Hi Kate!

First off, you are awesome to be so patient with your child's teacher and consider educating her without overwhelming her. Having realistic expectations of your child's educator is really hard, but really important.

As I don't know your child's particular circumstances and the teacher, I'll just tell you how I was educated. I had several students with it over my first few years returning to teaching (04-09), but felt overwhelmed when presented with books like The Out of Sync Child, etc. Finally, a parent who also happened to be a teacher began dropping by short printouts. The first was a quick explanation of what SPD is with a two page list of symptoms attached. I'll be completely honest...reading the symptoms immediately caught me because I saw myself right away and was interested. But since then, this is the way I presented information to my coworkers. This is Step 1. If your teacher will not embrace even the easiest form of education, consider a new environment.

Every week or so, I'd get a new page with a short article, an idea from a peer site on a sensory activity. No pressure, very casual, just "here's something I came across if you have time to get to it." This is Step 2. Follow your gut, go with the flow, and if you find something that catches her attention, run with it. SPD is a whole new paradigm for teachers. We don't look at our classroom in terms of a perspective of sensory input. It takes time. But once you do...you realize how unbelievably central it is to EVERYTHING for every single child.

If you want to ask more specific questions...feel free to PM.

As for my adult diagnosis, I have taken immense comfort in the explanations and it has helped me to understand my students in a way most people don't get. Officially, I have had every diagnosis in the book: Spectrum, Epilepsy (I zone out very intensely sometimes), etc. At 30, an official diagnosis hasn't done much aside from validation. I have my quirks worked out and have surrounded myself with a strong support system of people who know that I have to have things a certain way or geek out a wee bit. I'm quirky.