Well hello. A wee bit tentative jumping into this, but giving it a whirl nonetheless.

My name's Corrinne, I have SPD and am a teacher in the DC Metro area who has had many children with sensory issues over the years. I'm trying to develop a specialty in sensory-responsive classrooms and am actively starting to pursue the finer points of it at this time.

I, myself, have many manifestations, mostly pretty textbook stuff (severe coordination issues, touch sensitivity on both ends, terrible texture avoidance, very insensitive to sounds, emotional problems, and so on and so on). I was tested for a kerblillion things over many years and only caught it a few years ago after having a parent of a nonverbal autistic student educate me on SPD. Then my neuro was all, "oh yeah! That fits!" Good that I paid him all that money, right?

Right.

In any case, I'm pretty comfortable with my status (I make a LOT of changes to daily life to deal with it...and am happy that way...even though my husband thinks I passed Quirkyville a LONG time ago and am well on my way to Looneyland! ) and have a strong knack for helping my students cope. So I'm reaching out to learn more from people who are experiencing the process (particularly those in my area) so I can hone my classroom theories even more. I'd love to write some articles for peer journals and am strongly considering grad school in special education. We'll see.

All I can tell you 100% for sure is that the entire concept fascinates me as an educator and it feels like the right place to carve a niche. So I appreciate you all and all the help I may be able to get. I hope to get to know you soon!

Hi Corrinne!

Can I ask for tips on talking to teachers about SPD? My son's teacher has "never heard of SPD" and seems to have a mental block against anything/everything I say. I don't know how to get through to her without overwhelming her with information.

Any tips you can share or suggestions that I can pass on to the teacher to help in the classroom?

I am wondering more and more if I'm not somewhere on the spectrum. Mostly I laugh it off, but then someone picks up a nail-file or I walk into a crowded, loud room or I can still feel my earrings after wearing them all day, and I wonder...

Does it help to have a diagnosis as an adult? what kind of changes have you made to your own life (if I may ask!?).

Welcome here and happy chatting!

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.

lol, from one quirky gal to another - thanks!

I'll try steps 1 & 2 and see how that goes. The OT we use is an in-school OT, but I'm really starting to doubt her - she has not spoken to the teacher about my son or SPD at all in the first term (we're in South Africa, and have 4 school terms per year that start in January). She's also really not great at giving feedback and when she says she'll do something, or contact us about something, she almost never does - so it's hard to trust her. She claimed she was going to run sessions for all the teachers to educate them on sensory issues and things they can do in class that would benefit ALL kids, not just those with SPD, but that still hasn't happened.

My 6 year old is Matthew. He's a little lithe thing with a great sense of humour, and he loves cars and gymnastics and board games (and irritating his 3 year old sister, and tickling his 1 year old sister).
With regards to SPD - he technically rather has SMD - sensory modulation disorder. The OT did the SIPT in January and likened his modulation difficulties to having floodgates open permanently.

He gets so overloaded in class - and with classrooms aimed at being stimulating and engaging (supposedly) for normal kids, to him it's a nightmare. Yesterday was the first day of term 2 and I was braced for a major meltdown after school - instead I got a note to say he bit someone. Basically someone pushed him out of the line (strike 1 being unexpected, unwelcome touch, strike 2 being percieved injustice as for some reason Matt thinks his place in line is insanely important) - and then when he asked the boy to let him back in his place, the other boy refused and wouldn't let him into the line (strike 3)... From what he said/how he told me what happened, I could tell he got overloaded very early yesterday and lashed out. He hasn't bit anyone since he was 2 and another girl kept biting him, so he bit her back, so this is not at all a normal thing for him.

Some days I really wonder if there's any way to truly help these kids succeed when not everyone is on board. As much as I can and DO do at home, I'm not at school, I can't watch for signs that he's overloading/heading for a meltdown and needs a break/redirection. There is really only so much I can do...

So he went off this morning with a note of apology(am I wrong for thinking the other boy should have to apologise as well?) and a treat for the boy he bit, and we practiced an apology to say to the teacher. So hopefully no notes today. They just undo me.