In So Many Words

Title: The Ultimate Guide to Sensory Processing Disorder: Easy, Everyday Solutions to Sensory Challenges
Author: Roya Ostovar, Ph.D.
Length: 340 pages
Genre: Nonfiction
Publisher/Date: Sensory World, 2010
Source: Review copy

About the Book
When sensory processing is impaired, lights can be too bright, sounds too loud, and clothes can actually be painful on the skin. It can be practically impossible for children to tolerate their day, let alone learn in a classroom. In this book, with a forward by best-selling special-needs author Carol Kranowitz, neuropsychologist Dr. Roya Ostovar helps parents to help their children. She provides clear explanations, up-to-date research, step-by-step strategies, and case examples that bring her proven methods to life.

My Thoughts
I have to admit, I approached this review unsure whether we needed another book about sensory processing disorder. Many of us have gained a fairly good understanding of the topic from books such as The Out-of-Sync Child by Carol Stock Kranowitz and Sensational Kids by Lucy Jane Miller, among others, and I questioned what this book could add to the discussion.

But this book is actually written from a new perspective on the topic, as we learn in the foreword by Carol Kranowitz herself. Dr. Ostovar is a neuropsychologist who has worked in this area for over 14 years and looks at the disorder from a neurobiological basis. As Carol shares, “I rejoiced at this news, as many medical and mental health professionals are still unaware of the causes and effects of sensory processing issues.”

In her introduction, Dr. Ostovar breaks down the layout of the book and tells us her main takeaway message:

In the end, however, all I would like you to know is that SPD is a real diagnosis and disorder that is neurobiologically based, and that children with SPD can be treated with impressive results.

Following the introduction, there are seven chapters in the book:

1. What Is SPD?
2. What It’s Like to Have SPD
3. Understanding SPD as a Form of Stress
4. Helping Your Child Every Day and at Special Events
5. Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment—Where to Begin
6. How to Help Create a Sensory-Friendly Classroom, and
7. The Difference between SPD and Look-Alike Disorders

Each chapter covers its topic well and includes many examples of what to look for as well as suggestions of how to help. In addition, there are two appendices covering typical developmental stages in children and developmental milestones for children.

I was especially fascinated by Chapter 3, which suggests that we can better understand SPD by viewing it as an ongoing and chronic form of stress. “Like stress,” Dr. Ostovar tells us, “SPD causes physiological changes or abnormalities that show themselves and are reported based on how the individual experiences them on a daily basis.”

Dr. Ostovar clearly states that more research is needed into the physiological and psychoneuroimmunological processes driving SPD, but recommends that parents and teachers keep this analogy in mind when dealing with a child who has SPD. Untreated stress, (and, theoretically, untreated SPD) can lead to low self-esteem, isolation and vulnerability for depression and can also negatively impact daily living, cognition and behavior.

It’s interesting that behavior is listed as one of the areas affected, since people are often focused on behavior as being the main problem. Back in chapter 2, Dr. Ostovar points out that “the children’s atypical behaviors and responses are the manifestations of the disorder, and not the disorder itself.”

And in connection with the discussion on SPD as a form a stress, she states, “Behavior is the part of stress that connects everything together—the physical symptoms of stress (physiology), … your perception of the stressful event (subjective experience), and the way you solve problems or think while under stress (cognition).” This all makes so much sense to me, and I look forward to seeing more research on the topic in the future.

Although I have focused primarily on one chapter, I can tell you that this entire book is extremely well-written and includes a lot of practical information along with the foundational explanations. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who lives or works with children who have SPD, either by itself or along with another disorder. It is available directly from Future Horizons, where you can use the code INTERRUPTED to receive 15% off and free shipping in the continental US.

Note: This is Book #48 of my 2011 Reads (master list here). I received a review copy of this book for free, and all opinions and comments are my own. The Future Horizons discount code is an affiliate link.

I’m not sure exactly why, but I haven’t made very much progress on my Fall Into Reading challenge. My list had 20 books on it, 17 fiction and 3 non-fiction, and so far I have only read 3 of them (plus a couple of other books that weren’t on the list). Normally, I would have read over 20 books in a month with no problem, so I’m quite intrigued by this.

Is it because just committing to doing something makes me not want to do it? I think I have so many demands on me that my creating one just for a blogging challenge makes me want to rebel against it, which is kind of funny since it’s my own goal.

I have also gotten into a habit of watching TV to wind down more than I used to, lessening the number of books I am reading. This may be a sign of my stress level, that I am not even up to the mental challenge of reading, preferring instead to lose myself in the world of old seasons of Monk or online episodes of Parenthood and The Apprentice.

