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I was looking for other adoptive parents of children with SI problems. We adopted at birth, our daughter is incredible. She was born crack exposed, but was a great baby. NOt long after her first birthday we noticed she was agressive with other kids and with us, after a few months of trying different interventions we finially got the Early Intervention program involved, after 2 months of meetings and observations, we have a diagnosis. I just cried like a baby. She's incredibly smart, hitting all her develomental milestones just like she should, but gets really overwhelmed and just lashes out, it's just heartbreaking. Anyone else out there?
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Yeah, it is frustrating enough when family members say things like "He just needs to learn to sit still" or,l "He likes to dish it out (tickling) but he needs to learn how to take it better" (he loves to be tickled, but it has to be a certain way).... but when I had a psychiatrist sit there and tell me I just needed to give him more time to adjust about blew. Instead I just fired him.
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joskimo
oh we get lots of advise too. OUr daughter is 2 and 4 months and still on the binky - which of course meets with dispproval from every one. I'd like to ask if they'd rather just be bit by her since she needs oral input throughout the day.
Tactile Defensiveness- as an infant diaper changes were a nightmare, he hates circle time at school/needs his personal space much larger than typical, hates having his hair brushed, socks are an issue, shoes must be loose, his pajamas must be loose, his food choices are very limited and must be served at the perfect temperature or he will refuse to eat iteven once it has been corrected. And forget about tagsŅhe HATES tags, on anything. Hyposensitivity to touch Mouths objectsօstill has a pacifier which he gnaws on, chews on his shirt constantly, and loves to touch soft things.Hyposensitivity to Movement in constant motion at times, loves to run, loves to be thrown in the air, he is a jumper and a climber with no fears, loves to swing, and loves to ride his tricycle into things.Proprioceptive Sensory Seeking ֖ seeks out jumping, bumping, and crashing activities, kicks his feet when sitting, loves to bang his toys, loves roughhousing, jumps on his mini trampoline and just about anything else, frequently hits, bumps, pushes, hugs too tightly other children, chews as noted above.[FONT='Comic Sans MS'][/FONT]Auditory Defensiveness Distressed/distracted by day to day sounds, hates public toilets, hates thunderstorms, tells people they are too loud, cries, runs away and covers his ears with loud unexpected sounds, and hates loud entertainment like the shows at Disney.Social, Emotional, Play and Self-Regulation Dysfunction ֖ prefers to play alone or in a small group, hates ANY change in routine, gets easily frustrated and still tantrums, loves repetitive play, he was an extremely fussy baby (may have been attachment related as well,) has a hard time self soothing, did not sleep through the night until age 30 months.
Angelkisses, I got tired just reading your list! :D Our oldest has overcome much of what used to be HUGE issues, and I think that's why I got tired reading your description...flashbacks to what each day used to be like! LOLI am so glad you posted about the Omega 3's. Our two oldest Ds's show a marked improvement when we have them on Omegas, too. :) Additionally, after researching fetal alcohol and diet issues, we have limited dairy (casein) for the oldest and see some improvement in his ability to self-regulate and concentration. Don't know about gluten...we weren't able to eliminate it for long enough to tell. :rolleyes: I'm going to have to get that lined up again. It was too-too much at the time we were doing it. It takes alot of mental energy for me to figure out a casein-gluten free diet.
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[FONT=Comic Sans MS]Barksum...[/FONT][FONT=Comic Sans MS]LOL! Ya he is a bit tiring...and that is just a partial list...but as you know, you just get used to it. :prop: We too looked at the GF/CF diet and have implemented a few things...but with the oral issues...I am just not ready for that battle. At his 4 year check up next month I am going to push very hard to get the pedi to do the intolorence/allergy testing...so insurance covers it. We did take him off cow's milk and switched to rice milk...and saw some positives. But it will be a huge battle and since he is a skinny guy (30 pounds) he can't afford to lose any weight.[/FONT][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Oh if you have a Whole Foods near you...they are supposed to have someone who will walk you through the store and show you exactly what is OK for the GF/CF diet. Wal-Mart also carries a few GF/CF foods. If you are interested, I have a great listing of acceptable foods...[/FONT]
I"m surious aobut the Omega 3 - I've never seen a dose for young children, what do you give?
I'm also interested in the dairy issues you guys are sighting. Hannah takes in probably 20 ounces a day still.
Her symptoms are pretty similar to those AngelKisses sited for her son - except the tactile defensiveness, the only clothing issues we've ever had are with footie-pajamas. And no feeding issues other then it's hard to get her to sit long enough. At home we use a disc-o-sit and at daycare we have tennis balls on two of the chair feet. But she just has a hard time sitting still.
As far as follwoing up with her Early Intervention, we're taking her to a pediatric psychologist in July and I'm in contact right now with a neurodevelopmental clinic evaluation.
