SPD/Behavior

[isamarie25]

My 2 1/2 year old daughter has recently been diagnosed with SPD. She began OT last week & was introduced to "brushing" She enjoyed it at the time but the OT said if she became more agitated or didnt sleep well then discontinue.
The same night, she had the biggest meltdown over nothing & screamed & screamed. Im not sure if its from brushing or just coincidence.
My quesiton is: I know SPD causes behavioral problems but my daughter is always talking to herself about the most random things that make no sense.
Is this normal? is it normal for a child this age to talk to themselves?
She just talks about things that happened in the past or things that have no relevance to current time.
For instance: I was putting her to bed last night & she says to me "the alligator wants to swi with me"....where did this come from? why did she say that?
This morning she says "Connor spelled my name" Connor is my 4 year old son & he was sleeping at the time so I have no clue where that statement came from.
My concern is mental health, is this normal? is this being brought on by the SPD?
She acts inappropriately sometimes too & sayd inappropriate things at the wrong moments too.

[isamarie25]

Hi specialmom,
I sent you a message with all of the info regarding my daughter & her SPD.
I look forward to hearing from you soon

[specialmom]

Hi, I have a sensory kid myself!  He's now 7 and in first grade and it has been a long road but he is doing really well.  You'll get there too having started early intervention so young.

First, regarding the brushing.  We did this protocol as well and did it at home about 6 times a day for 8 weeks.  My son had a lot of tactile defensiveness and I swear this helped so much. Why?  I've got no idea-----------  but it certainly does seem to work on the nervous system.  Are you doing the procedure at home complete with the "pushes".  You really almost have to in order to have an effect.  We stopped doing it at home and only did it occasionally after the initial 8 weeks.  My son curled his hands so he didn't touch things prior . . . and cried like he was being tortured if his hands got wet.  Anyway, I'd keep at it unless your OT tells you to stop.

One thing to note about OT as your daughter is new to it------------  they do activities that work directly on the nervous system as well as pushing them in certain ways.  It is a fine line for an OT to figure out the right amount of pushing and activity for kids.  My son has had a few total meltdowns right there in OT because something was too hard and his system was on high.  I would guess that after OT, she was over tired.  That too could be part of the meltdown that night.  Tell your therapist about it and see what they think.   I also found that if I recreated the sensory games they did in OT and came up with ones similar and did them all week long in between OT sessions----------  my son was much more calm.

The talking to herself . . . honestly, I don't think that is abnormal.  Not a mental health issue.  At most, I think she has trouble organizing thought and things pop in and she says them even if there is no relevance to what she is doing at the time or no seg way.  Many kids do talk to themselves.  This I wouldn't worry about and certainly not in a mental health way.  Just my opinion on that, but I'd not worry.

What sensory issues does your daughter thus far present with?  Just curious.  Always happy to share ideas as I've spent the past 4 years working on understanding it all and finding ways to help my son.  Keep in touch!