Sensory processing issues-can they outgrow it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the Jenny Waelder Hall Center has a social skills group for children your daughter's age. The website is www.jwhcenter.org.

OP here. Thanks for the info. I did check into it. It sounded ideal but all sessions are held during regular business hours and I work FT.

[Anonymous]

I would like to echo the Original Poster's first question as to whether anyone has had a child with sensory processing disorder who has gotten "better" over time -- either with or without treatment. My son is seeing an OT twice a week and I am wondering if there will be a point at which I will be able to tell that some of issues will have diminished as he gets older and as he continues to receive treatment. Does anyone have a child who is at a point where you can say that he or she has improved or is managing better? And can you chalk the improvement up to seeing an OT or just getting older? I guess I am just trying to predict the future!

[Anonymous]

We have seen OT help tremendously with motor planning. Not nearly as much progress with regulation or sensory defensiveness/hypersensitivity. I've been told that the hypersensitivity should lessen with time (someone specifically mentioned after age 7).

[Anonymous]

I have a daughter who had a lot of the issues mentioned in these posts. I did some reading about SPD and talked to some people on this listserve and others. For her, it seemed to peak around age 4. Even in kindergarten teachers told us she was hugging other kids too much - which was a strange thing to hear... Anyhow, I ultimately decided if she had some sensory issues, they were milder than most people who seek therapy. I'm writing now because I may have a different perspective from those who were actually diagnosed and/or seeking therapy. Although our daughter continues to have sensitivity to clothing/shoes and has some social skill issues - I have seen amazing progress over the past year. She's 7 now. I don't know if she has some sort of sensory issue or not, so maybe this isn't relevant - but it seems to me that things are getting a little easier. I just wanted to let people know.

[Anonymous]

14:22 Here -- I just wanted to thank the last 2 posters for taking the time to comment and giving me a basis for being optimistic. I do think that the OT is helping my son, but I was also hoping that just getting older would also help. If anyone has older children with sensory issues and would like to share their experiences about what helps and whether getting older makes things easier, I would welcome those insights as well.

[Anonymous]

What does it mean to lack "social skills" in relation to SPD? How does it present?

[Anonymous]

12:47 poster here... I started a new post regarding above question.

[Anonymous]

i'm responding to 14:22's question about whether a child ever "got better" after OT and speech therapy. My niece was dx'ed with sensory integration disorder at around 2 years old and my brother and SIL began a fairly aggressive treatment program for her ... OT 2x/week and speech 2x/week. She's now 4 and is a completely different child. She will now respond appropriately to requests, she will answer questions appropriately where even a year ago any question not answered with a "yes" or "no" was met with a blank stare, she's finally made FRIENDS!! which was a huge issue for her, she plays appropriately with the other kids and generally behaves as a 4 year old should. the only problem now is that she's spoiled rotten since they gave her a lot of leeway before with her "issues" and now they have to start disciplining a 4 year old who is used to running the show.

Oh yeah, she's been booted out of OT and speech now because they said she doesn't need them anymore.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing that great story!

[Anonymous]

Thank you 16:18. This is 14:22 and I appreciate your taking the time to respond with such a positive story that addressed my question. I am feeling more optimistic about things now.

[Anonymous]

I'm bumping this thread in hopes that more parents will have some encouraging stories to share.

In the case of my own DC, I was told by one OT that whereas most children will have pretty much regulated their sense by around age 5 or 6 it may take my DC until age 7 or 8.

I don't know how exactly to interpret that. For one thing, it's only one person's opinion and it's not as if the OT has a crystal ball. In the meantime I take DC to private therapy in addition to the OT through the school. I do believe there's some improvement but I could begin to quantify it. DC is 4 and 1/2, btw.

I would sincerely love to here more anecdotes from more experienced parents, so I hope someone out there will share!

[Anonymous]

Ugh, typos:

"most children will have pretty much regulated their SENSES"

and

"some improvement but I COULDN'T begin to quantify it."

Sorry!

[Anonymous]

We are still only 3 months into OT, but I am seeing improvements - I am doubtful that Dc could have just "grown out" of this without intervention... but perhaps.

I just hope that her frustration level will decrease in order to be ready for formal learning next year in K. I do not want her to have a bad taste in her mouth about education

[Anonymous]

I, too, would like to hear more from other parents on this. Not too long ago, these sensory issues probably remained undetected and the children and the parents probably had to get by without help. Now, with OTs and other forms of therapy I would imagine that early intervention is helping a lot of children and improving their readiness for school. Does anyone else want to chime in?

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We have 2 boys (age 5 and 2) with SPD and a 4 yo girl that doesn't. Our 5 yo has been receiving OT since the end of May and we have seen CONSIDERABLE progress. He's never going to be "normal" but we'll take what we can get and then learn appropriate compensating techniques for the rest. From everything I've learned, you can never outgrow SPD, you just learn to compensate - sometimes in appropriate ways, sometimes not - or the degree to which you react changes. I've seen this in my husband.

After we learned about our boys, it was clear that my husband also has SPD. It explains why he's struggled with things so much and his school/career choices (or lack thereof). He hates the thought of our kids having to go through what he did. They won't. We know so much more about it now and as I said above, we can help them learn appropriate compensating techniques. We're also working now to teach them that success isn't about what school you go to, the career you choose or how much money you make. It's about finding satisfaction in working hard, developing relationships and being rich in the intangibles. We're starting with my husband because he (along with many of us) have been socialized to associate success with school/career/money. Ask me in 10 years how well we've done!