SPD – Sensory Processing Disorder – Part 1

About SPD

Sensory Processing refers to the nervous system receiving information from your various senses and transmitting that to behavioural or motor responses. Every action and interaction requires Sensory Processing. SPD or Sensory Processing Disorder is a condition where these transmissions fail to respond correctly. A way of saying this, is that an individual with SPD will receive certain sensory information and be unable to process it correctly.

A little while ago, my son was diagnosed with SPD. The thing is, as I become more acquainted with the material surrounding the condition; I realised that I grew up with this disorder myself.

As a child, there were things I struggled with, some of these things I still struggle with now:

• Loud noises and crowded places.
• Motion sickness/vertigo despite being unable to find medical reasoning.
• Extreme discomfort with certain textures around certain areas of the body.
• Sensitivity to light, smell and taste.
• Inability to interact with or swallow foods of certain texture.
• Clumsiness.
• Anxiety, depression and stress induced by environmental factors.

There are more symptoms I could list and there are many more I don’t have or some my son has and I do not and vice-versa and so on. It’s a complicated and diverse disorder. Too complicated to cover in one post I feel, so I’ll start by sharing an overview of my experiences.

My Experiences

SPD has been accepted as a medical condition since 1994 though it isn’t always picked up on. I was about 7 at that time which was actually quite intense and caused a number of issues at school and at home:

I remember being berated time and time again at school for being unable to eat mash potato without gagging. There was one time where a dinner lady and teacher started shouting at me that it has no flavour so how could I not like it and then called a “stupid little boy” in front of other kids in the dinner hall.

Home was better, my mum and Nan mostly accepted that this was just how I was although I know it was frustrating at the times. There were others closer to home in my life though who were less understanding. I got smacked on the back of the head a few times for being fidgety during a movie, usually because my socks had slipped too close to my toes or I’d spilt sauce on my top and could feel it against my skin.

So, where does this leave me as a thirty year old man? I still find certain foods difficult but I’ve learned to control the instinct to gag. Wet clothing or clothes that rub too much around my ankles, toes, neck, wrists or chest make me fidgety and uncomfortable. Certain smells are unbearable and I am still uncomfortable in crowds. This last point comes down to both social anxiety and not liking the accidental touching and such.

My Worry

My son having SPD scares me. I had a hard time with it but now I know that this is a disorder, not just something behaviourally wrong with either of us.

The most important thing is that I have the tools to support him. Knowledge of what it is and experience of how I dealt (and didn’t) with SPD.

With a bit of research and a lot of love and support – it is in my power to use my experience to help my boy; if you have a child with SPD, be sure to comment or share.