My son Sebastian is receiving services through Early On because he was not chewing food. He would suck on things until they were soft enough to swallow, or he would just swallow things whole. He also would not eat any pureed type foods. He would refuse anything off of a spoon.

He has had one apt with the OT and is making great progress. She gave us some things to do at home and it is working really well for him, he has actually started to chew! He will still swallow things whole if he can, but he will chew if he has too now, where as before he would just spit out the food if he could not get it down. He has also started eating oatmeal again after refusing it for the last 6 months.

I had a meeting with his Early On service co-ordinator today and she was very pleased with his progress, but she is concerned that he may have some sensory integration issues.

He not only puts everything in his mouth, but will actually eat pretty much anything he gets his hands on (except for new foods I want him to try, of course) He can eat the spine off of a board book within minutes. The other day I found half a packing peanut in his diaper! He always has bits of paper or other crazy things in his poop.

When he is outside he will eat grass and dandelions and is actually having allergic reactions to them.
Just within the last few weeks he has started putting his hands over his ears. He will do it when he is upset, like if you tell him no or if he is pitching a fit, and he does it when his baby sister is crying. He will also do it when he is just playing.

I did not think much of it at first, I thought it was just a new thing he discovered, but he is doing it so often that family members were commenting on it this weekend. He also pushes really had when he is doing it.

As far as his disposition, he is normally a very happy kid. He is very extreme though. When he is happy he is really happy and when he is upset he will have major screaming fits. Pretty much everyone that sees him, comments on how ‘busy’ he is. He does not miss anything, we have to put everything up or he will get into it. He has to be on, or in everything.

He has another apt with the OT on Monday. Our service co-ordinator wants me to go over everything with her. I just waned to get some feedback from you before the apt.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the novel!

Hi Katey:

It sounds as if Sebastian has a wonderful OT and early childhood intervention coordinator. You must be so pleased with his feeding progress :)

Sebastian may have some sensory issues as you mentioned in your post. It sounds as if he is seeking out oral input (to the extreme!) by eating some inappropriate things. He may me hyposensitve orally if he is eating spines off books and packing peanuts. Yes, Sebastian may be auditorally hypersensitive (to sound) in the way he reacts to some noises. These can be signs of sensory issues, but we all have some "sensory quirks." I have to chew my gum for 3-4 hours to get in some good heavy jaw work. Some people have to tap their pen on a desk or bounce their heel up and down when they are sitting to get their "input" in.

I suggest asking your OT about doing a Sensory Profile, which is a sensory integration questionnaire for parents. It asks questions about how your child functions from day to day from a sensory prospective. I also recommend reading The Out of Sync Child by Carol Cranowitz. It is a quick read with good information about sensory integration. Perhaps your OT can address sensory activities into Sebastian's therapy goals? I hope this helps :)

Robynne

Thanks for you input. His OT does seem really good he just loves her. She was only seeing him for the chewing issues, which are pretty much resolved. I will talk to her about the sensory issues and see if she thinks he needs anything exta. I will pick up that book, thanks again.