In the area I live in we have a local play area that consists of a few giant rooms full of bouncy houses, bouncy slides, etc. Normally there is also loud music and crazy lights going on. In an effort to be autism friendly they have stared opening their doors once a month for a "sensory friendly" bounce time. The problem is that this means everything is as usual minus the crazy lights and a bit of the volume. What that leaves is 3 giant rooms full of incredibly brightly colored bounce houses, still loud music, fans to inflate the houses, fluorescent lights, screaming and running children and general chaos. I appreciate their attempts to make the environment more friendly for children with sensory issues, but they obviously don't understand what sensory processing disorder means. If I only had to worry about rooms with bright flashing lights and blasting music I just wouldn't take my son to any rock concerts and we'd all be fine.
Sensory processing disorders can take many forms. In Pajama Monster's case it means that he has poor motor planning and doesn't seem to be able to filter outside stimulation very well. He essentially doesn't know where his body is, and so steps on other children, trips, falls out of his chair, Godzillas his way through other people's games and is generally clumsy. He also has a lot of trouble on play equipment and is therefore unable to join in with other children on playgrounds. That's all the motor planning piece. The filter problems essentially leave him feeling overwhelmed and frantic when he's exposed to noise and visual stimulation. I think this is why the supermarket is so difficult. It's full of bright lights, loud sounds and lots and lots of bright packaging. Our current method of grocery shopping involves an MP3 player with headphones, sunglasses and a thick green smoothie with a skinny straw. I'll sometimes substitute almonds for the smoothie. The sucking and chewing stimulation is soothing.
Imagine you're in a room full of people all trying to get your attention while you try to read something important from a book that keeps flashing random pictures at you as someone taps you on the shoulder incessantly. Imagine the stress you'd feel trying to sort through the chaos to the information you really need. For some children this is just their average day. Everything they encounter is one more "look at me!!" If you sit and listen for a moment you'll probably hear the noise of your heater, perhaps cars outside, maybe the computer fans. If you focus you can probably feel the seams on your clothing and your hair brushing your neck. Imagine if every one of these sensations was vying for your attention. I think that's part of my little Pajama Monster's life. Fortunately Pajama Monster's case isn't as severe as some children I've met, but it certainly influences his coping skills. For now it means that no matter how much fun sensory bounce may be, I usually need to stay away because we will have a meltdown of epic proportions and meltdowns are damaging to a child's self esteem long after the meltdown has ended.
One large frustration right now is that all the providers seem to be playing hot potato with the sensory problem. I've been told by the pediatric Psychologist, the school OT, the insurance OT and the initial IEP OT that they believe there are sensory issues involved in Pajama Monster's problem. Unfortunately unless he can't use a pencil the school won't touch it. The psychologist simply isn't qualified to treat it, and the insurance OT doesn't treat sensory processing disorders.
With so many things going on at once how do I tease out sensory issues from ADHD from Bipolar disorder? Well, I may not always be right but it's partly gut instinct and partly that sensory leaves Pajama Monster with a "deer in the headlights" look of panic on his face. ADHD leaves him with an "Oh no! I forgot!" surprised look, and bipolar leaves him looking both delighted and crazed. I'm not sure where the heartbroken and panicked look over trivial things comes in, but I suspect anxiety, perhaps because he's feeling off kilter becasue of sensory or ADHD issues. I suppose it's fortunate that for most of these the most helpful thing I can do is hug him.
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