For whatever reason, I don’t think I will make my goal. But that’s okay. Anyway, here’s where I’m at so far:

Out of 17 fiction books:

• 3 read
• 2 couldn’t get into and did not finish
• 4 checked out but not started yet
• 4 on hold at library
• 4 not available at library

Out of 3 non-fiction books:

• 2 still not finished
• 1 on hold at library

So, I’ll see how it goes for the rest of the fall season. This does tend to be the most stressful time of year for me, with all the demands of the holidays as well as the ongoing struggles Michael has at school and my need to both support and advocate for him.

For those that have been following my posts on the Tony Attwood conference, I will be continuing them very soon. The last week has been consumed by preparation for team meetings at my son’s school, and my writing time has gone to that instead of to my blog.

Fall Into Reading is an annual reading challenge led by Kristina at Callapidder Days. The main requirements to participate are to create a list of books you would like to read (or finish reading), post your list at the beginning of fall and post your results at the end of the season.

Over the last week, the stress that I am dealing with at work has really caught up with me, and my ability to focus on other things has been limited. Luckily, my wonderful husband took my son to his parents for the weekend, and I was able to enjoy some solitude and even get in some writing time.

In fact, I actually scheduled my Try This Tuesday post at 5MFSN ahead of deadline for the first time in weeks; usually I am sitting down to finish it up after Michael goes to bed on Monday night! This week I am talking about choosing therapies, as a follow-up to last week’s post about supplemental therapies.

Life is always a balancing act between all the things you want to do and all the things you have to do, and I’m teetering on the edge a bit right now.

On paper, it looks like a blogging break would give me a lot more time for all the other “stuff” in my life, but I’m not sure I can give it up and maintain my sanity. So I am still trying to find the way to do it all, including spending the time on my home and family that they need and keeping up with all of Michael’s care and other household stuff.

My routines have been going pretty well, so I’m going to streamline my list this week. What is going to be more important to me this week is figuring out a schedule that will work so that I know when I am going to be doing all this stuff.

My To Do List:

FOR BLOGGING -

Try This Tuesday for next week.

Guest post for Writing to Serve. (Started this, but not done yet.)

Update on Read Together challenge.

Continue with Problogger challenges. (Still planning to do this one, just haven’t gotten a chance to get back to it yet.)

Go through folder of bookmarked post ideas/things to check out.

FOR MICHAEL –

Get notes together for upcoming IEP meeting.

Finish paperwork for visit to DAN! doctor.

Take Michael to buy birthday present for best friend.

Work on summer childcare/work arrangements.

Work on end of year thank yous.

WITH BOB -

Decide about hard drive backup.

Review and update budget.

Go over schedule for the next week.

Work on photo book for Sally.

Start planning trip to Illinois.

For more To-Do Tuesday, visit Crazy Adventures in Parenting.

I can’t believe how fast this week has gone! My routines are still going good, but the miscellaneous tasks just keep piling up. I may be getting a couple of days on my own to try to catch up a bit soon, which would be wonderful, especially since I had a bit of a meltdown on Sunday evening thinking about all the stuff that needs to be done.

A friend of mine reminded me that I usually get pretty stressed out this time of year, what with IEP meetings coming up and getting summer plans in place. There are also a couple of big autism-related events coming up. Once we get past the next month, things should settle down a bit for me.

Another part of the problem is that I take so much on my shoulders – trying to keep the house together since I only work part-time, handling all the paperwork and bills, researching and advocating for Michael, managing everyone’s schedule – and I don’t take the time to share it with my husband so we can tackle things as a team.

I actually got to talking about this a bit for this week’s Try This Tuesday on Nurturing Your Relationships. (Pop on over to 5 Minutes for Special Needs for more about that topic.)

So my biggest goal for this week is to spend a few minutes each day talking with Bob about our schedules and our priorities so that we are on the same page with what’s going on and what needs to be done.

As for the rest of the list, I’ll do as much as I can!

My To Do List:

DAILY –

Morning routine.

Evening routine.

Blogging routine.

WEEKLY –

Go through ASD HOPE pending items.

Check for library books that are due or on hold.

Check alternate email accounts.

Catch up on filing.

BLOGGING -

Update links on the rest of the posts imported from Blogger. UPDATE: I can’t believe I finally got this done!!

Research blog backup options for WordPress blogs.

Post update on reading challenges.

Write Try This Tuesday for next week.

READ TOGETHER CHALLENGE –

Read with Michael in the morning.

