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preschooler with suspected spd - wyfly - 11-16-2012
Hi! I'm Hilary, and my 3 year old daughter is suspected to have spd. I have had concerns about her for some time, and in fact had a local child development center assess her for possible sensory issues last summer, but they could not determine anything amiss during the assessment, and in fact found that her communication skills are absurdly high (I strongly feel that this part of the assessment went particularly well for her b/c it was administered by a man, and she responds much much better to men than to women for some reason). The center suggested putting her in preschool a couple of times a week in order to see if being in a peer group would have a positive influence on her behavior. Instead, at preschool she is unable to sit still and refuses to interact with any of the other children, ignoring them if they speak to her or shoving or biting them if they get in her space. She is supposedly clumsy, often falling and running into the other kids (at home we have thought she has unusually good balance--she loves to climb on things and rarely falls). At school she is constantly in motion, though the OT who observed her commented that though she would appear to be paying no attention to the teacher (for instance, while other children sat and listened, my daughter would lie down and kick her legs and pat her hands against the floor and stare at the ceiling), she would be following directions or very quietly repeating what the teacher was saying. During group work my daughter gets distracted and cannot follow directions, instead doing her own thing (often disrupting her peers), but can do the same work perfectly if she is sitting one-on-one with an adult. The upshot of all this was that the preschool requested a re-assessment for Lucia, and this time her adaptive and social-emotional behaviors were found to be in the 5th percentile (which qualifies her for help, which is good, I guess...). Anyway, although the child development center does not diagnose children, the people I worked with agreed that Lucia seems to have sensory issues.
I am feeling kind of overwhelmed, especially with how apparently unhappy the teacher was with my daughter's behavior (and I didn't know the extent of it, because while she issues at home, they are not so pronounced as they are in the classroom and I think the teacher just assumed I knew how she was acting). An OT from the center will work with my daughter once a week at the school, but I feel like what they want is to moderate my daughter's behavior until she conforms to the standard, and what I am hoping for is ways she can thrive without having to spend all her energy sitting down and being quiet, which for her is a challenge. I understand, too, though, that the class cannot be run around just my daughter and her needs.
Anyway, now I am feeling anxious about my daughter constantly working uphill to get through school and then being labelled a problem child because she can't sit still or follow directions in a room full of other children. I have spoken with the teachers, who say they don't mind working with my daughter, but I have a gut feeling that her primary teacher mainly thinks of her as troublesome.
So I am here hoping to learn from other people's experiences and wisdom. I am hoping to find out what sort of therapy has worked for other kids, and what sort of progress I can reasonably expect to see in the next several months as she works with an OT.
RE: preschooler with suspected spd - heather40 - 11-18-2012
First welcome! I feel your anguish! My son is 8, he has SPD, that is always my biggest concern is that they will label him as behavioral. DOn't let it happen. THey ned to understand that it is part of their disorder. Things i have done are sent in with him threapy tools for him to use to help him to sit still. She will needs to learn to conform to classroom rules, but there are ways to help her do that. There is teh sit fit cushion, there are quiet fidget toys, etc. IT is your right fr her to have these things with her in school if it is going to help her to stay on task. Fight fight fight, you have to be her biggest advocate and there is no doubt about it. She might do better with men becuase of the lower tones in their voices. The surrounding sounds could be distracting her, maybe during a lesson she could put on headphones, my son has always been clumsy, he is a sensory seeker, very hyper, heavy handed, etc... Weighted lap pad could be an option as well for circle time, table time, etc.She needs to learn social skils so this is a good thing, but it will gradually happen. She sounds like my son at that age. My son still plays better one on one then in a group. Unfortunately, the world cannot adapt to their needs they need to conform to the worlds, but you are doing the right thing. FInd the extra tools to help make her day better, then when the t
WHen the time comes for all day school she will use her tools and be able to have an easier time. Coping skills, picture cards, the teacher or aid needs to learn her body language and catch her before a meltdown. She will be ok, write on here anytime!!!!
RE: preschooler with suspected spd - LAC1961 - 11-20-2012
It sounds like the preschool classroom she's in may be too overstimulating for her. For what it's worth, below is a link to classroom accommodations that are recommended to help kids with SPD, but if her preschool is not on board it's unlikely they will do any of the recommended things. We had some issues with my daughter's preschool (age 3 and 4), but now her kindergarten teacher is awesome and has made nearly all the accommodations I requested. If it's a possibility, you may want to check out other preschools.
http://www.sensationalbrain.com/pdf/SB-Classroom-Accommodations.pdf
RE: preschooler with suspected spd - wyfly - 11-20-2012
Thanks for the replies. I am feeling overwhelmed with all the new information I am taking in about spd and other possible disorders, but it helps to know there are other people out there I can talk to about it.
I don't know enough about the preschool (yet) to know how much they are going to allow in terms of accommodations. However, the OT is working with her once a week at the preschool, so presumably she will be interacting with the teachers as well and my daughter to let them know what tends to work for her. Presumably. There is a developmental preschool in town as well, though my stepdaughter went there and I am not completely in love with it. However, the teachers there are trained to work with kids that have all types of issues, so that might be a better choice. I dunno.
My daughter (and saying 'my daughter' all the time is getting awkward...), Lucia, is at preschool again for the first time since my meeting with the child development people and the teacher. Lucia is still eager to go to school, and I was pleased with the way the teacher's aide interacted with her when she came in. So I may just need to keep calm and see how things go for a while. <deep breath>
RE: preschooler with suspected spd - heather40 - 11-26-2012
Trial and error, you will be taking a lot of deep breaths! If you can find a teacher or school that understands it makes a world of difference. SOme (a lot) of teachers do not want to be bothered by kids that are going to cause disruption, they think they teach regualr ed and that is it! Well unfortunately that is not how it is anymore, everyone has such different learning styles and learning disorders teachers need to make accomidations for everyone. BUt anyway..... if she like lschool, doesn't come home frustrated, having meltdowns, etc.. then someone is doing something right. You need to follow her cues, if she comes home frusturated, doesn't want to go to school, her behaviors change dramatically for the worst then I say there is something going on.