Hello all, My name is Ashley, I'm 23 divorced with a 2 1/2 yr old daughter with SPD. Been looking everywhere for a support group in my area that deals with SPD but I've had no luck..So I'm lucky I found this site..I was told my daughter had SPD about Feb of this year and have been working with Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) while we lived in Texas but due to my divorce me and my daughter moved to OK to be with my family and were trying to find the same services for her... My daughter also has night terrors and wakes up about 15-20 times a night... just looking to talk to other parents that are dealing with the same stuff as my family doesn't understand it..


Thanks

Ashley

I had a LOT of nightmares growing up and still do.

I invented my own Superheroine who could take my place in the nightmare and kick some nightmare tail. I still use this method (my Superheroine I created at 5 years old) to get through nightmares. Works wonders and sometimes the nightmares turn into dreams as I start to have fun versus being terrified.

It doesn't matter if her Superheroine or Superhero ends up being all powerful or not. Just be someone she can count on in her dreams to help her come out ahead in them. No matter how awesome a parent is, they rarely have Superpowers like being able to turn bad guys into bunny rabbits.

I wish there was away to help her with it.. it's very tiring waking up 15-20 times a night. Being a 23 yr old Single mother going through a divorce and basically doing this on my own is getting to me a bit.. Ive tried the Brushing and Joint compressions but that just sends her into a major meltdown to were she just cries and screams and throws stuff for hours on end... Trying to deal with all that with about 3-4 hours of sleep a night is exhausting.. I havent really been able to find someone who has a 2 yr old with as much stuff as she is going though...I really feel bad at times cause when she has her meltdowns i just feel like i cant take much more..

Start reading her Superhero stories (or make them up) just before she falls asleep in bed. The Superheros will start popping up in her dreams to protect her from her nightmare monsters until she is ready to create her own original Superhero.

Superman and Wonder Woman are fairly good for childhood heros.

If you go to a comic book store, they can find you some Superhero comics for kids. Pictures for the kids to see and easy text for you to read. As she grows up she can then learn to read on those comics.

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From my childhood I used cartoon examples to help create my own Superheroine that still protects my imagination to this day.

D&D TV series 1983
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_&_...TV_series)

Superfriends
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Friends

Scooby Doo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooby-Doo

These cartoons had the greatest positive impact on me. You can still find these on Cartoon Network occassionally. Some of these can be purchased on the internet.