Cameron- Sensory Processing Disorder- 1

I've been thinking a lot lately about my son Cameron. He just started 1st grade and it's been a little difficult for him being gone all day. He loves school, has a lot of friends, listens to his teacher, but he says that he misses us. Cameron has some delays and he gets some help at school in speech, reading and if needed- behavior. 

Yesterday he came home from school wearing a necklace that had letters on it. It spelled MOM. It was so cute and I asked him what the other kids spelled on their necklaces. He told me they spelled their names, but he wanted Mom, because he missed me so much. It's made me look back at our journey to get him where he is now.

I remember after my oldest, Brooklynn, was about four, I thought I had parenting down. She was a really hard baby and toddler, but we had it down. When she turned five, my little boy Cameron was two and I had a brand new baby girl McKenna. I had three kids five and under and I had it under control. Life was perfect. Both Cameron and McKenna were really easy babies and toddlers. However, as Cameron got older he was becoming more and more difficult. Everyone brushed it off that he was just being “a boy”. Don’t worry it’s just his personality. He was hard, I was with him 24/7 and no one really understood.

 

Time went on and McKenna was the one who was the toddler and Cameron was four. When I asked the kids to clean up my toddler listened, but Cameron just made a bigger mess. He didn’t seem to get out of the “toddler” phase.  Still people continued to try to make me feel better, and reassure me that everything was fine.

When we would go to the store, Cameron would have to touch everything. He didn’t like certain smells and he would sometimes react in such a dramatic way. There were times that he screamed because the lights were too bright, or his clothes felt weird. When someone was too close to him he HATED it, but he always wanted big tight hugs. It was confusing and I mentally took notes of his quirks.

 

I remember one day he came to tell me he wanted to go outside. He said, “I’m going outside, mom, outside, I’m going outside.” I remember just staring at him. It seemed really odd. I realized that I had heard him repeat words and sentences before, but for some reason that time just stood out to me. I googled, “My son is repeating sentences.” As usual several sites popped up. One caught my eye. Sensory Processing Disorder.  I clicked on the link and knew immediately that is what my son had.

I had heard that before from an old neighbor. Her son had it and she told me about it years ago. I got on Facebook and messaged her. She gave me tips and advice and told me to talk to my pediatrician. I got on the phone and made an appointment.

In the doctor’s office I was ready with my list of things to talk about. I love our Pediatrician, because he will first listen. He has always said that mom’s know their kids best. Then he proceeds to tell you his opinion. I was ready to hear that I was just crazy. He said, so many parents, teachers and doctors are diagnosing kids with ADHD, giving them medication and moving on. Of course the medication is going to calm the kids, but it doesn’t mean that is the problem. People need to take a look at everything before medicating children. He said that he wasn’t sure what Cameron had, but he said more than likely some kind of learning delay or disability. So many kids show “Hyper” behavior because they don’t understand or they are delayed. Older kids act out, because they are too embarrassed to tell anyone they don’t understand. He said that he didn’t know a lot about Sensory Processing Disorder, but we were heading in the right direction. He referred me to an Occupational Therapist.

I felt really good about this. At my appointment she told me within minutes that although she can’t diagnose Sensory Processing Disorder, she would be the one that treats him and he qualifies. So basically she was saying, yes he has it. We started weekly therapy and Cameron also was qualified for the District Preschool to get extra help.

 

After more than six months, all my work had paid off and he was showing progress immediately. I was proud of Cameron, proud to be his mom and thankful that I listened to my gut instinct.

The occupational therapist worked with me and taught me things I could do at home to help Cameron. I read books and articles as well. I loved seeing my happy child again. He wasn’t so frustrated, mad, and hyper. He was happy. Cameron is now almost seven, he is in 1^st grade and has a lot of friends. He still struggles and gets overwhelmed, frustrated and mad, but he is doing better all the time. 

 

I will continue to write more about Cameron, Sensory Processing Disorder and his struggles and accomplishments.  I hope that Cameron will continue to succeed and always remember we do everything for him, even the hard stuff.

I love this quote and it should be Cameron's motto. Cameron has done so well over the last year, I sometimes forget to take a breath and find out what is wrong rather than just getting upset with him.

It's been quite the journey, with a lot of tears. Tears of sadness, anger and joy. It's been hard for us, but worth it. I love my little man so much!