Emma's twin brother, Jason, just got done with his OT evaluation and they stated he has sensory integration issues.

I plan on getting the book Out of Sync Child, but can someone please enlighten me as to what exactly sensory integration issues are?

They state that he thrives on movement and is easily distracted.....very tense muscles in back and arms...

I am interested to hear more. I have always thought that Keegan is way more active than normal, I thought it was from his discomfort from reflux but he continues to be this way even now that it is under control. He also seems to have a hard time focusing. I don't know if it's SI but I am interested to see what others say.

Did they explain a little more about why they decided he had it? What was different from what Emma is doing? I think that all babies act distracted and like to be on the go alot. I just wonder if I have to worry to.

Some of the things that were mentioned were: fair tolerance for handling (he stiffens up)tolerance of positioning changes, however very fidgety and movement seeking resistance of muscles to passive stretch appears low in upper extremity muscle groups; poor midline and bilateral integration skills and difficulties with motor planning; increased risk of developing sensory processing difficulties due to movement seeking tendencies.

They stated orally to me that by intervening at this early age, that it would prevent problems when he goes to school....

I couldn't really get the jest of everything (over my head) but I just sensed something was amiss with him. He has to be on the go constantly and does not quite focus on one thing for too long.

Well I'm glad they say it can be taken care of and wont be a problem as he gets older then....keep us informed

Ava seems to be moving her legs, feet and hands all the time. More when she gets excited about something, but moves, moves, moves, moves everything. I was chucking it up to reflux, but I think I should get her evaluated. Never hurts, right?

That's what I thought too. My attitude is that is why the government has the Early Intervention program. It doesn't hurt for them to come out and get evaluated....

I still wonder though, and if anyone knows....what is sensory integration disorder? Just a basic explanation will do.

Sensory integration dysfunction (for me) was very difficult to understand in the beginning, but over the years I have learned so much about it and how it affects my two kids. I would encourage you to search the Internet as there are some great articles and information out there. Here is a link to some information I found this morning...

http://www.sensorynation.com/what.html

For my kids, they both require lots of movement and pressure. I have two very, very active kids. We actually bought a trampoline for them a month ago and it has worked wonders for them. We do lots of swinging, hanging/swinging on a monkey bar, jumping, running, etc. Both my kids also have tactile issues. They don't like to touch certain things and don't like having their hands/feet dirty. Feeding can be difficult when they don't want to touch the food. We let the kids play with shaving cream, sand, mud... anything that gets them touching things that they don't like.

My daughter has made huge progress with her sensory issues. It took years of work with an OT and work at home, but she has overcome so many of her sensory obstacles. James is in early stages of his work, but he has already made a little progress.

James is currently using a compression vest to help with his sensory issues. He thrives on deep pressure and needs it a lot during the day. He likes to lay under pillows and be squished under them. Believe it or not, it is actually very calming for him. Yesterday he had a horrible tantrum over the fact I wouldn't let him play with the VCR. He got so worked up in a matter of seconds. I took him, layed him down, rubbed his back, legs, and arms, and then he put pillows on him so I applied pressure with the pillows. He calmed down instantly and we went on to have a good day at therapy.

It is very hard to explain to people. I have been told my kids are hyper, overactive, too full of energy, etc. With sensory kids, the slightest little thing can get them overstimulated. Taking my daughter to grocery store a couple of years ago was a disaster. She just couldn't process all the sounds, lights, smells, etc. Now she does well.

I will try to post some pictures of James and his therapy. It is so good that the OT is going to treat this while Jason is young. It is so much easier to help these kids while they are young and things can be changed easily. Good luck and keep us posted. And please PM if you have any questions.

I have seen more articles on this lately in parenting mags, particulary about kids who react strongly to loud voices,sounds, lights, etc. I also did read that early intervention was the key to treating it.

I know I read that at our kids age Jane their attention spans are getting shorter, that they typically do not spend more than a few minutes w/one toy, etc. But I supposed there still is a line drawn even then as to what is "norm"and what might be a indication of a problem.

It does sound like his movement is what they seem to be focusing on.

Marcie -

Thank you so much for that link. Some of the articles I've read have dealt with older children and not infants. I will check it out later today. I had a hunch that there was something with him, but could not place my finger on it. I do know that when Jason gets "in a mood" he screams bloody murder at such a high pitch tone and it is difficult to settle him down. When he was much younger, the only way he would sleep was to swaddle him (until he was about 6 months old).

The evaluator also mentioned brush therapy for him. She said to gently brush him even with the baby hairbrush on his back and arms.

Steph - Jason will pick up a toy look at it and put it down...he doesn't even hold it for a couple of minutes. More like a few seconds with him. He gets confused with toys and doesn't seem to know what to do with them, even if you show him.

Having raised 3 other children (and babysat many more) I just had a gut feeling that something was not right. My children never had any issues...I knew that these 2 might due to their situation, but always knew to get them help as early as possible. Some people don't understand therapy for infants, but that is something that I did learn in child development classes years ago was to get evaluations done so that you can help them to reach the best of their abilities.

We were worried about him until he was about 3 months old....he would never look at people nor did he smile. We would only interact with the quilt that I have over the sofa...I was worried at that time that he may become autistic. But around the age of 3.5 months he started to look at people, smile and then became a very vocal child. He babbles much more so than his sister.

Hopefully the early diagnosis will help get him on track then. Keep us posted, I always wonder how he is doing in addition to Emma.