Developmental Coordination Disorder

When my son was three, we were told he was of age to get a formal diagnosis. We went to a developmental center where he was given extensive tests by specialists. One of his diagnosis was Developmental Coordination Disorder.

Developmental Coordination Disorder also known as DCD is a neurological disorder. It is common in Sensory Processing Disorder and affects motor planning and coordination. One big struggle he had was putting movements together. For example, he could kick a ball if he was standing still, but struggle with running to kick a ball. He would trip when running or he would miss the target. When he went after a ball, it would remind me of Charlie Brown running to kick a football. My son had bad timing, poor balance, trouble coordinating steps together, and trouble with spatial awareness.

Upon getting this diagnosis, we increased his time in Physical Therapy. For three years he worked hard developing strength, coordination, and balance. Recently, he tested out of Physical Therapy. Even though he still struggled with some tasks, he has shown amazing improvement.

Today when I picked him up at school, his class was finishing PE. The task was running a mile. I got to watch my son in perfect running form cross the finish line first. Yes, you heard me right, FIRST! I was in tears. I was just so proud. What a testimony this little miracle boy is! He certainly is an overcomer destined for greatness.

Try Something New Everyday

One thing that my children struggle with is change. Change is what causes their anxiety and meltdowns. One thing that our family has done to help our children with change or newness is adopting a saying at our house, “Try something new every day.” Last week my son’s speech therapist said that during feeding therapy, my son encouraged another child to try something new with the saying, “Try something new every day.” It made me smile. Here is a list that we have gone over with our children to encourage them to try a change or new thing:

·        Meet a new friend

·        Say hi or talk to a new person

·        Try a new food

·        Go to a new place

·        Explore a new activity

·        Try a new hobby

·        Watch a new show

·        Play with a new toy

·        Try on different types of clothes

·        Read a new book

·        Add something new or take something out of your schedule

Encouraging our kids to try new things has helped us explore the word change in a positive light. I hope this idea will help your child too.

Sometimes, We Just Need a Change of Environment

When most kids hear summer break, they get super excited. For my son, it is scary. Summer break means a new schedule with new activities and new people. The change is too much. Last summer, it took him a full month to lower his anxiety, stimming, and meltdowns. By the time he loved summer, we had to prepare for school to start. Too bad he can’t be in year round school.

The hard part about summer time is that people are coming and going due to vacations and most activities are flexible with different kids each week. For a child that struggles with change this is a nightmare.

This week, we walked into gymnastics and my son immediately was covering his ears and yelling too loud. I asked him what was too loud. He couldn’t tell me. All I heard was some people talking. I took off his shoes and socks. Then he said, “Too many people. “ There were only five kids in the gym, so I think he meant too many new people since we did not know any of them. He then ran under and chair, started making noises and rocking. I pulled him out, and told him I would go into the gym with him. I could feel his little heart racing.

We went into the gym and my almost six year old sat on my lap. I gave him deep pressure hugs. The teacher asked him to say his name and do a trick. All he could do was make humming noises. It is like the language won’t come out when he has reached this stage of anxiety. He couldn’t move either. After all the kids introduced themselves, the coach got my son to sit with him. I went out to the observation room. About a minute later, my son was next to me. I asked him if it was too much. I told him that we could go home. We said he wanted to stay, but then he curled up in fetal position and started rocking and humming. I could tell that this was escalating fast. I gave him a choice to go into the gym or go home. When he couldn’t choose, we headed home.

This was the hardest day this summer. Most of the time, he will warm up after ten to fifteen minutes and start participating. I look back on the situation and start doubting myself: I should have stayed in the gym with him longer, it is because he is tired from too many activities, I should have let him stim until he was ready (although that might have led to a meltdown if the stimming didn’t calm him). His anxiety did finally calm after crying it out at home. He really needed a new environment where he wouldn’t be over-stimulated.

Yesterday I went over the scenario with our occupational therapist. She gave me a great idea. She said, "Instead of going home to calm him, take him to the bathroom. It is usually quiet there. You wet a paper towel, and put it on his face and arms to give him some calming sensory input. You can also hold him and give him deep pressure. This will help calm him and prepare him for his class."

I loved this idea. Next week, we are going to try it, and see if it helps lower his anxiety. I have also started putting a citrus blend of essential oils on his feel to help with transitioning into summer. Hopefully, our summer will become easier soon.

Self Monitoring: How is Your Engine Running

One thing we work on with our children is self monitoring how they are feeling. This helps them learn how to gain control of their feelings to prevent meltdowns. The self monitoring program we use at home is an ABA tool called “How is your engine running?”

This tool compares your body and the way it is feeling to an engine in a car. When the child’s engine is running low, the child may feel tired, sad, or lonely. When the engine is just right, the child is happy and their body feels good. When the engine is running high, the child might be excited, angry, anxious, scared, or overwhelmed.

