Yep….that’s something that Jeffery has finally been diagnosed with. I knew from early on he had some sensory issues, but didn’t connect the issue with his behavior issues. His psychiatrist suggested having him evaluated to see if they found out anything we didn’t know and anything that might help. It did!
We were told he is hyper sensitive to touch…which means he thrives to touch anything and everything. This explains him playing with stuff in his desk at school instead of doing his work, rolling pencils on his desk, and picking on other students by touching them.
Something they found out I wasn’t aware of is that he is under sensitive to stimulation. An example is that she started turning him around to get him dizzy…most people would ask you to stop after a few turns when they got dizzy and she told me their eyes would “twitch” side to side…he wanted to keep going and going and even when she did stop him to look at his eyes, they didn’t “twitch” as much as most people. This explains his need to keep moving and getting out of his seat in class.
He's going to hate this picture when he starts to date...he's such a tough guy when he's awake, but when he's sleeping he's cuddling with Blue!
Now, most of Jeffery’s problems are in school. So I had his occupational therapist make up a list of suggestions so last Monday I went in and had a meeting with his teacher and the vice principal. I explained everything I’ve typed out here, and then we went over the list of suggestions…the entire time I was explaining his issues they kept eyeing the velcro that was in my hand…finally I explained that the velcro is to put under the top of his desk so when he gets the urge to touch something or someone, he can touch the velcro. We used the rough side and his teacher put it under his desk. Another suggestion from the OT was to put tape around his desk to show where he needs to keep his hands and stuff inside that area. We also discussed giving him “heavy” work….like carrying a heavy backpack, or chair pushups…just to get the energy out. I also asked them to make taking recess a last resort for punishment…with him being under sensitive to stimulation, he needs that time to run off some of his energy. Something I need to find is a beach ball so we can deflate it mostly so it can be flat, for him to sit on in his chair…that way he can kind of move around in his seat and still get his work done (His OT did this during therapy and he concentrated better while sitting on something like that). Those are the main suggestions I give to them and both his teacher and vice principal seemed to be on board to help any way they can. His teacher also agreed to a nice email system so I know when to let him get his “earned” time on video games/daddy’s computer. She will email me when he has a bad day and no email means a good day.
Jeffery deep in thought. Karate is something we have found is good for him.
I am so glad my kids are in the school they are and have the teachers that they do! Jeffery’s teacher was willing to let him play with her iPod as a reward (implementing a positive reinforcement reward system) for getting so many stickers on a chart she made up. We have had all the above suggestions in place and I’ve only had one or 2 bad emails. I’m happy with how it’s going. I actually sent an email asking her how it was going and she said he’s having better days but he can still get better. Some of his issues aren’t sensory related, like today the bad email said he was yelling and very disrespectful. We are still working to find out if there is something more to him than the sensory integration disorder.
At home we have stuff to do with him as well, he gets “brushed”. Since he is hyper sensitive to touch I bought a special sensory brush that we use on his hands, arms, feet, legs and back and after we do the brushing his OT taught me joint compression to do on him. I’ve noticed after we do the brushing and joint compression, he seems so much more relaxed. Since the new stuff at school, I have noticed a little bit of a difference in him at home, I’m thinking we’re moving in the right direction.
We’re also looking into the not so far future about him going into the school system. I am waiting on an application for Head Start so we can get the ball rolling on that and then we’ll get with the school so they can do their evaluations since his therapists can’t come after he turns 3 in May. Even though he is going through the “Terrible 2′s” he has the sweetest personality…the only time the terrible part comes out is when we mess with his food and not give it to him in a timely manner lol.
Contest Closed 
Contest Closed 
