RE: I feel so frustrated about my son's physical issues, need imput

[Guest guest]

Hi from Sue,

I'd like to ditto on the brushing for sensory issues.

My 27 yr old who has supported living services in CA

with ALTA ,has a paid roommate... & also has ME as his IHSS worker so I pick him up from work

at a bowling center... and drive him to his apt.

and one of the first things we do is his SI /OT therapeutic

BRUSHINGS on his HEAD and BACK with LIQUID Zinc #195 from Infinity Health. This also helps his dandruff

due to low zinc.

He's always been an INTENSE Rocker and the BRUSHINGS help

make him relax and slow down...

And they also helped his need for stimulation at the same time.

He always liked his arms "Brushed" with my Fingers during Church as well when he

was young & still living with us..It was the ONLY thing that slowed down his rocking

as everyone in the PEW felt they were on a "bucking bronco" ride... I'm sure..LOL...

If you saw our CAR at a traffic light.. it looked like an Inflatable Bouncing

party house... as he rocked sooo hard the car almost moved... As soon as

we started to drive his rocking stopped... Even now..at 27. he asks me to take the

roads with the least stops... as he like the stimulus of the car moving...and complains when stopping too much.

Clumsey... YES... It's due to my son's MILD cerebral palsy so I was told....

first noticed & DX ed when he was 13....

when a neurologist saw him walk in a Psych hospital during his 2nd aggressive hospital

stay...The DOC saw he dragged his foot slightly...( always wore out his shoes on the outside...

and wore them out VERY fast. =every two months even now.)

He always felt "heavy" as I held his HAND when walking and other people would say that ,too.

He has hand tremors,too... and spills all the time... yet can still maintain a part-time job --

Thanks Lord!!!

Most people at work think he's pretty normal... but his grooming is like

Peanuts "Pig Pen" character... lol... But he is well liked... and social and kind..

Hallelujah !

---now that his meds are stabilized for Bipolar, static hydrocephalus, mild tics, mild CP, and ADD

& severe LD's...( PDD also when young)

Due to his sensory problems... he just received major dental surgery..

But is healing well.. and his new meds enable him to feel positive again

about seeing the dentist....

We are Blessed with a fantastic oral surgeon

whose SOLE practice is sedative dentistry in hospital settings...with

special needs children and adults...and are happy with Medical/Dentical coverage.

But it still was SUPER expensive for the Root canals and bridges ....

Only one more surgery to go...

But we are so happy he has most of it done... since his last

"paid roommate" is getting married NEXT weekend and my SON

is BEST MAN... wow... such a joy..to have a normal experience!

So I MUST stop posting and get ready for the trip!

Sue

11d.

Re: I feel so frustrated about my son's physical issues, need input

Posted by: "Kim" delicateflower_kk@... delicateflower_kk

Sat Apr 19, 2008 7:19 pm (PDT)

IMO, clumsiness, as well as the proprioceptiveand other sensory issues you've mentioned arevery much part of autism.One reason for not sitting still is because thesechildren will self-stim to try to correct theirsensory need. For example, my son had poorproprioceptive awareness and was always runninginto the TV full steam and slamming into it.I thought this was a stim on the TV. We had anexcellent OT through early intervention and shetold me it was because he couldn't always feelwhere his body was.So, she prescribed a sensory diet. I was doingalot of the same things for him that he was doingfor himself. I wondered why I could "fix" theproblem, but he couldn't "fix" it himself withhis stims.She explained that these children's physicalstims were being generated on a brain-stem orautomatic level, but doing it for them brought itto their awareness, and this is why it helpedthem. She said that over time, with a goodsensory diet, my son would begin to regulatehimself and meet his own sensory needs. Well, it didn't make 100% sense to me, but it didwork. It wasn't even that hard. According to myOT, the more severe the child's disabilities, themore structured the sensory diet needs to be(following specific order, etc). In my son'scase, I did certain things (joint compressions,brushing) but not always in the same order and itstill worked for him.So, if you don't have an OT who can give youconcrete things to do for your child re: sensorydiet, I respectfully suggest finding an OT whowill. It made a huge difference for my son, as well asbeing cheap, pretty easy, and not too timeconsuming.Kim --- gfcfmom <gfcfmom> wrote:> My son was only diagnosed in December so this> is all quite new to me to some degree. I > know he has autism, tactile sensitivties, food> sensitivies/aversions, he had a conductive > hearing loss that seems to now be corrected,> etc. However, he walks like he is totally> wasted, > has horrible balance, 99% toe walks, and maybe> it's common with kids on the spectrum (if it > is, please tell me) but I just feel like there> could be another physical issue because it's> really, > really bad. If we're in the kitchen and he is> waiting for me to get his snack he often just > fumbles around on his feet and bumps his head> on the edge of the counter top of walks into > cupboards because he is so clumsy. I don't> know, I mean, do kids on the spectrum often > have these problems or could it be something> else. I have had him evaulated by THREE OT's > and have been told vestibular, propreoceptive,> tactile problems. One said he has dyspraxia, > poor body awareness, etc. He is always moving> though, he can not sit still. > > Any thoughts?? I guess in my gut, I just feel> like it could be more than just sensory.> > Thanks.> > gfcfmom> > __________________________________________________________Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

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