Hi

As a fellow OT, I hope you can shed some light. Maiya is 3 and still has gerd, lots of issues. She definitely has sensory processing disorder (especially to touch ). We have worked hard and she is doing better with mouth sensitivity, and she now will walk on grass, sand, and clothing is less of an issue (still an issue) I am happy to say she recently started liking finger painting and playdo (we do these sensory activities daily at home). Toothbrushing has come a long way and we are now using a chew chew for oral desensitization, which seems to be working.


Maiya stood in the tub until she was 2. I thought it was a sitting reflux thing, but now i realize it was likely more sensory. Now she will accept to sit and splash but hair washing is insane. She freaks out. I can only wash her hair once a week at best and the craddle cap from improper rinsing is awful. I purchased the scoop that prevents water from going in the eyes but she still looses her mind. SHe says its the ears now. I think it is just the feeling of water trickling down her ears that makes her completely loose it

It is dangerous now. She is strong and just jumps out of the tub, all full of soap. My mother washes my nieces hair, when they lie back on the counter . Grandpa holds a cloth on their eyes and the child holds cloths on its ears. Funny, how they think this is normal for the nieces but consider my kids tantrums as spoiled behaviour (but that is a whole other issue)
I am just not sure what to try next

Maiya had her first successful haircut last month. Of course, she went in with a wet head and that was ok. I am hesitant to get the hairdresser to wash her hair, cause that might make the experience bad and i dont want to wait three years for another haircut. I also dont want to have to go there every week just to get her hair washed!


As an OT, I had no idea how hard basic ADLs could be with children with SPD. It is hell i tell you. She looks so unruly,and unkempt- i am ashamed.

ANy ideas for my next shampoo with her would be a godsend.


johanne OTR

Hi Johanne my fellow OT:
It sounds like you have been doing a wonderful job helping Maiya normalize sensation from an oral-motor perspective. It also sounds like you have been facilitating great sensory activities at home to help with upper and lower extremity tactile hypersensitivity:smt041 . It is SO hard to be mom and therapist. I can feed any other child but my OWN…lol! You know what they say…the shoemaker’s kids don’t have shoes <giggle>.
Another issue you are dealing with is your parents. They are bathing your nieces and nephews and you are concerned with the way they may be comparing Maiya to the others. Medicine has become so progressive, and now we have a diagnosis for almost everything whereas several years ago our parents just dealt with kids who had special needs without diagnoses or good medical direction. It is our job as medical professionals to educate as best as we can, even though sometimes SPD is a diagnosis not always recognized by physicians due to lack of research. We know it exists and there are methods and techniques to help our patients adapt.
Now back to Maiya’s biggest sensory challenge…the dreaded bath and hair washing. I honestly do not recommend taking her to the stylist weekly to have her hair washed. This may address the behavioral aspect of the SPD, but you are merely putting a Band-Aid on the physiological or sensory issue. Maiya’s sensory receptors are on active alert and need modification. I do not know if you have tried the Wilbarger brushing protocol with Maiya, but this is where I would start. If you have, I would go back and perform an intensive regimen of brushing with a soft corn brush every 3 hours during the day, 3 days prior to a hair shampoo. In fact, if successful with the brushing below the head, I would attempt brushing her scalp with a cradle cap treatment. Perhaps you can then work up to the dreaded shampoo. Think about Maiya’s receptors under the hair follicles…they are on fire. If you can do some Wilbarger and normalize the sensation, hair washing may not be the fiasco it typically is. You can do the same with Maiya’s bath. Wilbarger protocol to the body right before the bath should help to normalize the sensation of the pressure receptors that innervate those nerves, which get those muscles moving in the fight or flight response.
I have had a lot of success with the Wilbarger protocol, particularly with kids who have the bathing phobia. Johanne, you are done an amazing job getting Maiya where she is now. Keep up the great work being mom and therapist, as hard as it is to wear both hats. Write back with questions.

Sincerely.

Robynne

Hi Johanne my fellow OT:
It sounds like you have been doing a wonderful job helping Maiya normalize sensation from an oral-motor perspective. It also sounds like you have been facilitating great sensory activities at home to help with upper and lower extremity tactile hypersensitivity:smt041 . It is SO hard to be mom and therapist. I can feed any other child but my OWN…lol! You know what they say…the shoemaker’s kids don’t have shoes <giggle>.

Another issue you are dealing with is your parents. They are bathing your nieces and nephews and you are concerned with the way they may be comparing Maiya to the others. Medicine has become so progressive, and now we have a diagnosis for almost everything whereas several years ago our parents just dealt with kids who had special needs without diagnoses or good medical direction. It is our job as medical professionals to educate as best as we can, even though sometimes SPD is a diagnosis not always recognized by physicians due to lack of research. We know it exists and there are methods and techniques to help our patients adapt.

Now back to Maiya’s biggest sensory challenge…the dreaded bath and hair washing. I honestly do not recommend taking her to the stylist weekly to have her hair washed. This may address the behavioral aspect of the SPD, but you are merely putting a Band-Aid on the physiological or sensory issue. Maiya’s sensory receptors are on active alert and need modification. I do not know if you have tried the Wilbarger brushing protocol with Maiya, but this is where I would start. If you have, I would go back and perform an intensive regimen of brushing with a soft corn brush every 3 hours during the day, 3 days prior to a hair shampoo. In fact, if successful with the brushing below the head, I would attempt brushing her scalp with a cradle cap treatment. Perhaps you can then work up to the dreaded shampoo. Think about Maiya’s receptors under the hair follicles…they are on fire. If you can do some Wilbarger and normalize the sensation, hair washing may not be the fiasco it typically is. You can do the same with Maiya’s bath. Wilbarger protocol to the body right before the bath should help to normalize the sensation of the pressure receptors that innervate those nerves, which get those muscles moving in the fight or flight response.
I have had a lot of success with the Wilbarger protocol, particularly with kids who have the bathing phobia. Johanne, you are done an amazing job getting Maiya where she is now. Keep up the great work being mom and therapist, as hard as it is to wear both hats. Write back with questions.


Sincerely.

Robynne