So we have mere days left before we fly to KL for real. In the mean time, we have been in the US getting things ready and have been taking Andrew to therapy. It turns out he has Sensory Processing Disorder and some signs on the Autism Spectrum. We have been dealing with a lot and decided it is finally time to share with our friends what is going on.
SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER
Andrew has always been in his own little world and does cute things like step on our feet, lean on our backs, and sleep really well through all sorts of noise. He also loves to give us head bonks (instead of hugs or kisses), and is very attached to his bottle and will not touch soft, mushy foods (like yogurt).
After much evaluation, we have learned this means is a hypo-sensitive kid, which means it takes more sensory input for his brain to register touch. He has low muscle density. This is opposite from the kids who freak out when their shirt collar rubs them the wrong way or when someone tries to hug him.
TREATMENT: We take Andrew to an Occupational Therapist twice weekly. We do all sorts of cool things like jump into ball pits, push giant balls up big ramps, and swing on super-body-enveloping Lycra swings. He loves it, and it is amazing the change we have seen in him already.
At home we have to do what is called a daily "Sensory Diet." We have created a whole obstacle course for him that involves proprioceptive, vestibular, and tactile input. He crawls through the tunnel, jumps on the bed, slides down the slide, etc. He has to do it five times and each time he puts one of five blocks in the bucket. When he gets down to the last block he knows he is done.
It is actually really fun. I was totally overwhelmed at first since having a diagnosis of SPD right before an international move is really scary (plus Andrew is also going to speech therapy) but we have found a bunch of really good places in Malaysia to check out once we get there.
**On a side note, I really wanted to put this on the blog because I keep reading all this reseach and experts think that many more kids have SPD but their parents don't know it. Pediatricians still don't know much about it. They just think their kid is out of sync, or has quirks, or is not coordinated, or breaks into tantrum for apparently no reason, etc. It is totally treatable and early intervention is key.**
AUTISM SPECTUM (Red flags)
Andrew has not been officially diagnosed with Autism, but he in all our evaluations he shows some red flags--things like poor eye contact, being totally object focused, and lacking some simple social skills such as waving good-bye.
TREATMENT:
We have also been in therapy for this and my absolute FAVORITE tool they have taught us is "Floortime" by Stanley Greenspan (also known as the PLAY Project). We are supposed to do 20 minute sessions 6-8 times a day (yeah right like we can find the time right now) but we do it a bunch and hopefully when we get to KL and things settle down we can really focus on creating good "circles of communication."
I bought a laminating machine (only $40!) and have been putting into practice all these cool techniques that I have been learning that help with focus, language, etc.I have also been doing a ton of research on Autism (I have been reading prolifically about Autism and SPD. I have learned the best way to cope is arm yourself with knowledge!) and I have loved the book Facing Autism. It tells the story of a mom going through the process of her son getting the diagnosis of autism and then gives resources available to help heal him. I highly recommend it, along with the site autismspeaks.org.
The biggest thing I have learned is Autism is treatable (it is not a death sentence) and early intervention is key.
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Okay I know that was a lot of writing but I thought it would be good to put it on the blog and get it out in the open. We are still excited to move to KL and I will blog about my story of finding good occupational and language therapy in a foreign country.
The movers are coming on Saturday to pack up and move out all of our stuff! This is really happening. What have we gotten ourselves into...?
All I have to say is this is my new motto:
"Come what may and love it."
