? Sensory Intergration or ADHD

[Chatei]

My son, who is 5yrs old, has always been very intelligent.  He has been talking in sentences since he was 11 months, walked a very yearly age, and now in preschool is learning at a 3rd grade level. The problem, when he enters a social situation he goes CRAZY! This is a little difficult to explain.  He's fine when he is at home, quiet and well behaved but the minute he is around any other people,adults or children, he starts to talk loudly, touch everyone, he turns into high gear. In preschool this last year he was almost unmanagable.  He was hitting, biting, and choking the other students and the teachers.  When he was told it was time to move on to a new activity he would go nuts and start throwing things around the room.  At daycare it's the same way.  He's fine outside the door the minute we go inside he's bouncing off the walls. I tokk him to a pedatrician last year and she told me she could tell by watching him walk that it was probably SI.  She asked me if he was clumsy and uncordinated and I said he was. She put him on Adderal and said that it might not work because she didn't think he had ADHD but the medication worked wonders. He was like a different person at school. I nerver got 1 more phone call from the teacher but I am a little leary of having him on this med. Could you please explain SI to me a little better. Are there different degrees of it. What is done for a child with SI in OT. I live in a very small town, very small!! I do not have access to specialist in areas like this. He will never be able to continue like this in Kindergarten. Please help.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

There are a variety of manifestations of sensory integration disorder. These involve the ways in which the brain processes and utilizes information coming from the various senses. There is also a wide spectrum of degrees of severity, from quite mild to quite severe. Occupational therapists are the professionals who are trained in the diagnosis and treatment of sensory integration problems. With some conditions, occupational therapists can train parents and teachers (or others) in some interventions. Other more complex interventions require direct treatment by the therapist. An evaluation by an occupational therapist would be useful, particularly at your son's young age. The fact that he benefitted from the stimulant medication certainly does not rule out the possibility of SI problem(s). It does sound like he displays some form of sensory integration problem.

[mommy2CalebandIsabella]

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