Read Little House books at bedtime.

Go to library with Michael.

MISCELLANEOUS -

Review school notes and email thoughts to team for IEP/BIP.

Make table cards and name tags for Mother-to-Mother Luncheon.

Follow up on approval for STAP.

Work on arranging childcare for this summer.

Research computer hard drive backup options.

Clean and grocery shop for stamp party Friday night.

Ask Bob to select photos for photo book.

Once photos are selected, upload them and finish the project.

Have Bob call stupid credit card company who won’t talk to me despite the fact that I am the one who makes sure they get paid every month.

Remember that security questions are for Bob and they don’t really care where MY dad was born.

For more To-Do Tuesday, visit Crazy Adventures in Parenting.

What a weekend! I couldn’t find childcare for part of this week, so I was supposed to work both Saturday and Sunday to make up for the fact that I can’t go in today or tomorrow. But I had periodontal surgery on Wednesday (my second one) and by Saturday was really swelling up and feeling uncomfortable.

I got through the four hours on Saturday and even posted a very brief Saturday 9 post, but then just came home and slept. Sunday morning I felt even more swollen and in more pain. I worked for an hour and then gave up and came home, after calling the dentist to complain. I couldn’t even sleep because it hurt too bad.

Well, he called in a prescription and I am slowly starting to feel a little bit better. I’m glad because today we are going to Michael’s elementary school for a tour with the principal; it will be good for him to look around on his own and we will take pictures to make a little book for school.

I can tell Michael is really nervous about school because he has started twirling his hair a lot, which he hasn’t done since he stopped going to in June. He is also now telling me that he doesn’t want to go and is just going to say “blah, blah, blah” the whole time we are there. Guess I need to come up with a good motivator for this one, even though I really just want to come home and go back to bed.

Our new TSS may come over later, so that would be a big help. The last couple of days have been so frustrating, and I don’t really feel up to playing all day today.

…my head explodes from all the stuff swirling around in there right now??

I know, I know, I’ve been tagged for the What Ifs by Livin’ Life – I am working on them! So much is going on around here, what with Little Guy’s 6th birthday this past Monday, including a small celebration with his best friend at Chuck E. Cheese’s, plus an upcoming sleepover here with his three younger cousins (all girls) this coming Saturday. We are in full planning/cleaning mode, as I am sure you can imagine.

This week I have been doing the Ultimate Blog Party thing and finding new people to check out. I do plan to share some of those next week and look forward to hearing who other people have found. Some other topics are:

• What I’ve Been Reading (there have been two novels in the last couple of weeks that really brought out similar issues for me, and both made me cry – in a good way)
• What I’ve Found (Happy King really wants me to post on what items have turned up from my previous post about What I’ve Lost)
• The ALERT program we are introducing with Little Guy with the help of his OT
• The awesome GFCF Monster Cookies that everyone loves and why we need them in addition to a birthday cake this weekend

I am also trying to figure out this whole Feedburner thing. I haven’t seen my last couple of posts come through in my Google Reader, which leads me to wonder if I did something wrong or if people have to re-subscribe to get the updates. Of course, if someone who uses a reader doesn’t get this post, they won’t know a problem exists anyway

But first, the What Ifs. Hopefully tomorrow!

Don’t you love it when the house is quiet? Happy King (my husband) is at work and the Little Guy (my son) is out with his TSS, so I am left with a peacefully quiet home for a couple of hours. Of course, as soon as the door closed behind them, my mind started racing about what to do first…. I should really tackle some housework that never seems to get done when I am getting interrupted every five minutes, or I should get out my to do list of people to call and paperwork to take care of for my various roles in life, or I should clean out a closet or do some other big project that keeps getting put off, or maybe I should take advantage of the time to rest or do something purely for fun.

I have to consciously stop myself because I know from experience that if I try to randomly race through a bunch of different tasks, I will just end up feeling more stressed out and even resentful when they come back home and need my full attention once more. So I make a plan and compromise with myself by doing all the dishes that are in the sink (the ones on the stove can wait for Happy King to do them tonight), picking up just the obvious stuff in the living room, watching about 15 minutes of TV and then coming upstairs to the computer. I have made a couple of calls but otherwise am using the rest of my time to browse around online and just enjoy the quiet.

God is so good – after a year with several changes of staff and even two months with no one in place, The Little Guy now has a wonderful TSS who is smart, understanding, caring and dependable! We are learning from each other – her from my experience as a parent and me from her professional training and enthusiasm for the job. While I’ve certainly learned that nothing is set in stone, I feel really good about where the next few months could take us.