Sensory Integration Disorder

I was at Barnes and Noble this morning, my favorite store. While I was perusing the Education shelves, I came across a newing disorder. A small percentage of the population experiencing this problem. There brains have difficulty processing information that comes to the brain through their senses. For example, the maybe sensitive to food and might not like certain textures. They can make themselves sick thinking about eating, and how certain foods feel as they swallow them, so they only eat a limited portion of foods. Or they might be sensitive to sounds or lights, thus finding it very difficult to concentrate in a room. The tag in a shirt might also bother the child, that they just HAVE to cut out. Interesting how we can all process information differently.

As I was looking through a book, a mother happened to glance over and tell me the story of her child. She shared that her child had sensory integration disorder and that she had to pull him out of school. He was unable to handle the environment, and the teachers did not know what to do with him, saying that he needed to be held back because he was having difficulty learning. She felt that her child was smart, and that his personality was difficult. He had always been a difficult child and as an infant would cry insistently without stopping. It was difficult to soothe him, and he was not fond of strangers.

It was funny how she mentioned in the course of her story, that she never thought her child was different or suffered from some type of disorder. It was when he was in school, and she was able to compare him with the norm, did she start realizing that something was wrong. Again, our motherly instincts took over as she researched him and got him diagnosed. What do you with a child who has this disorder? Well, according to her occupational therapy is the best thing.

It made me feel better that sometimes we can overlook symptoms because they are our children and we see their unique beauty, accepting, loving them whole hearted. They are perfect in our eyes, even though they might have a unique personality.