Sensory Integration Therapy

[workl]

My 5 year old have been diagnosed with sensory processing disorder and we would like to find someone who might be able to provide him with some sensory integration therapy / related activities over the Summer holidays. Do any other parents know of therapists in the area or have a similar child and would be interested in joining up with us?

Many thanks

Lucy

[EDmummy]

Hi, I also have a son with sensory processing disorder who is now 8 years old. We tended to do our own therapy threaded throughout all his activity but he also attended two different programmes at Sunshine House by referral of his Occupational Therapist. Has he got an Occupational Therapist at the moment? If yes, then they would definitely be able to help you with advice. I would also recommend the book Out of Synch Child http://out-of-sync-child.com/ if you haven't already read it. Our son has SPD associated with hypermobility but as it is often associated with other spectrum disorders, you may also find useful resources on sites for children with autism and dispraxia.

There are also a number of websites that you might find useful (again, if you haven't already found them) - most of them American but a lot of the tools and equipment can be bought in the UK.

http://www.spdfoundation.net/about-sensory-processing-disorder.html

http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/

http://sensorysmarts.com/signs_of_spd.html

Good luck.

[EDmummy]

Oops, forgot this one http://sinetwork.publishpath.com/

[Fuschia]

My 11 year old also has sensory processing disorder and hyper mobility. OT Heather Turpin at sunshine house provided OT and guidance on stuff to do at home. Is your son sensory seeking or avoiding? (Or some of each?)

[inthewoods]

It's probably too far but I would mention anyway. My friend used Hopscotch therapy centre on Harley street with her son and was very happy with them.

[Over_the_Pond]

How were your LOs diagnosed with SPD? What led you to seek a diagnosis? I have recently begun to wonder if my 5 yo might have a sensory integration disorder. Mostly it centers around clothes, particularly sock & shoes. No mount of rewarding, praising, reasoning, pleading, shouting, or threatening (to take away priviledges) makes any difference to her behaviour, and she also gets upset with herself. :( She will repeatedly change clothes or shoes before going out, because they "don't feel good". Sometimes she even refuses to put on shoes. I've had to "force" shoes on her to go to school, and this morning we were actually late because of her behaviour. I don't feel like this is necessarily just a phase or just bad behaviour, because she is otherwise v well behaved, but this type of behaviour is recently getting worse. I'm struggling with knowing how to cope with this, since nothing I do makes any difference.

[Fuschia]

My son was referred by school with suspected dyspraxia, due to clumsiness, trouble with holding a pen, fidgeting.

Have a discussion with the senco at school, or with your gp and ask to be referred to sunshine house?

[sbain]

If you are looking for a private OT there are 2 good ones that I know of around South London. We use Kiki's clinic and have found the OT we see there to be excellent. I would highly recommend her. However my sons difficulties aren't specifically related to SPD.

(http://www.kikisclinic.com/therapies/sensory-integration/).

While we have no personal experience, friends have recommended http://www.otforkids.co.uk/index.html specifically for sensory integration therapy.

We do also see the OTs at Sunshine House and have a great experience of them.

[Over_the_Pond]

What is Sunshine House? We are in Lewisham btw.

My daughter doesn't have problems at school, but seems to hold it all in for exploding at home. Won't brush hair, won't let anyone else brush it w/o a major fuss. Didn't regularly sleep through until 3+ yrs (still not great). Also a bit clumsy, but I always put this down to her being on the upper 'centile. She is very tall/big for her age, and often doesn't seem aware of her physical boundaries. She regularly has accidents herself, and other accidents, like accidentally kicked our cat in the head while getting up on the sofa. Then she was v upset about the cat (cat was fine actually). Lots of other small things that would make more sense in light of SPD or similar, in addition to the major issues with clothing and shoes I described.

But if she's just going through a fussy phase, I don't want to waste anyone's time. Are there certain 'touchstones' for SPD that would make this behaviour stand out from generally fussy 5 yo behaviour?

[simonethebeaver]

Sunshine House is Southwark's equivalent of Kaleidoscope, where you're hopefully already plugged in. If not, you need to get a referral from whomever made the diagnosis. (Lewisham's centre for community-based therapy, in the unlikely event that you ARE unaware of it.)

[Belle]

Over the Pond, there's another great book called Sensational Kids, worth a read - not sure if SPD is something that's affecting my son or not yet but it's something we are looking into and I've found the book helpful. In terms of referral, you could try talking to your child's teacher first - even though you say she's not affected at school - we did in similar circumstances and were then referred on to the school SENCO.

[EDmummy]

Over the Pond, you say she's fine at school. Have you spoken to the class teacher about your specific concerns? Some behaviours are put down to the spectrum of 'normal' behaviour by teachers managing 30 kids, some of whom fall significantly outside of 'normal' and therefore attracting apecific support. If you haven't done already, I would raise your concerns with teacher and/or Inclusion Manager and ask for a referral. Not sure they do it in Lewisham but in Southwark/Sunshine Hse you are give a double appointment to see a paediatrician and an OT who will reasonably quickly rule in or out any additional support if needed.

As a parent of a child with SDP I also sought to understand whether my child's behaviours were just a phase, it's only natural. And, it may still be!

[Vickyg]

This is all very timely. My 4 1/2 yr old son has just had an OT assessment because school were concerned about sensory integration disorder. I haven't had the feedback yet, so not sure whether he has or not. He was seen at maximum potential who would offer therapy if he needed it, at a cost!

[Poppy83]

Hi Vickyg, just wondered what your experience of Maximum Porential has been like, we are looking into getting our son assessed.

Thanks

Poppy

[Mimi123]

Hi, I also want to share a valuable link - http://www.sensory-therapies.com/, hope it would help!