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Trying to Figure Out What, If Anything is Wrong

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  • Registered Users Posts: 14,949 ✭✭✭✭Kintarō Hattori


    So has anyone here who has a child with sensory processing disorder / severe speech delay comment on the below:

    The missus was telling me today that the speech therapist was saying our daughter can't colour a picture. My partner was saying that when getting dressed she gives up trying to get her trousers on.

    I'm not sure what to make of that. Is it a lack of an attention span? Gives up easily if something seems like a hassle? I know she can take her sandals and boots off and she does try taking her coat/vests off.... though I tend to still do that. I must get her to do more of these small things herself.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,447 ✭✭✭Calhoun


    So has anyone here who has a child with sensory processing disorder / severe speech delay comment on the below:

    The missus was telling me today that the speech therapist was saying our daughter can't colour a picture. My partner was saying that when getting dressed she gives up trying to get her trousers on.

    I'm not sure what to make of that. Is it a lack of an attention span? Gives up easily if something seems like a hassle? I know she can take her sandals and boots off and she does try taking her coat/vests off.... though I tend to still do that. I must get her to do more of these small things herself.

    Well with an autism diagnosis attention can be a very big thing, normally occupational therapy is what is used to help focus the attention more. I know this is a very dumbed down version of it as there are kids with ADHD and Autism but just giving a general feedback.

    When you describe your situation, how do i put this what is unique about it that differs from a normal child? as you have described it, sounds like normal kid behavior.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,029 ✭✭✭yellow hen


    So has anyone here who has a child with sensory processing disorder / severe speech delay comment on the below:

    The missus was telling me today that the speech therapist was saying our daughter can't colour a picture. My partner was saying that when getting dressed she gives up trying to get her trousers on.

    I'm not sure what to make of that. Is it a lack of an attention span? Gives up easily if something seems like a hassle? I know she can take her sandals and boots off and she does try taking her coat/vests off.... though I tend to still do that. I must get her to do more of these small things herself.

    Could be lots of things or could be nothing. If I had to guess, I'd say dyspraxia. Honestly though, she sounds like she's doing great with parents who are very invested in her. Try not to worry too much. Visit an occupational therapist and you'll get a much clearer picture.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,175 ✭✭✭✭fits


    So has anyone here who has a child with sensory processing disorder / severe speech delay comment on the below:

    The missus was telling me today that the speech therapist was saying our daughter can't colour a picture. My partner was saying that when getting dressed she gives up trying to get her trousers on.

    I'm not sure what to make of that. Is it a lack of an attention span? Gives up easily if something seems like a hassle? I know she can take her sandals and boots off and she does try taking her coat/vests off.... though I tend to still do that. I must get her to do more of these small things herself.

    Sounds normal to me!


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,949 ✭✭✭✭Kintarō Hattori


    So almost a year on and wow, what an improvement we've seen with her. Lockdown 2020 was crap for most but friggin' amazing for my little one.

    She started talking towards the end of March 2020 and is now yapping away in both Polish and English. She even likes to teach me some Polish along the way. We had been bringing her to Polish speech therapy and eventually when she was assesed by the HSE she was found to be inline with where her age should be.

    We were concerned as to how pre-school would go as when I had started this thread she had tried creche twice and it was a disaster. I specifically wrote that when other kids would sing, she'd get very upset. Turns out in pre-school she's most likely to be the first one up to sing

    She puts on her coat/scarf & hat, takes off her shes, pulls down her trousers for the potty. I need to get her now to do her t-shirt/top herself

    For the most part her sensory processing issues aren't really a problem. We got a diet from Sensory Kids on the Longmile Road and have been following that as much as we can. We bring her to the playground as much as possible, she's a big fan of her scooter, has started riding a proper bike. I have music on a lot of the time and vary the type of music/volume. We use playdough a lot. There's plenty of strong hugs and 'rough' play.

    As I say, she's not really having any issues, other than missing her pre-school but any tips on working with SPD (can you have mild SPD?) would be appreciated. Thankfully it doesn't really seem to be causing any issues.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 4,029 ✭✭✭yellow hen


    Hard to recommend sensory activities without knowing where she has difficulties OP. From your last post, she sounds like any other child of her age. In fact my near 5yr old who I have zero concerns about wouldn't even put on her own top...stuff like that comes with age. Its certainly not something I'd be worried about. If you can be more specific about issues we might be able to help. She sounds fabulous by the way.


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,949 ✭✭✭✭Kintarō Hattori


    yellow hen wrote: »
    Hard to recommend sensory activities without knowing where she has difficulties OP. From your last post, she sounds like any other child of her age. In fact my near 5yr old who I have zero concerns about wouldn't even put on her own top...stuff like that comes with age. Its certainly not something I'd be worried about. If you can be more specific about issues we might be able to help. She sounds fabulous by the way.

    Thank you for your kind comments Yellow Hen. In terms of what we see:

    Transitions- She's not very good at moving from one situation to the next. A great example of this is when watching TV. You have to tell her well ahead that after say 2 or 3 cartoons we'll be turning it off. If the TV is switched off without warning it's a huge drama. Once you coach her that a change is coming, then she's mostly fine with the transition

    Circles- she loves going in circles, whether that's being spun on the office chair, running around your legs, the carousel in the playground etc

    She's getting better but socially she can be a bit awkward. She wants to play with other kinds but doesn't really know how to approach them and so typically just walks up to them and smiles, looks at them but doesn't say much

    When she was younger children singing would send her into a meltdown but thankfully that's changed and she's likely to be the one singing. Oddly when she was small she didn't mind emergency sirens but hated the hand blender or hand dryers. She still wouldn't be fond of noises like that but she can tolerate them much better

    One thing kids with SPD often do is to lie flat on the ground when they become overwhelmed. She used to do this but it's becoming far less common

