SID

Sensory Integration Disorder....that was the diagnosis just 2 years ago.
Had I known how our lives were about to change for the better I would have pushed for evaluations much sooner. Had it not been for our close friends, Mike and Marty I may never had even pushed for the evaluations.
So what does living with a child that has SID look like....well it depends on each child and family. The spectrum for SID is very wide just like autism. Each child deals with sensory experiences differently.
For Kristofer it varies from day to day and moment to moment. We have some days like Thursday that he is off the wall wild. Nonstop activity. Constantly jumping, climbing, running into people, pacing, humming, screaming just to scream and then screaming because everything is too loud, screaming because everyone is too close to him or they are touching him. Then the very next moment he is crying cause he can't get close enough to me...so I cradle him as he nestles into my arms with his face pressed into my neck. Occasionally I have to cradle him like I use to when he was a baby breast feeding. It gets harder to hold him like a swaddled baby with his legs hanging off the other side of the chair. Days like this day it is hard to bathe him. He hates his hair washed and screams the whole time..."it hurts...you're killing me!" On days like this one all he wants to do is eat. Great you might think but all he eats on any given day is apples, Tyson chicken crispy strips, hard sliced cheese, and right now his favorite is Doritos. Nothing else! No soft foods at all and definitely no veggies! Just fruit, chicken and cheese usually! oh and a must is chocolate milk.
Then we have days like yesterday. Days it takes everything we have to get him to pay attention, stay in the moment and come out of his little world. He gets immersed in his world, plays quietly (meaning not constantly moving) and doesn't want to be disturbed. He will play for hours at one thing; usually with his dinosaurs or with his legos. He lays around, wants to just watch TV or a movie and is at peace or should I say we are at peace because he is quiet (not constantly moving). On days like yesterday we have to repeat his name many times at varying levels of volume to get his attention. Usually we have to touch his shoulder or even tickle him to get his attention. On days like this we can bathe him and wash his hair without too much argument and on days like this he barely eats. Just wants "chocolate milk and that is all."
When he is at school I am not sure how he is acting. His teacher has not complained of nonstop activity but when he comes home he is a wild man. Guess I should be thankful that he is not a wild man at school. The biggest problem is that he has once again lost 5 lbs. He is not very heavy as it is. He is at a very healthy weight according to his doctor but he doesn't need to loose weight either. So when he is on the starving to death mode we feed him as much as his tummy wants. Right now we may have to increase his calories again with Carnation Breakfast drinks instead of just choc. milk. Anything to get him the extra calories his growing body needs.
So when it comes to SID everyday presents a different challenge at home and more than likely at school too. He receives OT, Speech and has Resource help. He seems to be learning alot and he is very smart. Once he sees it and hears it he knows it. Somethings take a bit longer to learn but he pretty much gets it quickly. Kristofer is such a blessing to our family. There are times when he completely wears us out...us meaning all of us including his sibs. But without him our family is not complete. God blessed us when He gave us Kristofer and although I wish things were easier for him I could never imagine my life without him in it!