The “Out-of-Sync” Child Grows Up: An Autistic Perspective

Sara M. Acevedo [image: Book cover of The Out-of-Sync Child Grows Up: Title in teal text, on background photo of five older kids running across a field, from behind.] The Out-of-Sync Child Grows Up is the newest book from Carol Stock Kranowitz in her “Out-of-Sync” Child series. Subtitled “Coping With Sensory Processing Disorder in the Adolescent and Young Adult Years,” the book focuses on the everyday experiences of parents, caregivers, and medical professionals who support adolescents and young adults marked oppressively by diagnoses like Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). Although a significant number of the concepts and practices included in this book are discredited and marked as abusive by autistic and other neurodivergent people ourselves, the book has received substantial praise from non-neurodivergent authorities in the therapeutic professions, as well as from clinicians, parents, and educators. The book has also been praised by The Children’s Hospital in Boston, and contributors of…

Sensory Issues vs. Behaviors: On the Recent AAP Policy Statement

Brenda Rothman mamabegood.blogspot.com Last week, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a policy statement (1) on sensory integration therapies. The AAP recommended that pediatricians should not diagnose sensory processing disorder as a stand-alone diagnosis, but should refer children for an evaluation for other possibilities, like autism, ADHD, motor, or anxiety disorders. AAP also advised pediatricians to inform parents of the limited amount of research for sensory therapy and to help them set up a program to determine its effectiveness. Stating that we should monitor and judge the effectiveness of sensory therapy seems straight-forward and logical. However, the pediatricians’ statements about the policy reveal an underlying problem. Their argument that sensory issues may actually be behavioral is not untenable. But it also has the potential to cause harm. Given the discomfort, the related issues like emotions, relationships, brain science, parenting, and the risks of treating sensory issues as behavioral, we…

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Kenneth and Autism Awareness Month

We’re featuring “Slice of Life” conversations with Autistics of all ages — kids through adults — throughout April’s Autism Acceptance Month. Our goal is to help TPGA readers understand that autistic people are people who have interesting, complicated lives and who are as diverse and varied as any other population united by a label. We are the people in each other’s neighborhoods, and the more we know about each other — the more visible autistic people and children are — the more common autism acceptance will be. That is our hope. Today we’re talking with Monika Brooks of www.mochaautismnetwork.com. She is the mother of Star Wars aficionado Ken, “Da Youngsta,” who is 12 years old. As he’s not a fan of being interviewed at length, Monika is handling the introductions. What would you like a one-sentence description of yourself to say? My one sentence for my son would be: His…

My Fight

Spectrummy Mummy SpectrummyMummy.wordpress.com Pudding hates DIY stores. The ceilings are too high, the lights too bright, the smells too noxious, the noises too loud, the people too many; we just can’t go there with her. It is unbearable, and nothing makes it better.  So we just avoid going, easy as that. So most often Spectrummy Daddy goes alone, but this time he was ill, and though my Mondays are crammed, there was no putting it off.  Pudding was in school for the morning, so I took Cubby right after his music class.  He is more sensitive than she is, so I wasn’t sure how he’d do, but apart from a lot of questions about the various noises, he did okay.  Phew. I only had a brief amount of time before I had to collect Pudding to take her to speech therapy, so I found a sales associate to ask where…

Wonder

Alysia K. Butler trydefyinggravity.wordpress.com Last week was special in our house. Last week, my son turned five. So many of my posts are filled with how difficult life is for him.  How his autism and sensory processing disorder cause everyday activities to be so challenging. Not today. While I had a corn-free cake cooking in the oven, I wrote down all the amazing things about my son.  What makes him a rock star.  And what makes me proud to be his mom. He has the most amazing giant brown eyes, and when he looks at you, you get lost in them. His passion for Hot Wheels cars is unmatched.  He knows every single one that we have in the house.  We have a lot. His memory is impeccable.  Ask him what rides we did at Storyland last summer and he’ll tell you them all and where they are in the…

