Sensory Overload??

My nephew will be 2 in Sept. He has several health problems. He bites,pulls hair and pinches, himself and others. He was finally referred to a behavior specialist who says that one part of his brain is telling him one thing and the other is telling him different because of his confusion and insecurities, these are his reactions and they have diagnosed him with Sensory Overload.
Can you tell me what this is ?? What is Sensory Intergration??
He has an older brother by 13 months, they do not have a good home life which I am sure my sister did not tell the physicians everything for fear of having them taken away. Can you tell me where I can find more info on these things. I found some info about stereotypic movement disorder, the symptoms describe him also. Can you give any info or advise that will help us with him and how to react or "correct" him when he does these things. I had him and his older brother Monday for an hour and he had his head on my shoulder, all sweet, like he is sleeply and his brother is also on my lap and he pulls his brothers hair, then pulls mine, bites and pinches me so I just put him down and let him cry, how do we handle this. His brother was crying he pulled his hair so hard yet when I went to spank his hand for doing this his brother did not want me to. Any info you can give is very much appreciated.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Dear Ms. Bell,

I'm not sure what the specialist was indicating when he used the term sensory overload, but he apparently was saying that your nephew's ability to integrate or process input from the various senses is impaired. Essentially, sensory integration problems mean that the brain has trouble managing the information it receives from the five senses. Sensory integration problems can occur on a spectrum of mild (where they really do not impair a child very much at all) to severe (where day-to-day life is seriously compromised). Occupational therapists are the professionals who treat sensory integration problems.

However, to be frank with you, my sense is that your nephew's behavior may be disorganized and aggressive due to inadequate parenting and lack of sufficient structure and organization in his life. Close collaboration, and honest communication, with a child behavioral health or mental health clinician will be necessary to achive some stability.

[desperatemom05]

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