Joskimo, we went to a naturophathic dr to get directions for the right amounts of omega oils for the kids. There are some brands for kids, but most don't list the amount for toddlers. These have been wonderful for my kids who can't swallow pills. They can take them in oil form, and it tastes good!, or in chewable gel caps, which are also nicely flavored.HOWEVER, just in the skim of research that I've done, the statements are that there has not been any amount yet known that is 'too much'. Since the initial studies done were with the Inuit people, whose whole diet was primarily the fats themselves, from whale and seal, and they did not have adverse effects from eating that amount. So the current thought is that you can't OVER supplement. Of course you should still not take my word for it but do your own research.Angelkisses, I joined a GF/CF recipe exchange group on Yahoo! They've been helpful, and have TONS AND TONS of recipes. We've also been attempting...hrumph...to do the Feingold Diet. This was pretty tough. If we can get it together we'll probably attempt that one again. We currently have gotten rid of most of the preservatives and some of the artificial additives, but that's pretty difficult at times. Some days it's no big deal, but then I'll get behind and have to do a rush on dinner and ... well, there goes that day! LOL We are about 40% organic, and maybe 30% unrefined. (If you ask some of our friends, though, they'll tell you that we are totally unrefined.) I make my own sauces, we use whole flours not enriched, we try to make things from scratch as much as possible...but I still haven't gotten to the point where I make our bread or that kind of thing. Maybe when the babies are out of diapers?? LOL
[QUOTE=joskimo]I"m surious aobut the Omega 3 - I've never seen a dose for young children, what do you give?
My DS is on Coromega which is a pudding type of substance so it is an alternative to capsules. It is for ages 4 and older. I started him on it at 5 and it has made a huge difference for him. I really think it has improved his memory too.
Christina
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mrsred
where do you get the Coromega? does super Supplements carry it?
I second the cormega. I get mine at the local GNC store. 500mg of oils per serving. Harvard did a study and recommends this amount. Cost was an issue for us since we have 5 children taking it and the Cormega was the one that won out.
I suppose I should at least introduce myself. This last July we were placed with our foster to adopt sibling group. They are 4,3 and 2. Within the first 2 weeks home we noticed that something wasn't right and started investigating what it could be. We ended up getting them tested for SI within 8 weeks of being home. They all three had it!! I found that because one of my boys is a seeker he tends to get more of the "naughty" child label. It isn't his fault! My other boy the school staff doesn't agree with his SI dx because he isn't a handful. He prefers to not socialize, he is selfish and will go off into a corner and play puzzles all day if you let him. He will get upset if he can't complete whatever he is working on if they ask that he puts it away and does have trouble transitioning because of this. He prefers to only have stimulation if he is in control of it. Well, this is also a problem just on the opposite side of a seeker. Then I have my 2 yr old AD who is somewhere in between. I am SO thankful that I had a private agency do the testing. School hasn't been to helpful because they only deal with the gross/fine motor ect in OT. Like most of you we are also in the process of having a FASD test done. We are still waiting the appointment times on this.
Like most we have been told that they are just being children. (especially by my mom) NO, "normal" children DON'T walk by a wall and feel the need to lick it for aprox. 5 feet! Never thought that I would say "don't bite it just lick it, so you don't leave teeth marks" Normal children don't have the incessant compulsion to touch everything...and when I say everything I mean everything. I thought it quite funny when my parents took all 5 of my children for 12 hours one day (this the first with all of them at once) and came back to an exhausted grandma. She couldn't believe how my seeker fluttered from one thing to the next while still managing to hope, skip, jump and tumble along the way :) I think she got the idea of what we now go through on an almost daily basis.
I really think that we were the right people for these children and I would defiantly look into adopting a child with SI again. I do think once you get the right balance that life gets easier. If you met my children 4 months ago you wouldn't even recognize them today. They have improved that much. One thing that I recognized in myself was the amount of patience it takes to raise children with SI and how exhausted you are at the end of an evening. Thank goodness we figured out that the hottub made the children unwind and we use it faithfully every evening (or hot bath). All three of the little ones are in bed by 7:30/8 pm and sleeping by 8:30pm now. When we got em they were up till sometimes 10pm or later! Now we have a bit of time to ourselves to regroup for the next day.
I think it's pretty well known that drugs in-utro is at least a contributor to sensory integration problems. Also, extreme neglect - like not much touching - as infants.We just started with a private OT for our daugther's sensory issues. We waited six months to get in, and are paying privately, but it already is making a difference. So far, we are doing brushing, compression therapy and have a sensory diet. She is also on Omega-3's (we use the Dr. Sears brand, it tastes like orange). Working with an OT makes all the difference. We now feel like we are actually doing something to help, although the improvements we are seeing are fairly small. You feel more in control, and you have hope that because you are doing this things will improve.Now, I'm not sure that they will, but it is a tremendous help to know you have an action plan. Other books I have read on the topic, other than Out-of-Sync child: Raising a Sensory Smart Child; The Out-of-Sync child has fun; Starting Sensory Integration Therapy.Another thing that has helped us is gum. Really. Yes, I have a 4-year-old biracial child with long, curly hair and I give her gum. All the time. The OT said it would help her calm herself and it seems to work!
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