Anonymous wrote:My son who is 4 has always had sensory seeking and has done OT for it for two years. His sensory seeking is still out of control. His legs and arms constantly need to move. He now does an odd walk where he stamps his feet and runs in place when really excited. He also rolls on the floor constantly and needs to touch everything and anything, leaning into people, the floor, kicking the seat, moving always moving but in an extreme way. Always lying and rolling on things. what. Is. this. How can we address it. Is it something medication might help.

I always tried to simultaneously have an immediate approach and a long-term approach. For immediate: a lot (!!) of exercise and outdoor time, regularly throughout the day (on rainy days, obviously bed and coach jumping allowed and encouraged but all sorts of inputs help... bear crawling, wheelbarrow races, I'd sometimes ask my kids to try to "move the walls" and so on). Long-term: years of OT (not sure it did anything to be honest), plus we tried karate, swimming, gymnastics as well as team sports. Only the team sports stuck in the long run but I think all three of those other activities were incredibly useful! Martial arts is amazing for kids like mine because of how much emphasis there is on body awareness and control.

All that said, my kids definitely no question also just grew out of a lot of behaviors. Maturity kicks in and helps and also their needs become different... or sometimes their exertion of self control might have other negative consequences. So while I don't see anywhere close to the kind of touchy annoying kind of behavior, I see more frustration after school, and so on. Things get better and worse!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok so if your child had Dcd and ADHD did you see a decrease in sensory seeking when you started medication? I need some hope here posters!

My kid has both and isn't/wasn't even close the sensory seeker that yours is. I think some of the impulsiveness like touching everything may improve some with age. But I do have friends who's kids with ADHD (even medicated) would chew their shirts, lick random stuff, and were essentially perpetual motion machines.

Depending on how intrusive the behaviors are--like if you go to the movie theater or a restaurant or some other pubic place is he going to roll around on the ground? If this is the case, you might want to try behavioral therapy for a few sessions to help him re-direct the behavior.

As a pad, it's not helpful to respond and say my child's issues are much more mild. It just isn't. Stop doing this, everyone on here. It adds zero other than maybe makes you feel good? which is odd. Quell the urge.

Why exactly are your panties in a twist? My kid has plenty of issues, sensory seeking isn't one of them. It's not a beauty contest. From what the OP described the stamping when her kid's excited probably has minimal intrusion. I do have a friend whose kid had ADHD would roll all over the floor at birthday parties and such. Yeah, at 4 it becomes a little less socially acceptable. Behavioral therapy can help redirect behavior. I found it helpful for my kid.

I find these whiny posts with "just stop" annoying. It makes you sound like a condescending control freak.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok so if your child had Dcd and ADHD did you see a decrease in sensory seeking when you started medication? I need some hope here posters!

My kid has both and isn't/wasn't even close the sensory seeker that yours is. I think some of the impulsiveness like touching everything may improve some with age. But I do have friends who's kids with ADHD (even medicated) would chew their shirts, lick random stuff, and were essentially perpetual motion machines.

Depending on how intrusive the behaviors are--like if you go to the movie theater or a restaurant or some other pubic place is he going to roll around on the ground? If this is the case, you might want to try behavioral therapy for a few sessions to help him re-direct the behavior.

As a pad, it's not helpful to respond and say my child's issues are much more mild. It just isn't. Stop doing this, everyone on here. It adds zero other than maybe makes you feel good? which is odd. Quell the urge.

I have an 8yo DS with ADHD combined type and a 6yo DS similar to what you describe. When he was little and he missed his narrow window of tiredness, bedtime would turn into thrashing fits. Now we can tell he's tired because he runs from one end of the house to the other literally bouncing off walls. He's always dancing and climbing on his brother, touching anybody he's talking to, etc. But he doesn't have the characteristic lack of focus of ADHD. He comes home and tells me what happened in school that day (this NEVER happened with older DS until he was medicated) and sings the silly songs and so forth. He's always been very coordinated with both gross and fine motor skills. He's happy as a clam with paper and scissors and has been since he was 4 (whereas cutting was a form of torture for older DS at 6). He's sensitive to scratchy clothing but insensitive to cold and to bumps and bruises.

I honestly don't know what to make of it. We haven't had him evaluated because everything has been manageable. He's on behavior charts at school but it's mostly under control by giving him extra space on the rug, giving him something to do with his hands during lines, etc. He's in K, not 1st since he was a fall baby, and the added time was really beneficial.

At home I have to have jobs and diversions at hand because he will climb all over and aggravate his brother otherwise. So I have him carry things up or downstairs for me, color and cut paper, sort laundry, entertain the baby, ... I really wish we had room for a trampoline since that would make things easier.

Anonymous wrote:Ok so if your child had Dcd and ADHD did you see a decrease in sensory seeking when you started medication? I need some hope here posters!

My kid has both and isn't/wasn't even close the sensory seeker that yours is. I think some of the impulsiveness like touching everything may improve some with age. But I do have friends who's kids with ADHD (even medicated) would chew their shirts, lick random stuff, and were essentially perpetual motion machines.

Depending on how intrusive the behaviors are--like if you go to the movie theater or a restaurant or some other pubic place is he going to roll around on the ground? If this is the case, you might want to try behavioral therapy for a few sessions to help him re-direct the behavior.

Yes, the medication helps a lot with the random touching and also helped with issues with him sucking on his clothing.