I learned last week that Benjamin has sensory processing disorder. I had no idea what this meant. And I still don't fully understand it, but it's good to know that there are some answers out there to help our little guy out.
He doesn't seem to stand out as "out of sync" (the name of the book recommended to me on this is "The Out of Sync Child"), but he a bit different. Benjamin craves big, rough-and-tumble play. He wants to be tickled, sqeezed, buried under blankets and pillows. He's sensory underresponsive in these situations. His body needs a lot of sensory input.
And on the other hand, he finds some new situations repugnant and will avoid or turn away from these - like when a friend of mine whom he doesn't know well talks to him. These situations he perceives as threats, even though we know they're not. We need to help him train his brain to accept these situations as normal and respond appropriately.
That's what I've learned about Benjy so far. As his occupational therapy progresses, we'll learn more. His OT (occupational therapist) is wonderful and very knowledgable on SPD. She's already given me lots of new information to digest, and in her first visit with Benjamin, she learned about his sensory-avoiding and sensory-seeking tendancies. (Interesting he'd be BOTH, I think....) I'm eager to learn more about this and what we can do to help him cope with new situations. If you want to know more, then get the book I have - "The Out of Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder" by Carol Stock Kranowitz. You can also check out that website here.
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