Too loud, too bright

On Friday, Early Intervention came to assess Liam. He was diagnosed as having Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), and suddenly everything made sense to me. He has two sub-types of the condition. The first is sensory over-responsiveness, and this means that Liam is over-whelmed by sensory stimuli. For Liam, the world is often too loud and too bright. Liam's clinginess to me makes sense now as not a stage, but a coping mechanism. His recent meltdowns in public have to do with the unpredictability of new environments and being overwhelmed by sensory stimuli. He isn't being bad or stubborn, he is simply having difficulty adapting. The second sub-type is sensory seeking and Liam seeks out tactile sensations and movement. He loves hugs and pressing against things to meet his tactile needs and loves bouncing (movement). SPD has affected his sleep in that he has trouble simply being still to fall asleep.

Liam qualifies for occupational therapy to help him process sensory information and he also qualifies for speech therapy. I am excited to begin and am looking forward to learning how to help Liam better.

Liam is still the same little boy he always was; there is nothing broken or wrong with him. He still needs to learn consequences. I just now understand why some things are difficult for him. I have some guilt as I suspected sensory issues in the fall, but talked myself out of them. You should always follow your mommy instincts.