Hi.

I am here because I suspect my 5 year old son has SPD (sensory seeking), and my husband and I are at our wit's end as to what to do with him and how to get treatment.

We first spoke with our GP, who feels we have valid concerns, and who tried to orient us towards specialists; however, apparently SPD is largely unknown in France. The first place the dr tried to send us, they refuse to treat children under 6 years old, because they deal mainly with learning disabilities and want them to know how to read & write. The second place refused at first to see us, because he was over 4 (!) but finally gave in - but only to tell us, "Aren't you glad he doesn't have Downs, and isn't mentally disabled? You should be happy."

We have an appt with a child psychologist April 11th, but I'm not expecting much from it... our next step is to return to our GP, let him know how we're faring, and then I guess go down the list of OTs in the area to see if someone has heard of it.

If it comes to it, I have a friend's sister in Reims who is an OT and has agreed to see him if we need her to (but it's an hour away, so closer is better).

All that said, if anyone has been there, done that, in France, PLEASE share!

As for the rest of the intro - we also have an older son, who is 7 (and likely SPD sensory-avoiding, but not to any extreme). My husband is French, I am American; I have lived in France for about 15 years now. Both boys are bilingual and go to French schools. I'm a web programmer, working from home, and my husband works for an airline, and I like to read in my spare time (spare time? ha!).

Hi moshpa,

welcome here, I'm also quite new. I have 1 confirmed SPDer who's 6 and my elder daughter who's turning 3 on the 24th Apr ticks a lot of SPD boxes so we suspect she's probably a SPuDdy as well

My youngest doesn't seem to have as many of the quirks the other two showed early on, but with 3kids jumping around I think I may just have missed something, so I'm keeping an eye on it.

I'm also in web - more design than programming, but I'm not lucky enough to work from home...

Also love to read but don't get to much these days!

If I can recommend it, try look up sensory diet activities and search through OTplan.com for ideas of what you can do with your son so long. Pinterest also has some fantastic pins for sensory bins and activities.
Apart from that, try get some of the available books - the most widely recommended seems to be the Out of sync child, and Sensational Kids. There's also Sensory Integration and the Child by J Ayres, who's the OT who first theorised SPD as a stand-alone disorder.

I've found "Answers to questions teachers ask about sensory integration" to be a great starting point. It's been very helpful in helping us map certain behaviours to the sensory systems our son has the most difficulties with. If you are able to do that it will also help you in searching for things you can do with him with regards to a sensory diet or motor skills.

Other than that, it could be worth going to see your OT friend even if it's just to get an initial assessment / report that you can take to a local OT or to the GP and will give them professional confirmation of what your son needs help with. May save you some time in the long run.

Also maybe try the compression wear/weighted vest or blanket? My son often asks to listen to my music - I like very specific stuff, a lot of it choral / classical, and I think he could be instinctively trying to use music therapeutically as in Integrated Listening Therapy and other programmes. That could be worth looking into as well as I think a few of the programmes have home programmes?

All the best... hoping things go better than you expect!