Hi-Fi Pseudo-Sci, Occupational Therapy, and Making Some Lemonade

Adam J. Slagell Science-Based Parenting Being involved parents of an autistic child, my wife and I go to many different groups and meet lots of other parents of children with PDD (Persistent Developmental Delay) or ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). I am used to the barrage of pseudoscience and misinformation from well-meaning parents (e.g, anti-vaccination, chelation, gluten-free diets, etc), but I have always expected that professional Occupational Therapists (OTs) would steer us towards evidence-based treatments. They have certainly been critical of many of the common autism myths, like the vaccines and autism non-connection. Unfortunately, my expectations were overly ambitious, and I let my skeptical guard down. Our older son is very sensitive to loud noises and gets upset quite easily. He seems to have a lot of sensory issues both tactile and auditory, and addressing sensory issues is a large part of what his OT therapies work to alleviate. Our OTs…

What is Sensory Processing Disorder?

Hartley Steiner www.hartleysboys.com Recently I have seen a rise in the number of articles, Facebook posts, and even tweets claiming to define Sensory Processing Disorder. This should be good news, and it is — mostly. But, some of it is misinformation. Although I am thankful anyone wants to help spread awareness, it frustrates me personally that these people could very well be doing more harm than good. I have dedicated a large portion of my life to spreading awareness that will hopefully benefit kids like mine — all over our country and arguably the world. I would really like to see good, solid, accurate information. Wouldn’t you? It is with that goal in mind — to educate and help — I am taking a stab at answering the increasingly popular question, “What is Sensory Processing Disorder?” My answer, and this article, is specifically geared towards helping parents with SPD kids…

Sensory Seekers and Sensory Avoiders

Hartley Steiner www.hartleysboys.com For the purpose of this post, I am going to list sensory seeking and sensory avoidant behaviors, to paint a more accurate picture of what sensory-based behaviors look like. You can consider these ‘symptoms’ or a ‘checklist’ but my real goal in posting them is to help parents and caregivers recognize the sensory challenges in the children in their life.  In addition, I hope to paint a more specific picture of the kinds of behaviors Sensory Seekers exhibit. Sensory Seekers I completely ignored the first person who suggested Gabriel had Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). Technically, I even made fun of her. How stupid was she to suggest my son had sensory issues? My kid wasn’t one of those who covered his ears at every little noise, nope, not my kid. My kid was fine with loud noises, loved water, mud, hot salsa and was not afraid of…

What to Ask of an Occupational Therapist

Barbara H. Boucher, OT, PhD, PT www.therextras.com My identity as an OT runs as deep as my sense of being an adult. I begin on a personal note because if you have trouble discerning a person’s face or need concrete affirmation of my being you might imagine me to have three heads: As a naive undergraduate I learned at the feet of Jean Ayers’ generation of occupational therapists. For reasons that are most easily characterized as my professional “developmental” trajectory, I became a physical therapist, also. A complete psychological profile of me might read that I received a great deal of reinforcement in an academic setting. From my Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Human Development and Family Sciences I claim the title of Child Development Specialist. If the words “occupational therapy” (OT) are new to you and accompanied your child’s diagnosis, you are not alone in struggling to understand what…

Autism: Feeding Issues and Picky Eaters

Judy McCrary Koeppen www.septar.org www.sagetherapy.com www.sagetherapy.blogspot.com Autistic children are often very picky eaters, or have eating issues. Having your child refuse to eat any foods that are not white and soft in consistency can be maddening, but as a speech therapist and parent I’ve found it most helpful to have a clear understanding of why a child self-limits their diet. Eating is a multi-sensory experience. Each mouthful brings the possibility of a variety of flavors, textures and temperatures. A feeding specialist would break this down further, identifying “Flavors” including sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter and neutral; “Textures” including crunchy, chewy, soft, mixed, puree, thick liquids, and thin liquids; and “Temperatures” including cold, room temperature, warm, and hot. In addition, we experience food odors, and often the way they feel in our hands. Many children who are picky or problem eaters may have Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). In her book The…