mandy

This may be a long shot for you but my son is ADHD but was also diagnosed as having Sensory Integration Issues. A great book that helped me understand is called The Difficult Child by Stanley Turecki. Sensory Integration children are very sensitive and set off very easily. My son also was afraid of dark, very hyper, sensitive to touch (a big issue), took a while to get used to new clothes and their feel, loud noises bothered him more than usual, going under things like he would notice the air vents in the ceiling of department stores, consistency of certain foods were a problem, not good at transitions!!!, fine and large motor issues, etc. I took this clip for a Sensory Integration page on the web. Like I said, it may be a long shot but you never know. Please write back and let me know what you think, it is very interesting to me.

What is Sensory Integration Dysfunction?

Dysfunction in Sensory Integration (DSI) is a problem in processing sensations which causes difficulties in daily life. DSI is a complex neurological disorder, manifested by difficulty detecting, modulating, discriminating or integrating sensation adaptively. DSI causes children to process sensation from the environment or from their bodies in an inaccurate way, resulting in "sensory seeking" or "sensory avoiding" patterns or 'dyspraxia," a motor planning problem.

What does DSI look like?
DSI and Sensory Seeking

These children have nervous systems that do not always process that sensory input is "coming in" to the brain. They are under-responsive to sensation. As a result, they seek out more intense or longer duration sensory experiences. Some behaviors that can be observed are:

Hyper-activity as they seek more and more movement input
Unawareness of touch or pain, or touching others too often or too hard (may seem aggressive)
Engaging in unsafe behaviors, such as climbing too high
Enjoying sounds that are too loud, such as TV or radio volume

These children have nervous systems that feel sensation too easily or too much. They are overly responsive to sensation. As a result, they may have "fight or flight" responses to sensation, a condition called "sensory defensiveness." Some behaviors that can be observed are:

Responding to being touched with aggression or withdrawal
Afraid of, or becomes sick with movement and heights
Very cautious and unwilling to take risks or try new things
Uncomfortable in loud or busy environments such as sports events, malls
Very picky eater and/or overly sensitive to food smells

DSI and Dyspraxia
These children are clumsy and awkward. They have particular problems with new motor skills and activities. Some behaviors that can be observed are:

Very poor fine motor skills such as handwriting
Very poor gross motor skills such as kicking, catching, throwing balls
Difficulty imitating movements such as "Simon Says"
Trouble with balance, sequences of movements and bilateral coordination