Sensory Integration Dysfunction

So, all of Asher's life, he's been a difficult child. Deep down, I've always known he was a good boy, but for the most time, I called him my little monster or devil child. He is moody and unpredictable. He's hard to take out in public because you never know which Asher you're going to get or if he's going to switch on you.

I'm sure most people, as myself often did, thought that he just needed more discipline. And, I have tried EVERYTHING w/him. I don't let him get away w/stuff. He gets spanked. I've tried time-outs, reward charts, bribes, taking away things he holds dear, and everything else you can think of. Nothing seemed to work w/this child which frustrated everyone.

Then Asher started preschool, and his issues just seemed to be highlighted. So, I got him tested for OT & speech through the schools because I felt part of his frustration was not being understood, and I just thought OT would help him work through is anger issues. Deep down, I really felt he had some time of mood disorder, possibly even bipolar. And who wants to think that about their 3yr old? But I did. So, the schools said he needed speech, and he's gone 3 times and already seeing improvements!

Since the schools didn't want to do OT w/him, I found a program called early intervention to get him into. In doing so, they referred him for OT through our insurance. I knew I didn't want to send him straight to the psychiatrist bc I'd like to be able to stay away from meds if possible. If I remember correctly, he is scheduled to be tested by a psychiatrist in a month or so, but we went to OT first.

So today we saw Asher's OT for the first time, and Asher was diagnosed w/Sensory Integration Disorder. Since I can't describe it myself due to the fact that I still am confused by what it actually is, I'm copying part of what http://www.sensorynation.com/what.html has to say about it:

Sensory Integration Dysfunction is the neurological inability to integrate properly the seven (yes, there are seven!) senses. These include sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, proprioception and balance/coordination (vestibular sense).
According to the American Occupational Therapy Association, "Normal sensory integration is central to learning to express words and thought, which in turn affects how a child learns social skills. These cognitive and communication activities involve a complex range of subtle behaviors such as listening and reacting, interpreting body language and non-verbal cues, and responding to and anticipating the emotions of others. Sensory integration processing also affects children’s ability to mentally and physically organize themselves for making orderly transitions from one activity to another."
When a child, for a variety of reasons, cannot properly integrate her senses, she (or he) lives in a world that is either powerfully overstimulating or provides only weak and diluted input. Sensory Integration Dysfunction can result in both hyper- and hypo-sensitive responses, depending on the child and even the specific symptom.
Sensory Seeking children have nervous systems that do not always process that sensory input is "coming in" to the brain. They are under-responsive to sensation. As a result, they seek out more intense or longer duration sensory experiences. Some behaviors that can be observed are: Hyper-activity as they seek more and more movement input; Unawareness of touch or pain, or touching others too often or too hard (may seem aggressive); Engaging in unsafe behaviors, such as climbing too high; Enjoying sounds that are too loud, such as TV or radio volume.

I'm not exactly sure what this means for us in the future, but I'm relieved to have an explanation. And from everything I've read, it fits Asher. Even what his speech therapist has said agrees w/this diagnosis. I only wish I'd figured this out sooner. Hopefully in the next few weeks, not only will I understand what this disorder really means for Asher (I've bought 3 books to read up on), but also hopefully we'll have a game plan as to how to attack this so that Asher can hopefully have a smoother, happier life!