To help my kids self monitor with this tool, we made a visual. You can find several examples of these visuals online. It looks like a gauge with a moveable arrow (green- low, yellow- just right, and red- high). 

Once the child is able to recognize their feelings, they can learn how to get in the middle of the gauge to feeling just right. For example, if the child’s engine is low, they might need a nap, hug, crunchy or sour snack, or movement activity to get them to just right. If the child’s engine is high, they might need a break, deep pressure (weighted blanket/ vest), hug, calming music, fidget, or movement.

Using this tool in our house has been a huge blessing. It has helped my children express their feelings/ needs and learn tool on how to self regulate. I hope this tool can help your child too.

Reflecting on Therapeutic Riding

Last Month, while driving, my two year old daughter yelled, "Pretty horse, I want horse." My son immediately looked at her, and said, "Sissy, a horse is lots of work. They have big poop that you have to shovel. You have to get them dressed and undressed. You have to brush them. You have to clean their shoes. You have to walk them. You have to give them food and water. You have to fix their boo boo and give them a treat. It is a lot of work to have a pretty horse."

I was amazed at what he said. He has learned so much about responsibility and has gained so much confidence through Horses for Healing. It is such an incredible program. It is neat to look back and see how far he has come.

When my son was almost two, he lost his language and began to withdraw after being sick for a couple weeks with high fevers. After speech therapy for a year, he started speaking in phrases again, although, it was hard to understand what he was saying.

It was during this time that we started therapeutic riding. Now, after a little more than two years, he is speaking in conversation and his words are clearer. The movement of the horse helps him pace himself while talking. He is making better eye contact and feels more confident engaging with others after spending time here engaging with the volunteers and other riders.

I am so thankful for this program and the strides the horses are making in the kids lives. With every lesson, my son is getting physically and mentally stronger. The things the kids are learning here, such as, responsibility, confidence, and engaging with others will not just help them today, but throughout their lifetime.

Needing Oral Input Can Be Dangerous

This week has been a scary week for our family. On Mother’s Day Night, my son started having projectile vomit. Throughout the night, he threw up 16 times. The next morning we ended up in the ER. He had to have an IV due to dehydration. The doctor then gave him zofran to stop the vomit. The vomit stopped, but then he had explosive diarrhea. After having 12 episodes of diarrhea in 8 hours with no urine, he had to have another IV. After three days, it still wasn’t slowing down. He was x-rayed, given a CT scan, had 5 blood tests, a urine sample, and two stool cultures. The doctors finally concluded that it was the rotavirus. Because it is a virus, my son has to let it run its course with no antibiotic. The doctors have been actively monitoring his blood count, hydration levels, and kidney function now for six days. It has been very scary.

So how did he get it, and how can you prevent your child from getting it?

The virus lives in the infected person’s stool. It is spread by people not washing their hands properly, and then touching things that you might touch or eat. The virus actually lives on a surface for ten days. If you touch the virus or if an object touches the virus, and it is placed in your mouth, within 48 hours you will start showing symptoms.

You can prevent it from spreading by:

·        Keeping the infected person at home until they have normal stools for 48 hours.

·        Practice good hygiene with hand washing before preparing food, eating meals and after using the restroom.

·        Spray your toilet with Lysol after someone has diarrhea.

·        Do not let your child eat food that has fallen off the floor. People walk in the bathroom and then walk all over the floor spreading germs.

·        If your child needs oral input, have things your child can safely chew on, and store them properly.

·        Keep your child’s hands out of their mouth.

For a child that needs oral input, I am shocked that we haven’t got it sooner. My son loves to mouth tables, chairs, and playground equipment. From now on, I am going to be more cautious and remind him to chew on his chewy only. I just wanted to inform other parents about this in case you also have a child that seeks oral input on objects out in public.

After seven days of this horrible virus, I can say that my son is feeling better. Even though we are not in the 48 hour period yet, he is finally having less stomach issues in a day.

If you have a baby, I also learned that there is a vaccine to help decrease the effects of this virus. IT IS WORTH LOOKING INTO.

Every Child Matters

Recently, I made a choice to tutor a group of special needs children in reading. When I came to this choice, a friend asked me, “Why are you going to do this?”

She asked a great question. I can also think of several reasons why not to do this. I mean, I have never taught beginner readers how to read, let alone special needs children. Even though I am a reading specialist, I am used to helping children that already have the basics down. It will take a lot of research and time working with younger children to find good resources. But, these kids are worth it, and I believe I can make a difference. Even if it is only three kids, I will do it one child at a time because everyone of them matters. I plan to just meet them where they are, and send them soaring as far as they can go.

The only way I can truly describe my decision is found in the story of the starfish:

Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions. 

Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching.  As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea.  The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”

The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”

The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”

adapted from The Star Thrower, by Loren Eiseley (1907 – 1977)