Hi all. I am so grateful to have found this website. I am the mother of a beautiful and intelligent four year old girl, who was diagnosed with SPD last year.

Up until her diagnosis, we were at a loss to understand her behavior. She would gag at eating certain foods, throw tantrums when we were in crowded places, react aggressively when accidentally touched, and refused to wear certain clothes. We did not know who our child was, and were totally desperate. That is until I began to Google her behavior, and came across SPD on the Internet. A friend, who is an OT, lent me the book, "The Out-of-Sync Child," and it was as if we were reading a book that was written about our daughter. Our sweet daughter, who up until that moment we were infuriated and exasperated with.

Today, she still continues to consume all of our emotional energy, making it extremely difficult to give attention to our other two daughters. But at least we understand her. She goes to an OT, and my husband and I go to a social worker once every two weeks for support. Every day is a battle, and days like today, I just want to burst out crying, because for her, the world is a scary place, and I feel heartbroken. Because not all of her educators and teachers understand her, and we need to be her advocates.

I know that with our support and continued treatment, she WILL soar, because she is an exceptionally beautiful, smart, and funny girl. But sometimes when no one is around, all I want to do is cry. Because I know that life is very tough for her, and on her birthday party at school, I could see the effort it took her to stick through it, her hands were over her ears, and she was fixated on a mosquito bite that was bothering her. No one else would have been able to observe that, maybe they would have observed that she was a bit withdrawn, but i knew that Tzofia was using every bit of willpower not to leave her birthday party running and screaming.

She is a heroine, and I love her so much. It is hard to talk openly with friends about the disorder, because not everyone is comfortable hearing about disorders. So it is a big relief to be able to share my feelings in an environment where people understand.

Thank you so much.

I'm so glad you found us. It really is a relief, talking to people who understand what you're talking about and are supportive. It sounds like you're going in a great direction. And remember, as you and Tzofia learn more about how to deal with the distractions, she will be able to find more of the blessings, the extra oomph it gives her. And she will be able to make her intelligence and creativity and wonder flourish. All because she is learning from the start that she can deal with anything thrown her way.

I throw Board Game parties, because when I get overwhelmed I can just focus solely on he board game and ignore my guests "safely". They just think I am being ultra-competitive (which I am), but for me that extreme concentration on the game helps block out the sensory input that is upsetting me. For me, games are not "just a game" they are a life line to allowing me access to people outside my house.