So that's it!

by Mandy
(Ohio)

My 7 year old son had so many issues with homework that frustrated me and my husband to no end. We knew he was intelligent because he could tell us lot's of info about a story or he could orally spell his spelling words or name but always reversed letters or ran words together no matter how hard we tried. We just watched his grades get worse and worse.

His first grade teacher knew there was something wrong and referred him to the OT at school and after her evaluation, she referred him to a vision therapist. There have been some interventions put in place like an onscreen keyboard to do his school work and a desk copy of anything that is on a projector or blackboard due to tracking and focusing problems until he completes therapy. The vision therapist diagnosed him with sensory integration disorder and right now we are waiting to see an OT that specializes in that. We are very excited but not looking forward to the financial strain it will put on our family. Since we live in a small town, we have to travel 1 hour to vision therapy and 2 hours to occupational therapy. We also have 2 other kids.

Oh, some other things we saw with him were needing pressure to feel comfortable (ie; always needing hugged or wedging himself in tight spots, sleeping between the mattress and wall, laying on the floor at the store, spinning in chairs constantly, preferring to stand up to eat or work, needing the tv on at all times to sleep or work, rolling his head frequently, stands on head while watching tv, needs to flip ALOT, needs to be face to face to really hear what you are saying and has been acting out like crazy. I wondered where I went wrong and it's a relief that it's not my fault.

The other day he came home from school with holes in his shirt where he had cut it with scissors. He had testing that day and it was his way of coping I guess. He only eats pizza or chicken nuggets, can not stand screaming, hates haircuts or getting face washed, tries to avoid getting nails cut and over reacts to minor injuries. These are a few things that make him a KID with SID. Can't wait to learn more!!!!