My girls share a room. They have ever since we moved Halle out of our bathroom in Phoenix... going on about 6 years now. We have had the usual post bedtime tattling of "mom, she's hitting me, "mom, she keeps getting out of bed, "mom, she had______(fill in the blank)in her bed".. And many many more. Most of these are fairly normal kids things, but we moved into our rental place, and I have the girls sharing a bed. It is great because I did not have to set up bunk-beds, and I did not want to deal with that. Well, recently we have had a new tattling routine. The kids are in bed, and a little while later Mads comes down to the top of the stairs, and reports to me "Mom, Halle keeps licking me!!" Licking... AHHHHH. And that is when you know that you need help. I keep threatening to get her a salt lick.
I laugh, because it is funny, but I really have no idea what to do about it. I talked to my doctor about it and he is concerned about the licking too, especially since we are moving to Canada (aka the Great White North) and licking could be very detrimental there. (Picture scenes from A Christmas Story!!! He thinks he is really funny!!!)
We tried to get in to see a child psychologist, but the wait list is till September - and people have the nerve to mock the Canadian system. The Child Psychologist recommended that we go straight to Occupational Therapy. Halle, is going in tomorrow to see O.T. We have had a suspicion for awhile that she has Sensory Processing Disorder (I will write a whole blog post about it this weekend). All along we have thought of her as unique and quirky. I mean she is the kid that never wants to get out of her PJ's, only wants to wear soft clothes, constantly snuzzles newly aquainted men, picks up all manner of "Treasures" when we go to parks, touches EVERYTHING, freaks out with loud noises (automatic flushing toilets, fireworks, loud restaurants etc.), could roll around in her bed all day, not to mention the licking - floor at Walmart, chairs at church, sisters... and the list could go on and on. But, it was not until this last January when we met a mom who also had a son with many of the same problems, that we started thinking that there was more than meets the eye.
We will see what occupational therapy can offer us.. I would love a handbook on how to best handle my child. That would be lovely. Until then, live in fear that I might call you and ask what to do if my child just so happens to find the ONLY prickly pear cactus in all of the midwest, picks it, and carries it home in her shirt, and now has cactus nettles all over her hands and tummy... (tactile sense... gotta love it!!!) Wish me luck! It is a good thing that I love her.
3 comments:
for a short time I shared a bed with my sister (not vicky) and I remember complaining about getting kicked.
Ella recently licked an ice cube, that was in the tray, all dry and junk. She came to me with the whole tray in her face and sure enough, her tongue was stuck. She peeled it off before I could help her and save her some pain.
All my rambling aside, I hope you find some helpful solutions from the OT. Kids are sooo fun. ;)
Wow, Kelly, I'm sure that's a lot to process as a parent - realizing there might be something more to a child's quirkiness. We wish you the best getting it figured out! You're a wonderful mom.
Kelly,
I was just making the rounds of our blog list, and I came upon your post. Our Nathan has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS (which is on the autism spectrum) and Sensory Processing Disorder. He is sensory seeking, which sounds like Halley, and licks, bites, chews, pinches, sqeezes, screams and slams into everything he sees.
He is in a special preschool here, where he gets OT and speech, and we have him meet with a private therapist once a week and OT once a month at our house. He is a completely different child than he was a year ago before therapy. He is so much calmer than he was and doesn't do the whole sensory thing nearly as much as he used to. They have so many techniques to help with these issues that it is amazing to see them pick up on one thing that totally changes your life. Nathan needs deep pressure and a lot of gross motor activities like pulling 3 kids in the wagon (totally serious- he loves it), or swinging as high as possible in the swing.
You know what? Just email me. Katiemaam...at...hotmaildotcom
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