"Healing Children with Attentional, Emotional and Learning Challenges"

[bloom]

By Susan R. Johnson, MD, FAAP,
Raphael House Pediatrician

...Finally, if a child’s sense of touch is not fully integrated, which can happen after a rapid vaginal birth, a C-section delivery or the use of suction forceps, then the child will be hypersensitive and sometimes even hyposensitive to tactile stimulation. These are the children who want the labels removed from the back of their clothing or want their socks turned inside out so they don’t feel the seams. They often don’t like wearing long pants, long sleeves or jackets because they constantly feel the wrinkling of the fabric against their skin when they move their arms or legs. Their scalp is hypersensitive and they don’t like their hair brushed or combed. They don’t like their nails being clipped. These are the children who often withdraw from a group of peers and appear shy because they are afraid of being inadvertently touched by another child and that touch can sometimes feel like a hit or slap. Sometimes these children appear aggressive, hitting other children in what they perceive as self-defense after being “touched” or “bumped” into by another child. It is as if this gentle “touch” or “bump” is magnified 100 times.

In general, children with any of these sensory integration issues often will have difficulties with peer relationships. Their minds and eyes are too busy just trying to help them maintain balance, figure out where they are in space, and avoid bumping into other objects and other people. These children are multi-tasking, and they do not have the luxury or the freedom of their minds and thinking to pay attention to the subtle non-verbal cues of other children around them. Since communication is mostly non-verbal, their peer relationship suffer....

So what can be done to help and heal our children’s nervous systems? First, I support rhythmic, harmonious, non-competitive movement activities like walking, hiking, and swimming. I support movement therapies that strengthen balance, proprioception. and touch. These movement therapies that are done to help integrate the child’s sensory system must be gentle and slow. Care must be taken not to further activate the sympathetic, “stress”, nervous system. If the movement therapies are done too quickly or too competitively then pathways can’t form. The child needs to be in the relaxed, parasympathetic nervous system in order to make new pathways. The child needs to be fully engaged in the moment, full of love and enthusiasm for what he or she is doing. Movement therapies cannot be done like a cookbook or from a list. The therapist needs to be present to the child’s movement and fully engaged with the child in a loving way so that child can relax, move, and create neuro-pathways. Next, it is time to stop just medicating our children with stimulants. These stimulant medications may dampen or inhibit pathways competing for a child’s attention, but we still don’t know what these drugs may be doing to that child’s future capacity for learning.

I also support an educational environment that teaches our children about the world using all of their senses including vision, hearing, and especially hands-on learning experiences. Our culture and even some educational institutions, with their reliance on television, computers, and videogames for teaching, are not developing our children’s minds and senses. Competitive sports in the very young child overstimulate and activate the “stress” nervous system. Sugar filled foods, a lack of essential Omega 3 fatty acids (found in cod liver oil, fish, walnuts, flax seed oil, algae, dark green leafy vegetables and breast milk), inadequate sleep, a sedentary lifestyle (where children ride in cars instead of walking) are all making it hard for children’s neurological pathways to be myelinated and formed. In addition, toxins in our environment, including mercury in some of our vaccinations, also may have affected these sensitive pathways.

http://southerncrossreview.org/49/johnson-health.htm

[pooja]

1. My son isn't extreme... but very independant..

Doesn't like a lot of touch unless he allows it. Super active. Of course, most 2 yr olds are. But he has always been less snuggly and more independant. I don't mind.. I take the snuggles when I can get them. and I encourage him to explore and touch everything. I worry though when he gets to pre-school that he will become labeled as hyper-active and someone will want to treat him. That would be the worst thing for him ever. He is so intelligent. He will be 10 pages ahead of the rest of the class and extremely bored. I am going to hate when we have to cross the line into formal education... it is going to suck.

[mzteris]

4. no to start a whole "thing"

but homeschooling has proven to be an excellent option for many children with SID, (supposed) ADHD, and a host of other "differences" that are usually coupled with being gifted.

If you're at all interested in more information (advantages/disadvantages), there's a hs'ing group on DU. (Which proves we're not all rightwing conservative ultrareligious fundie nutjobs who only want to keep our kids home to indoctrinate them into the Bible, isolate them from "those" kind of people, and or so we can secretly abuse them and not get caught. :eyes: )

[lumberjack_jeff]

6. We've considered homeshooling

But in our case, academics has not been much of a problem, compared to social interaction. Homeschooling (for us) would mean a limited opportunity for it.

In our case, I've never been clear where SID leaves off and Autism begins.

[mzteris]

7. Why would hs'ing

create a social interaction problem? Are there fewer hs'ers in your area? Usually there are more than people realize, they just fly under the radar in a lot of places.

Most hs'ers find that "socialization" can take OVER their school day if they're not careful. lol.... so much to do, so little time to do it in.

I think SID is very closely related to Autism spectrum disorders - along with all those other PDD-NOS, NLD type designations. My son doesn't "fit" any of them, but seems to be a smorgasbord of "symptoms".

[lumberjack_jeff]

8. I live in a very rural area

The kind of social interaction with non-relatives that takes place at school would happen infrequently if I home schooled him.

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. Interesting post

Thanks for sharing.

Sensory integration is misunderstood because it can mean anything. My son doesn't mind touch, but he CANNOT ABIDE the sound of a commercial flush toilet (you know, the pressurized kind.) especially the kind with the automatic flusher thing. He'll wait until he gets home.

There are external stimuli that he can't tolerate, and can't express. One can only figure it out by trial and error. I think that many SI issues affect people at a subconscious level.

[bloom]

3. My daughter has a lot of sensory issues.

They've changed over the years. She had the sock seam thing and later it was TV and computer screens - among other things.

Sometimes it seems that there really is something to it and other times, like yesterday - when she was sure the water smelled "funny" - I just don't know. It's possible that she could smell something that her father and I could not. But then she is ready to throw out the milk after the 2nd day. :)

There probably are a lot of SI things that affect people subconsciously - so much that most people have learned to ignore.

[mzteris]

5. My son's the same way about the milk.

I can't even change BRANDS of milk without him noticing. . .

Bright lights. Noise. "Itchy clothes". Super sensitive taste. (Just to name a few...)

Interesting bit about the C-section and or/quick birth. All three of mine are C-sections - the two boys (one adopted) are both SID. The daughter not so much, I think - though she's much older and I was far less tolerant/in-tuned to any of *her* issues when she was little, I think.

I'm also SID to an extent (quick birth) as was my brother (don't know his birthing status except it was an extremely long pregnancy - 10 months.) I remember having screaming FITS about the seams in my tights and my socks. I also hate "noise" - my brother and I both are very "light sensitive".