My son was in 1st grade, 6 1/2 years old. I had never heard of SPD, the early signs seem obvious now in hindsight.

My son was colicky from 1-4 months old. I remember sitting in the rocking chair when hubby got home from work, baby crying and me crying! He hated tummy time, screamed and screamed.

He hit all his milestones on the later end (just barely in the normal range). Rolled over once around 6 months old then nothing for weeks or months. He crawled at 10 1/2 months, first steps at 15 months, then not much until 16 months. Didn't say many words until after 3 years old. Luckily I started sign language with him at 10 months old, he first signed back at 12 months old. Did that until he was almost 3. Highly recommend it--SPD baby or non-SPD baby! I saw the meltdowns my older nephew (2 at the time) had because his parents couldn't understand what he wanted (also had speech delay like my son).

I really wish I'd known about the SPD before I started potty training. I was so frustrated. Started training around 2 1/2 years old because that's when "the books" say to start. Tried every trick there is. Rewards worked for a day, but then they stopped working. Tried bare bottom, but he just would look at the floor and say, "Uh oh, pee-pee." and I'd have a lot of cleaning to do. He treated Pull-ups like diapers. After his baby brother arrived, I tried saying that diapers were for babies and big boys wore underwear. No luck. I really think that he either didn't feel the sensation of needing to go, or didn't connect that feeling with needing to use the potty. He was ~2 weeks from turning 4 when it finally clicked with him (accident-free about 96% of the time).

The sun would go in his eyes when he was in his carseat in the car and he would scream like he was being stabbed. Clipping his nails was torture for him and us. He didn't like his hair washed--had to speed wash through it while he cried. He hated hot food. I'd cook his dinner then put his food in the freezer for 5 minutes. He was always "shy" and very slow to warm up in new situations. Needed to watch the other kids first before deciding if he'd join in. Clung to me.

He was a terrible sleeper from birth to age 9 years. As a baby he wouldn't sleep unless he was touching me in some way. I breastfed him for a year and he never would take a pacifier, I was his pacifier. Of course everyone assumed i was spoiling him. As he got older, it would take him longer and longer to fall asleep. His worst was around 6-7 years old (around diagnosis time). A good night was an hour for him to fall asleep, bad night 3-4 hours. He would mostly stay asleep once he was sleeping, but getting him to sleep was awful! Things that helped him: routine, CD of ocean waves (worked as a white noise), joint compressions, weighted blanket...and therapy and maturity played a role too. By the time he was 8, it took him only an hour. By the time he was 9, it took an average of 30 minutes. He turned 10 in May and it takes him 15-20 minutes tops. He doesn't need the CD or the joint compressions anymore, and uses the weighted blanket only twice a week.

It was his Kindergarten teacher who had concerns at the spring parent-teacher conference. She said he was still parallel playing and not really interacting with the other kids. They brought in the school social worker to model behavior for him. Over the the summer he was evaluated for autism, but they said he didn't fit enough of the criteria. Kept searching for answers. School started an IEP, including OT and motor breaks. As a freelance editor, I edited the revised edition of The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun. I realized that the activities they were doing at school were the same ones suggested in the book--and they were helping him. So I brought him to an OT center and he was diagnosed with SPD (and later anxiety).