Our grandson hates buttons

by Jackie Skellenger
(Mesquite, TX 75150)

Our grandson,(Josh) is five years old. We knew he was different from the time he was very little. He has strong characteristics of OCD, which is dominant in my husband's side of the family. From the time Josh was little he was putting things in line, in order and even taking his hamburger apart in line from bun to bun. Josh wants things in order and when his brother's mess with his stuff it leaves him distraught. Josh has a hard time if his routine is disturbed.




As a baby and even today he has a hard time transitioning from being asleep to full awakeness. If he was woken up from a nap he very seldom woke up without crying. This sweet little boy is very intelligent. He has been putting puzzles together since he was two, and brilliant at memory game. I am not talking about little puzzles, I mean the puzzle with 30 small pieces could be turned over, or upside down, not revealing the picture and he could put it together. What disturbs us all greatly is his intolerance to shirts with buttons. If he is asked to wear a button down shirt, he screams and carries on, says the buttons hurt him, he will cry until he passes out; essentially he acts like this is a really big deal, almost as if it is traumatizing him.

Josh also has eczema extremely bad. When he has a bad break out in the summer months often he will scratch until he bleeds. His pediatric allergist says to mask the symptoms for now and treat the outbreaks. This little boy itches all the time, yet she doesn't want to put him through allergy testing for food until he grows so more; doesn't want to take his favorite foods away until he grows more. Josh is an extremely picky eater; only likes bread, cheese and milk. He does eat peanut butter sandwiches; that is it, all he eats. When you ask the pediatrician about his diet, he says he doubts he is anemic, substitute beans for protein and give him a multivitamin. In the last couple of months Josh has had strep throat twice, H1N1, and the seasonal viral flu. He has been one sick little boy. I realize he is one of four boys and one of them is likely to be sick at one time or another, but seems like there could be different solutions to help Josh.



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May 04, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Utah
by: AJ

continued....

oh, also wanted to mention, that for the illness, we have put our son on a daily multivitamin and a daily probiotic which has helped tremendously. best thing i ever did for his immune system. also for the eczema, have you tried bathing him in epsom salt? and eucerin cream, not lotion, cream was the best thing we found to treat the eczema. i was not fond of continually using steriod creams on my son. they soak right into the blood stream. if you can find the root cause of the eczema best to treat that. i know it can be hard, been there. but keep plugging away. he's a lucky little boy to have a concerned grandma! hope something here helps.

ps-
here are a few resources that have helped us with various things.

www.modelmekids.com

www.alertprogram.com (also known as 'take 5')

www.sandboxlearning.com (social stories)

(pricey but you can do one book and personalize it for free and print it for your grandson, pick any topic they have.) we have implemented making our own social stories tailored to the things my son struggles with and this has helped a great deal.

there are also some great books we have benefited from.

the out of sync child (a few books in the series)
no more melt downs
how to raise a sensory smart child
practical solutions for out of bounds behaviors

hope something here helps!
May 04, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Utah
by: AJ

wow! if i could have written up a little paraphrase of some of my sons challenges/issues, this fits him to a T... and then some.

have you done the sensory checklist on this website for him to see how he scores?

so what i would say having experienced similar myself, is to get him to an occupational therapist. someone who can evaluate him and be a sounding board for your concerns and help you find resources that can help him deal with and manage some of these issues in a positive way. there are so so many therapies, resources, ideas, strategies out there to help these kiddos and they're worth it! :)

the best thing we did for our son's immunity/allergies was take him to a naturopath. we had him tested for food/environmental allergies and sensitivities. and that was after months and months of going the rounds with regular doctors who just wanted to treat symptoms and not address the root cause. ugh. we had two skin/blood tests done for allergies and turned up nothing with the regular pediatrician. but at the naturopath we did electrodermal testing for allergies/sensitivities and i found it the most accurate for what i suspected or wondered if he had an issue with. he was also a very selective eater, but the things he did eat and crave were in fact the things that were causing trouble in his little body. he also had issues with certain textures of foods and with clothing as well, among other things.

anyway, i believe now that the eczema was indicative of the turbulence happening inside his body and the eczema was and outward manifestation of his body saying, help! i also wonder if you think he has any issues with foods or 'leaky gut', leaky gut can be an issue as well.

http://www.leakygut.co.uk/

as far as the buttons, gotta pick your battles with these kids. i stopped buying shirts with buttons for a long time. then we did some tactile therapy with specific things like buttons, fabrics, etc. with an ot that helped immensely. he now is okay to wear button shirts.

i'm out of room, i'll have to post #2, to be continued.... :)
Feb 24, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Button Help
by: Julie

My son has SPD and is 6 years old. He hated buttons too. We stopped buying shirts with buttons or he wore a super soft white shirt underneath. He is ok with wearing them now. Look into Occupational Therapy if you have not done so. It helped my son immensely. We also did the therapeutic listening program which helped his sensitivities dramatically. Hang in there, take it one day at a time, use lots of creativity to help him. Social stories work great and realize he actually is in pain when he has these outbreaks. Buttons may seem insignificant to us, but it is very real and painful to them. Good luck and hang in there- He is here to teach you about life, perseverance, patience, empathy and understanding.
Feb 24, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		There's holistic healing out there
by: Anonymous

A couple of things comes to mind about your grandson. You say it seems like there must be other ways to help him - have you tried holistic healing such as Acupressure or Reiki.

Eczema usually goes hand in hand with asthma - I have no proof of this but I have heard that if you cure eczema, you could get asthma.

Also, is he the last of the 4 boys - perhaps, just perhaps, it could be a sibling rivalry thing wanting attention and he has zeroed in on shirts with buttons.

I do empathize with you and I can feel this little boy is different- from what you say. He will need loads of love and understanding to get through life. He will most certainly be well educated as an adult but may choose a certain specific line and stick to that - meaning he may not have common sense knowledge of everything else like others, but will excel in his chosen line of work. Education will help him to live a balanced life.

Its good that his doctor is aware of his condition, he will know best how to treat him with care and concern.

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