It's official

The Bear was officially diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder today, specifically, sensory seeking (hyposensitive). I'm really feeling mixed emotions about it. The developmental pediatrician we saw today is amazing. I trust her immensely. The Bear has always crawled in a hilarious way, instead of going on all fours in the traditional crawl, he will use his left foot or knee to push off the floor and pull his right leg through his hands, scooting on his bottom, pulling himself across the floor. The kid can make some time! We call it his "crabbing" style of crawling. Well, apparently, the asynchronious crawl is a typical SPD trait that was her immediate first signal that we're dealing with a sensory issue.

In and of itself, SPD is not something that intimidates me. I have my own sensory issues, as do most of us. For me, I'm hypersensitive to artificial light in particular, and I harbor some tactile issues. Touching wet paper makes me literally gag, and a number of other quirks with which I'm sure we can all identify. However, true, diagnosable SPD is often linked to autism. All children with autism, or Asperger's Syndrome, have SPD, but not all children with SPD develop autism. The wonderful news is that there are no signs of autistic spectrum behavior, and so as of now, we're clear in that area. However, there is a regressive form of autism that can hit generally around 18-24 months, and sometimes up to 3. Often, it happens without much, if any warning. So, the delightful part of parenting begins, the wait and see.

She took some family history, asking about both sides of the family. Interestingly (and frighteningly), the specific combination of my familial history, and The Huz's familial history is the most conducive combination of genetic conditions that contribute to the development of autism. Basically, you couldn't have matched two people with medical histories more conducive to create a child with autism than The Huz and me. Yay.

So, for now, we just pray and pray that The Bear continues to meet his milestones (although he has met all his milestones months ahead of time, because my kids are brilliant, as we all know), and we begin Occupational Therapy (OT) for the SPD. It will allow him to learn to integrate his senses more effectively, because if one looks at the process of learning anything - language, reading, writing, even simple ideas of safety issues - the base of the pyramid is comprised of one's senses taking in one's environment and integrating all the details necessary to learn. Moving up the pyramid, one learns gross motor skills, then fine motor skills, and it continues, each level becoming more complex. If the base, the sensory system, is unable to integrate effectively, it can cause learning delays in the brightest of children. The OT will serve to provide The Bear appropriate sensory input to allow him to integrate appropriately so that his brilliance won't be stymied by any sensory confusion.

I was so hoping that she would take a look at us, laugh so hard she fell off her chair, and call me a drama queen and send us home. I realize that in the world, people have so many more difficult challenges and tragedies, and it's hard to not feel guilty that I am afraid and concerned for what his future holds. Please God, let him develop as he has been, and not allow autism to stand in his way.