Noise sensitivity

[simplygina]

My husband has always been extremely sensitive to sound and smell. Turns out his mom is too. He hates things that I've never thought twice about, like people eating popcorn at the movies or the sound of a soda can being opened or the sound of typing. He also can smell something from a mile away but he can't seem to identify it. Sometimes it drives me crazy when I've spent an hour making dinner and he walks in and wrinkles his nose and say "WHAT is that SMELL?!"

 

No surprise my son started showing signs at about 3. Hated toilets flushing, fireworks, tractors, etc. We took him to Disneyland at about 4 and he thought it was pure ######! That was about the same time he started to show anxiety all around. I asked him at about 5 if I'd ever made him do anything scary before and he yelled, "YOU MADE ME GO TO DISNEYLAND!!!" I actually burst out laughing. We went to Disneyland this past Christmas and he loved it, though the first day he way a bit overwhelmed and snappy. His tics were just about the worst I've seen them as well. Total sensory overload.

 

He's 10 now the sounds are far less bothersome than the smells. I keep trying to teach him that there are less offensive ways to inquire about a smell than to go about it the same way his father does. He's getting better.

 

I do think that sensory integration seems to be a big issue for these kids. He's never been very good at noticing that he's hungry, or thirsty, or that he need to use the bathroom, or that he's hot (he's never cold). He just gets grumpy and tense and when I ask him if he needs something, then he can usually figure it out. For the longest time I just treated him like you do an infant. Grumpy? Try feeding him, have him go the bathroom, see if he needs a nap or if he needs to disrobe a bit. At least now he can figure it out most times by himself after a prompt. Thankfully touch has never been much of an issue. He does have food texture issues though.

[Megs_Mom]

Do you have a copy of that article? I'd like to send to our OT group - PM me if you need my email address. Thanks!

 

Here's one of those things that haunts me.

 

Although local specialists (neuros, rheums, ID docs, etc.) have repeatedly dismissed our son's PANDAS diagnosis (and question the whole hypothesis), the OT specialist to whom we originally took our son for "sensory integration disorder" told my wife that she sees this kind of problem frequently, in the wake of viral or bacterial infections. She even gave my wife a xeroxed copy of a recent OT journal article on PANDAS / PITAND and how to approach it from a SID perspective. So while most traditional MD's - researchers and clinicians - argue about whether it exists at all, the "front-line" therapists who see it all the time just accept it as proven and discuss strategies for treating it.

 

Man oh man, how I wish the medical community would get their act together on this. How many children are being misdiagnosed and mistreated while the "PANDAS controversy" rages?!?

 

 

My son and daughter both are sensitive to sound... especially during exasperations.... they cover their ears and are not able to process to many thing at one time... for example if they are coloring or trying to read and the TV is on in another room and is barely audible.... they freak out like it is blaring in their ears.... they also get very upset and confused if they are trying to tell me something and someone interrupts (not by interrupting the conversation) just the noise they make in the room will break their train of thought and get them completely flustered... they are also disturbed by noises we 'take for granted' ... ie... the air-conditioner... a fan.... doors opening... and the vacuum makes them go 'crazy'... they literally will start racing around- jumping - arm flapping... when they were little I used to think that they were silly and just trying to goof around but my son is 9 and still has the same reaction...

 

I find all the sensory issues fascinating... and after being reminded that is it is a sign of inflammation starting giving the ibuprofen again today!

[dut]

Hi - I was about to ask the same thing as Meg's Mom re the article for OT... I'd love a copy too if that's possible or a point at the right publication. Thanks :-)

[Worried_Dad]

My bad, y'all: my memory is playing tricks on me. Peglem PM'd me about this, too, and when I dug through our files, I found the article, but it wasn't quite what I remembered.

 

http://occupational-therapy.advanceweb.com...g-PANDAS-1.aspx

 

It's more just an overview of PANDAS vs. focusing on how OT's can target treatment. I double-checked with my wife (who took our son to most of the OT sessions), and she also remembers the OT talking about journal articles that focused on treating PANDAS sensory issues, but we can't find it. It's possible that the OT just described these other articles to my wife but never furnished copies. Our son hasn't been to the OT in > 18 months, so it's hard to know for sure.

 

Sorry, I wish I had better info. Hope there will be at least some material in this OT journal article that's useful!

 

 

Hi - I was about to ask the same thing as Meg's Mom re the article for OT... I'd love a copy too if that's possible or a point at the right publication. Thanks :-)