Friday, October 4, 2013

October is National Sensory Awareness Month

October is National Sensory Awareness Month in the United States. 




My son, John, has sensory processing disorder (a neurological disorder), which affects the way his brain processes sensory information. He may have problems with loud noises, bright lights, attention, energy levels, regulating his emotions and just orienting his body in space which causes difficulty with gross and fine motor skills. So simple activities such as dressing and self care are very difficult for him and take a lot of energy. He is learning how to cope with these daily sensory challenges, and Occupational Therapy and Brain Gym have helped a lot.

Soon after taking the photo above (9 years ago now) he developed an aversion to that juicy peach and most foods. He became malnourished....Learning about SPD helped me find the right help for him. Occupational Therapy created a safe environment for him to explore his tactile sensitivity (and his other sensory sensitivities) and Brain Gym helped him properly integrate all this new information. He still has problems with noise, lights, attention, energy level, regulation, and motor skills, but (most of the time) his problems are not debilitating. 

Taking part of the many events, and symposiums, put on my the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation helped me understand my son and helped me create a home life that nourishes him. 


Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)

Sensory processing disorder (SPD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects at least one in twenty children. Children with SPD don't process or experience sensory information the way other typical children do; therfore, they don't behave the way other children do. They struggle to perform tasks that come easier for other children. Consequently they suffer a loss of quality in their social, personal, emotional and academic life.

The Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation is dedicated to continue their research into the knowledge and treatment of SPD, so that, as Lucy Jane Miller writes in her book "Sensations Kids", "the millions of sensational children currently "muddling through" daily life will enjoy the same hope and help that research and recognition already have bestowed on coutless other conditions that once baffled science and disrupted lives."