Hi everyone,

My son is 13. His SPD is tactile defensiveness and recently it has been a huge struggle. We have done OT with when he was younger, we have seen a Naturopath, all with limited success. Somehow the last few years we have hobbled along and dealt with things on a day to day basis, but now things are much worse.

My son has a very difficult time with shoes - crocs were our saviour for years, socks (does not wear), underwear (does not wear), pants and shirts, jackets.
Sheets, blankets, towels - all can be a problem.

Maybe it is mixed in with puberty at this time and things are very challenging, it is affecting my son's mental health as he gets very frustrated with himself, he knows he has this problem, he knows it is not "normal". He feels awful that kids at school can wear whatever they want and he cannot. He says he is in pain everyday and sometimes wishes he was dead. We do have a few sporadic "good days" but they are very rare.

We are in Portland, Oregon. I am in the process of connecting again with doctors, therapists etc.

A big part of me feels like I have failed him, like I should have done more when he was younger.

I would love to hear from teens who are tactile defensive, maybe they can share what has helped them. I am curious if the Brushing Protocol has helped any teens with tactile spd? We have not done that.
I would love to hear from moms who are in a similar situation.
I would love to hear about any great teen therapists in the Portland area who can help him.

Thank you!