(11-03-2011, 08:21 AM)Jaffa Wrote: Thanks wells foster for your answer. I want to understand this condition but he is too little to explain how he feels. He is such a fast forward kid keeping him calm is really hard. He obviously doesn't know what's up with him either he just falls to the ground screaming when anything goes wrong. And as it's very new to me am now sure of the things that bother him.

I know from experience that he touches hot things and has blistered his fingers but not made a sound, he just wipes them down his trouser leg. And sounds bother him too, not quite as much as they did when he was a baby but it's still there. I didn't know if he is coping or it changes from day to day.

This condition is very hard for others who don't know anyone with it to understand and I think you are all very brave and strong to cope in such a difficult world

Do you have any tips on how you calm yourself down that maybe beneficial to him.

To avoid a meltdown, have him in a calm room. Have him playing or read to him. I play vide games, read, and watch TV. Try and help him avoid bad things. My major bad thing is paper. I use an iPad in school instead of paper and that helps keep me from having meltdowns. Hope this helps!

(02-27-2011, 10:52 PM)I have SPD. Wrote: I'm leaving this thread open for discussion on how SPD affects one's emotional life. See my first post on this thread for an example.

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Having SPD makes me feel bad about myself. I know in my head that I'm not less, but it can be hard not to feel like I'm less. I don't want touch to hurt.
When my senses are "off," I feel like a scared child and even more introverted than I normally am. SPD makes me feel different from everyone else and alone. I feel ashamed and guilty and like an outcast.

I have been with my partner whom had SPD for quite a while, we have known each other for years, and he had never told me about his condition. I always thought that the reason we weren't intimate or that he couldn't perform was because I was unattractive and doing something wrong. I only found out about this last week. Your post has really spoken to me. I feel like I can understand his inability to derive pleasure from tactile stimuli now, I just wish that I could do more to help him feel comfortable in his own skin. I care about him deeply, maybe more than he realizes, but the SPD has come between us long before I was aware of his condition. He will hug me and kiss me but he seems to have to initiate the contact to be comfortable. He shrinks away, sometimes violently, when I reach for him. We have been using the Wilbarger Brushing Protocol and it seems to help calm the burning sensation he feels from touch but he says he has a hard time with actually understanding the sensation of pleasure. He feels more disjointed, calm but out-of-place. The only thing I have for you is that when you do find a partner, communicate everything. I need him to tell what feels good, what doesn't feel good; when he is comfortable, when he is uncomfortable; what he actually wants and what he just does not understand. If you don't tell the person, even if you aren't intimately involved, they cannot assimilate to your lifestyle. It is very difficult, but just being able to know that there are methods to filter out the painful sensations gives me hope that I can be close to him.