Hypo Sensory Disorder

Try to find a pediatrician that can recommend a therapist, usually occupational, to do an assessment. You might be able to get it free in an early childhood program. There is a scrub brushing technique that can do wonders.

Follow your gut, Mama. Get your ped to make a referral for an evaluation by an OT. I also recommend the book "Raising a Sensory-Smart Child" - written by an OT (Lindsey Biel) and a mom (Nancy Peske) of a sensory kid. Great information and suggestions on how to help kids will all sorts of sensory issues.

you can go thru the school district and have a professional evaluation, if it is normal (and some quirky stuff is) you can relax, and if it isnt, you can start looking thru the best options for your daughter. there is a lot of help out there for early intervention and it most cases, the earlier you start the easier and better it is for the child.

My 9 yo grandson has sensory disorders which cause him to be both hypo sensitive and hypersensitive to use your word. Because he doesn't feel soft touch he hugs too hard, runs to greet me and nearly knocks me off my feet, squeezes my cheeks hard and likes to be hugged hard himself. He wants to be held when he's upset while his sister wants to be left alone. If I'm not touching him when I ask him to do something he seems to not hear me.

At the same time he hates to have wet clothes and noise bothers him. He frequently holds his hands over his ears.

I think it would help if you included a description of your concerns in this question. You can pm me if you want but I'm not sure that I could be of much help.

After your addition: Yes, that does sound like a sensory processing disorder. Such disorders do count as a difficulty for learning. There is a federal law that requires school districts to provide testing and treatment if found to be needed free of charge. I suggest you contact your local school district and arrange for testing.

You can also talk with her pediatrician who can then refer you to a developmental pediatrician for testing also. This would most likely be covered by insurance.

I suggest that you want to have testing to be sure one way or the other. If she needs help, it's best to get it as early as possible. And if she doesn't need help you can feel relieved.

Find someone in your area who does Feldenkries method. It's just the thing to set your little girl on to better motor coordination, build her stamina, and get her feet under her. She'll learn how to fall and how to be well balanced. As for her sensory awareness she may not feel as much pain as other people.
Some people have higher pain thresholds than others.
I loved coffee as a tiny child and still drink it. That may not be anything to worry about nor the spicy foods. One of my daughters fell in love with curry at age two.

If she is 3, you can also contact the local school district and get her tested. This will also set up the IEP that another poster mentioned. She can get some therapy services through the school district.

But definitely, bring this up to her Ped.

I have not read any of the other responses...so bear with me.

My son has major Sensory Processing disorder.

I am not sure which way other then that it was labeled.

My kiddo is three.
He is rough on everything....He broke three different mops that I use yesterday just because. This is to the extreme for him, he doesnt normally have days like this where he does so much damage.

He refuses to put anything into the trash. Even if he knows a time out is coming. He will take the time it. All out hell has broken loose over this.

He will avoid being changed like the plague. I know ALL kids do this...but he does it to the extreme. It can take three people to hold him down/still just to change him.....You may be thinking ''Why dont you potty train him??'' ...We are working on speaking and language skills before this step can happen.
Like I said above, when we found out he had sensory issues he was actually being seen for Speech issues. At his 2 yr check up he was only saying three to five words. Period. Now that he is almost caught up to age on language we can start tackling other things.

He is fearless to the point where I have had to put gates up high permanent sometimes zipped tied shut on all exiting doors.

Our neighbor has a pond in their front yard that is not gated off. He will go over and try to swim. NOt to mention he has escaped more then once and was caught half way around our time circular block .

He has amazing climbing and strength abilities. He is more physically coordinated then my four year old as well.

We call him the tank because he has taken some spills and had some major injuries and doesnt ever seem worse for wear. He will only SOMETIMES cry when hurt, and normally it is more out of shock then actual HURT. Or he gets quickly embarrassed if there was alot of people who watched what ever happened.

He has been in Occupational Therapy(OT) now for over a year. As well as Speech Therapy(ST).

We didnt see improvement until about a month in going twice a week.

I can not believe the change that took place in him. the education his Therapist offer for me has been something I will take with me forever.

If she has not been recommended for Therapy I highly suggest you get her into something.

If anything just for the education and help they can offer you for at home. The support is amazing.

I also know that when we are having a bad week here and I need to vent to some one, I have been able to email his OT and just let it out. She then can give me Professional objectives, as well as the support to keep truckin until our next session.

WE had been going twice a week for over a year. We now have been able to switch it up to seeing each teacher every other week.

They also can right a script for this compression suit called a Spio. It helps them feel more in control of their bodies. It works how swaddling works with infants.

I also have to bring heavy duty shock gun ear phones for him. If we go some place where there is constant loud noise he freaks out. and he can either get really hyper and excited. Or he can get violent. And by violent I mean he has drawn blood on me...I have had bruises like you would not believe. even had to go get a Tetanus shot booster because he stabbed me with a nail one time when the neighbor was mowing the front yard. He was scared and reacted badly.

I have a good deal of info on this stuff and I would be more then happy to help and support you through alot of this.

Depending on her age I wanted to pass some knowledge off to you about schooling.

Get her tested for an IEP as early as you can. This will help her through the schooling process, give her class rooms that are smaller in size and also give her daily OT and ST.

This si something my kiddo is going to be testing into this fall.

I cant not wait.

I can only imagine what a daily school schedule will do for him.

The other thing I wanted to share is...Alot of kids with sensory disorders/issues have major OCD's. We are finding that this may be a BIG part of why he acts out the way he does. That and the lack of means to communicate what he wants.

My kiddo has to has a very tight rigid schedule. To the point where I can not get mine anymore rigid. It is just not in my being to do so. I have tried and gone nuts.

This is where school is going to come in and be amazing.

I found I had to keep my house extremely orderly for him as well. That clutter and too much going on iin a room or just around him in general can cause him to loose it more often.

I want to add that he does not get away with what he does naughty. we do have a discipline regime in order all the time. This has also helped when trying to get him to control his emotions. Brings him back to center.

Good luck, see your pedi about getting her into OT. And if you have any other questions I am here often:)

Find a local naturopath & take her. Good luck with everything, trust your feelings.

Yes, get her evaluated by an Occupational Therapist. Sounds like a sensory processing problem to me. As she gets older, the low sensitivity to pain sensations can be both a safety problem and a social problem.

Also, make sure she's current on her tetanus vaccinations, regardless of how you feel about the other vaccines. My son has run around with huge splinters in his feet for days before I realized it. It's difficult to keep puncture wounds clean if you don't know they have occurred!

Aikido training can also help with the "falls often and can't catch herself." One of my stepdaughters was like this. A few months of aikido and she stopped falling on her face every time she tripped.

I don't know about how her sleep patterns are, but also know that the whole "calming bedtime routine" is often counterproductive for hyposensitive/sensory seeking kids. My son does much better with a tickle fight and a chase around the house. This helps him "fill up", sensory-wise, so he can calm down enough to sleep.

Good luck. OT is very successful with these kids and it's a whole lot of fun. Last Friday my son's OT had him climbing through these massive lycra hammocks in search of stuffed animals. Very hard work but a whole lot of fun.

Good luck!

Um, do you mean sensory seeking?