little less tired to just put it out there.  It makes me think that if people understand what happens in our home then they may have some compassion for someone they see on the street.  And because I just want someone to listen.... Our journey has been like a roller coaster with an unbuckled seat belt.... and now the belt is buckled but we are still on the ride!!