    If something in the moment is exciting, she can easily become over excited by the moment. It's not as a result of something casual but more so if something is genuinely exciting. I guess it's almost as if she looses the run of herself

    She would have been clumsy when younger and fall over somewhat easily but she's gotten much better and her core strength while perhaps lower than normal is getting stronger. She's less likely to fall and loves the playground, swinging, rope bridges, the climbing frame etc

    I think her fine motor skills while getting better are not quite where they should be. She's not great with Lego bricks or dressing her dolls for example. On the flip side she's getting better with pens and loves to draw cats

    Personally I see a little girl who is content, loving, very clever and loves to experience new things. She has some trouble coping with certain situations but it's mostly manageable from what I see. Of course I have no real experience of this other than her and I want to make sure I'm doing all I can for her.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,447 ✭✭✭Calhoun


    Have you got your official diagnosis as SPD? or does she have it and autism? If its just SPD seems to be allot more manageable, its not idea but as you say you guys are dealing with it great.

    Our daughter had similar symptoms to yours but not exactly the same she had hyperextension or tension and was basically like you say un-coordinated and clumsy and she had OT sessions that helped her allot.


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,949 ✭✭✭✭Kintarō Hattori


    Calhoun wrote: »
    Have you got your official diagnosis as SPD? or does she have it and autism? If its just SPD seems to be allot more manageable, its not idea but as you say you guys are dealing with it great.

    Our daughter had similar symptoms to yours but not exactly the same she had hyperextension or tension and was basically like you say un-coordinated and clumsy and she had OT sessions that helped her allot.

    Not from the HSE. We had brought her to Sensory Kids on the Longmile Road and they said, yep she had some SPD issues. We got a sensory diet and have been following that. We had been bringing her to a Polish speech therapist too but have long since stopped that as she's yapping away in both languages now.
    We've had OT and speech therapy through the HSE but have been waiting ages now to see a psychologist. Both the HSE OT and physiotherapist never mentioned SPD so we'll see what's said when we eventually get to see the psychologist.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,447 ✭✭✭Calhoun


    Not from the HSE. We had brought her to Sensory Kids on the Longmile Road and they said, yep she had some SPD issues. We got a sensory diet and have been following that. We had been bringing her to a Polish speech therapist too but have long since stopped that as she's yapping away in both languages now.
    We've had OT and speech therapy through the HSE but have been waiting ages now to see a psychologist. Both the HSE OT and physiotherapist never mentioned SPD so we'll see what's said when we eventually get to see the psychologist.

    I see they seem to specialize in that disorder, have you looked at private clinics who can do a full multi-disciplinary assessment on your daughter?

    The only reason i say it is more so you get a full diagnosis as if she is on the spectrum some of the items might not become pronounced to later on. It can be expensive though we got it done or 1K.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 14,949 ✭✭✭✭Kintarō Hattori


    Almost a year on, it's time for an update.

    Naturally the pandemic caused a delay in the Assessment of Needs being carried out. Occupational therapy and speech therapy had been done pre-pandemic but the psychological assessment was delayed. We got onto the HSE last year and her assessment was done last year with the report arriving early this year.

    Bearing in mind that the first two parts of the assessment were carried out when she was much younger, the report reccomends that she needs intervention for both speech and her physical elements. She has however come on light years since then and is yapping away in both English and Polish. Her ability to repeat complicated words with little mispronunciation amazes me. The psychologist has stated that her verbal skills are above average so that somewhat flies in the face of what the report has said.

    When she was seen by the occupational therapist I'd say her core strength was lacking but it has come on leaps and bounds. She's doing gymnastics once a week now and her tutor has said she has excellent upper body strength, more so than others. He did say she's a little lacking waist down but that it will come on as they continue their training. She loves the playground, she cycles and scoots and generally loves horseplay at home.

    The psychologists report is the one that had me most concerned for throwing something up. On one hand it has and on the other it's also provided some relief. To cut to the chase, they found that academically she should be fine to go through school. She loves learning and sometimes her memory just astounds me. They did highlight that she has a bit of difficulty with her working memory but that we can support her with this and it shouldn't be much of an issue.

    Her area of weakness is with the social aspect. We can see this when we're out with her. She doesn't take too much notice of other kids and when she does, it's a little awkward. She'll try to insert herself into whatever play is going on but she doesn't say anything, she wouldn't ask if she can join in. It's almost as if she doesn't know how to interact with other children. I think the psychologist was saying that things like turn taking, sharing and the general social aspect of going to primary school may present challenges to her. I was told that it's important to tell her future teacher that when transitioning from one task to another, she's not being defiant in how long it takes her to do so, it's simply that she's so caught up in what she's doing that it's almost as if she doesn't hear the request.

    Overall though I'm relieved. Her speech has come along, to the point that she's above average in that area. Physically she's so much stronger and more active than when we had started down this path. She's loving, a little overly attached to you at times, funny, keen to learn as much as she can but yes, socially awkward. I'll throw my hands up and admit that I was socially awkward when I was younger and still am to this day, though to a much lesser degreee. With good support, especially from Mam and Dad we can hopefully make this have a minimal impact on her life.

    Post edited by Kintarō Hattori on


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    The problem with the new AON system is that they won't actually diagnose anything.

    OP, i had to go private with my 2 youngest girls and I'm glad I did. They are both autistic and I know it wouldn't have got picked up by the HSE as girls can present quite differently from boys.

    I researched. Thoroughly. Then went armed with knowledge to the assessment not willing to be fobbed off.

    I recommend Edward Joyce in Galway if you are thinking of it. He's more affordable than most, is very clued up on girls, is ex NEPS and CAHMS and actually retired but still doing private assessments since the HSE is so dire.



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