Sensory Processing Disorder: A Family Affair

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD, sometimes called Sensory Integration Dysfunction or Dysfunction in Sensory Integration) is, according to The Out-of-Sync Child, "the inability to use information received through the senses in order to function smoothly in daily life." It is an umbrella term covering several manifestations. Consequently, it can appear as very different disorders (or as none at all) in different children. This is especially apparent in my own family.

Our oldest son, Nicky, was born twelve weeks prematurely and weighed about a pound-and-a-half. He was extremely lucky. As a white male, he had the highest risk for complications, but they were few. Aside from a couple of infections during his two-month NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) stay and a double-hernia correction, there was little to seem concerned about. He was on an apnea monitor to warn us if he stopped breathing when he came home from the hospital, but once he was diagnosed with reflux, those occurrences stopped, and he was wireless by the age of six months. He had regular checks of his retinas due to a condition called ROP, but he now has 20/20 vision. He was behind developmentally, but his doctor told us that preemies eventually catch up, so there wasn't anything to worry about.

That doctor was wrong. As of his first birthday, Nicky was doing no more than rolling over and sitting up, wouldn't put weight on his legs, and wouldn't hold his own bottle. His new pediatrician was concerned that we hadn't pursued therapy. And so it began. After months of waiting and testing, waiting and testing, Nicky began Occupational Therapy, with a focus on Sensory Integration. (That's a whole different article.)

I began researching sensory issues, and as the available information has increased over the past few years, I've learned more and more. I began to suspect that Nicky's difficulties with SPD had merely been exacerbated, rather than caused, by his prematurity. The more I read, the more I began to suspect that I, too, had SPD, albeit in a less severe form.