The missing puzzle piece found at last

by Terri Stallings
(New Haven IL)

My grandson is 3yr old and wow the pieces of the puzzle finally fit. When he was born he would not breast feed we just thought he wasn't able to latch on he took the bottle well. He screamed when he was in his swing but loved the vibrating seat. His sheets had to be soft and fuzzy blanket or he would wake up as soon as he was put down this behavior began as early as 3 months of age.

When his first birthday came I noticed an odd behavior he wouldn't play in his smash cake he screamed in terror when we sang Happy Birthday and that's when he began to gag and choke on solid food. We did bring this up to his pediatrician and she just brushed it off that maybe we were rushing things but his eating habits became even more severe to the point he gagged on everything we decided to keep him on formula for the nutrition value his diet consisted of chocolate cookies fries and sausage and apples .

Age 2 he began getting really upset over his jammies the tight fitting around his ankles were a no-go with him. He will wear them now but he is constantly adjusting them if he has food on his hands he will not touch floor,furniture etc..he gets upset when he get water milk or anything on his clothes screaming " wipe it off" Problems with going into new or different places restaurants,stores etc.. he is better with that part. He had began gagging himself constantly and ended up with abscess on his tonsils we spent two days in hospital and was they ever so glad to see us go. We took him to ENT thinking his tonsils was reason why his eating habits were so poor and we blew the other behaviors off as being spoiled which that he is he sleeps with my daughter and has to play with hair to go to sleep. The ENT recommended speech therapy eval and of course I being the over protective grandma was a bit upset I wanted a medical reason not mental.

When the attempts for barium swallow failed because of his major melt down in front of 5 staff members and he was not about to touch that cookie with that stuff on it even though it was his favorite cookie that's when the red flag came up that his eating habits are a behavior and not medical. He is better with a hair dryer but still panics with vacuum we just wait till hes gone to vacuum he freaks out when he sees the iron and ironing board. Ok maybe he is moderate sensory but sooo intelligent he was able to count to 20 knew all colors including the rainbow sang abc at age of 2 every shape and sign language. We can deal with the clothing thing the noises but what about his eating?

He loves crayons haha he has to have certain brand of sausage cooked slow and tender days he may eat apple slices loves chocolate drinks only choc milk water and some juices we had a huge party last week he ate a ice cream sandwich even held it.

He is in therapy now and I thank God for her every day his therapist has been coming for 9 mos and what God send but my questions will he get better? Will he deal with this forever? Hair cuts are a major ordeal he will not pee his pants screams if he does but loves a bath and plays in the pool plays in sand box digs in dirt and goes bare foot outside shoes are not a big deal but pooping in potty is a no go he will hold it for days if we dont use a pull up.

A new behavior this week he starting to chew on his fingers he never chewed on anything even the teething toys never held his bottle but he holding sippy cup thats a big step for him he is not shy he loves to be held and cuddled just now he has stopped wiping away kisses but hates his face washed. so can I rest assure that he is mildly sensory deficit ? We are making progress but every day with him is a challenge but the sweetest one ive ever encountered Jaxson is our world and whatever he is it doesnt matter we love him just the same.