"Therapy doesn't promise to fix or cure a child, but makes permanent changes in their central nervous system that calm them if they are over-excited, or wow a child that isn't turned on enough," says Kranowitz. "It also helps children participate in a social life and builds their self esteem, so they feel confident and competent."
One social challenge is presented by frequent tantrums, which aren't your run-of-the-mill meltdowns. Kranowitz says they come on fast, are disruptively intense and last quite a while.
"With most kids, you can diffuse a tantrum in a few minutes but with Maddie, it would go on for thirty minutes or longer," says Julia Davis from South Bend, IN, who got called into school on a regular basis to deal with her four-year-old daughter's self-regulation challenges. "She was really having a hard time functioning because of the noise levels, the lights and whatever else was going on," says Davis.
Davis eventually took her daughter to the doctor. "She was a preemie and had a lot of medical complications up front," says Davis. "We went to the pediatrician and were told she's more immature emotionally and socially and that she'll catch up. It made sense."
As Maddie's tantrums got worse, Davis began to look elsewhere for answers. "I couldn't help but wonder what I was doing wrong as a parent. I didn't know how to help her. I took her to a child psychologist, who insisted she was fine. I started Googling her behavior. She didn't fit into autism, but the SPD checklist gave me an aha moment."
"I couldn't help but wonder what I was doing wrong as a parent."
Eventually, Davis found an OT, who diagnosed her with SPD and took her to a two-week SPD intensive at Miller's STAR Center. She credits them with Maddie's progress. "During the holidays, she was singing on stage in front of 200 people, singing and performing like a little ham. She would have never done that before therapy. She would've melted down."
Tantrums aren't always part and parcel of SPD. When Sheryl Braun adopted her son Sander from Hungary two years ago, she noticed her sensory seeker son's oral fixation was more intense than the average kid compulsions, and he was struggling with fine motor skills.
"At night, he had one pacifier in his mouth, one in each hand and a spare, which is an alarm for a three-year-old," Braun explains. "He couldn't pick up a raisin and would cry out of frustration."
She began in earnest to figure out what was going on. "We spoke to a neurologist who was dismissive, saying his EEG is normal," says Braun. "They knew what it wasn't, but they didn't know what it was."
