What I Have Learned from Sensory Processing Disorder

That’s right, October is Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) Awareness month. It seems so right that it was a year ago this month that we figured out The Fifth Element’s SPD diagnosis.    If there is anything that I have learned in this past year it is that SPD teaches both patience and empathy.  I’m not saying I have mastered these skills by any means, but it is way more prevalent today than it used to be.  It has to be to get through some of our toughest days.

While we can’t always understand the need to have each shoe tied to the same tightness, every button done up to the collar or jacket pockets all snapped up, but and SPD child forces us to put ourselves in her shoes.  It teaches us to be less selfish with our time.  The need for exactness and perfectly closed and fastened clothing secures her and enables her to go about her day.  Without those steps it is chaos.  I have learned to appreciate, enjoy (most days) and relish in the ticks and quirks that make up her personality as a whole.  Walking into a room where every item is categorized and laid out in neat rows in not a mess but order that now we all can see.  A year ago it might have felt as if I had walked into another dimension.  We have learned the signs of not enough stimulation, too much stimulation and the moments in between.  Times when I see her reach out to preschool classmates and initiate a game still bring tears to my eyes.  Last October that would never have happened.  Gone are the days were she just sits on the steps watching the world run and bike by her.  Now she joins in and can voice her thoughts and ideas.  It still feels like a gift from God on an almost daily basis.

Want to know more about Sensory Processing Disorder, we all have it to some degree, and I believe it can be a real gift instead of a hinderance if we choose patience, empathy and understanding.

For more on SPD visit some of these sites.

The Gift of Sensory Processing Disorder

The Sensory Spectrum