Potty Training Issues and SPD
by Megan
(Arizona)
Hi All,
I am a Mom of an almost 4 year old. He was diagnosed with mild SPD at around the age of 18 months. Since that time, I feel that he was overcoming SPD issues and seemed to be developing normally. At 2 1/2 we began to potty train him, nothing big, but just to introduce him to the concept. He clearly was not ready at all, so we completely backed off. By 39 months, we thought we would try again. With better luck (and strong encouragement) we finally got him to use the potty to pee. Currently, it has been 8 months and no matter what I do, I cannot get him fully potty trained. I am beyond frustrated, worried and very concerned about my child. I attribute this to SPD, but I am not sure if it this, something else, a combination of factors, or a more severe disorder.
Please, tell me your experiences with potty training your children with SPD and if you have had similar experiences. What has worked for you?
As a side note, these have been my other experiences with my child. Since he was born, I noticed that he was different from "typical" children. He never wanted to be held for long periods of time as a newborn. He would arch his back and squirm to be put down. By six months old, he would wear himself out by kicking his feet, sometimes for half an hour. He would fall asleep shortly thereafter- I am only now beginning to believe, he didn't like his feet being enclosed in the onesie.
He never splashed in the bathtub. He displayed texture aversion by 10 months old and basically liked a liquid, softfood diet. He absolutely detests vegetables and by 15 months, we noticed that he would first touch his tongue to his food before he would allow his lips to touch the food or even place the item in his mouth. He hated Cheerios! What kid doesn't like Cheerios?
Loud noises scare him and it takes him a while to warm up to new situations and things he has not had exposure to. And just last week he had a panic attack when he was scared that a storm was coming. Coupled by the "loud" music that was playing- pushed him to the extremes. I desperately want to help my child. And I am completely scared that more may be wrong with him. I can relate to some of his experiences, as I found my own diagnosis of SPD while researching his "atypical" behaviors. We are scheduled for an evaluation with his pediatrician this week to explore these issues and give him the attention and help that he needs. I just hope that it's only SPD....
Thanks for listening,
