Hi. I am the mom of 1 little boy born 3/10/2010 who is being referred for a SPD evalation.

Some background on Grayson:

He was born at 36 weeks due to severe preeclampsia. I had an emergency c-section. He weighed 5 pounds 2 oz at birth and spent a week in the NICU.

Grayson was a demanding and unusual baby right from the start. He wanted held non stop and never slept for more than 2 hours at a time. He preferred a bottle of breast milk or formula that was chilled in the fridge rather than warm. He did not like his baby swing. He would only sleep while cosleeping and snuggled close to me or daddy.

By 6 months he was still up every 2 hours a night. By 9 months we finally got 5 hours and at a year he was finally sleeping all night sometimes. At 2.5 he is still up most nights at least once and rarely stays in his bed.

Grayson was diagnosed as expressive language delayed at 18 months and started speech therapy. When he turned 2 the therapist he had felt his hearing needed to be tested. We went for a hearing evaluation and found both ears were blocked with fluid. He'd never had an ear infection. He had tubes place in may to drain the fluid and his speech improved dramatically. He went from barely talking to clear, three word sentences. He no longer needs individual speech therapy and is in a preschool program for speech that started in september.

In his speech preschool class was the first time we heard the term sensory processing disorder mentioned about our son. His behavior had concerned us for a long time. Wanting to be squeezed and held very tight constantly. Or wanting to be in tight place like in cabinet or box. Preferring to just have a drink instead of eating except he will eat odd foods like wasabi and dried uncooked noodles and extremely bitter dark chocolate. Chewing on cables, cords and other non edible objects still at 2.5. Sleeping with his head on books or hard toys for a pillow. Cuddling with his non cuddly toys at naptime. He does have a blankie he will cuddle with too but he prefers his hard toys like cars to a teddy bear. His horrible melt downs when he is upset where he will scream and whack his head against a hard object repeatedly. His constant need to touch and feel and grab everything.

When one of the speech language pathologists suggested he be referred for a spd evaluation I had no idea what it was but I agreed to have him evaluated so last week they put in a referral. My cousin who has a little girl with spd recommended I read 'The Out of Sync Child so I did. My son sounds most like a sensory seeking child in the book. He just wants to feel more constantly and more intensely.

Last night when we picked him up from daycare, his daycare provider said they have a person from the county come and work with the kids once a week and this woman also recommended that our daycare provider have us get him evaluated for sensory issues and provided a number for the county early intervention program. My husband was in denial with the initial referral from the speech therapist but after our daycare provider made this recommendation he can no longer deny something is going on.

My heart breaks for my little boy. He's very smart. Knows all his colors and recognizes letters and numbers in print. He's cuddly and funny but I know he needs help. I just feel overwhelmed.

Welcome! You are in good company on this site. My daughter, 5 y.o., has many of the same issues that you have listed, and if you look over some of the old posts, you'll find many more with similar stories. It's so great that they are catching this at 2.5. With OT starting so young, he has a greater chance of adapting and coping with his symptoms successfully. A couple other books you may wish to read are Growing An In-Sync Child and Sensational Kids. I haven't yet met or heard of an SPD kid who wasn't smart-- it seems many are above their age intellectually/scholastically. My daughter is also very cuddly and funny--she makes us laugh every day. She also needs a lot of help, and it can be overwhelming, but it does get more manageable as you get into a schedule and learn the sensory diet that works best for him. Keep us posted.

You are in the right spot! My son too was born at 36 weeks due to preeclampseia, also spent a week in neo as well. DIdn't start to speak until he was 3 , but unusually intelligent! Sensory seeking, didn't like to be touched tho. You are on the right track, early intervention is the best thing you can ever do! At times it will seem oerwhelming as you have experienced, but once you get the information you need, remember that ther are other people out there in similar situations that are here for you! You can print out free picture cards on line to help with getting routine ready, structure is great! Remember to put yourself in their shoes to help with understanding why they are doing what they are doing in a situation. We are here for you at anytime!!!!!! The facebook page for this group is awesome as well and has tons of tips and ideas!