7 Year Old Son, Just Diagnosed with SPD

by Kari
(Carrollton, GA USA)

My son just turned 7 years old. Right before he turned 2, he started having these terrible tantrums for no reason. Once he got set off, we could not stop him. We would place him in his crib (if we were at home) and he would cry and thrash around for an hour sometimes. Then, he would be calm and relaxed. Once, my husband & I even sat outside an ER debating about taking him inside. We just knew something was seriously wrong with our child. When I asked the pediatrician about it, she simply asked, "Do you feel he is a threat to you or to others?" When we told her no, she just told us there was nothing she could do and he would grow out of it. So, for years, we have struggled to understand our son. We know know about SPD.

Here are some interesting points about our son. He is extremely intelligent, remembering everything he reads and reading at a 5th grade level. He craves touch of any kind. He does not recognize when he is hungry, but will just get emotional. We know then that he probably needs to eat. Our son has some really good days when we know what he could be like, and this makes the hard days harder. Interestingly enough, his worst years have been the even years as far as his emotions go. Can anyone explain this or is anyone else going through this? For example, he showed this right before turning 2. His 3rd year was wonderful, we even got pregnant again, thinking he was through the hard stuff, only to go through it again right before he turned 4. We are in an odd year now, so here's hoping this will be a good one.