I'm not weird. I have SPD by Chynna Laird

Talk about echoes of my childhood and my present with my Sensory Processing Disorder (a.k.a. Sensory Integrative Dysfunction).

In the book, I’m Not Weird, I have SPD, author Chynna Laird uses descriptive words like:  hurt, screamed, pain, and scared. Those are words that I use to this day as an adult with SPD.

Sensory overload still erupts in a flight or fight response that makes me want to scream and run away.  What validation and relief I would  have felt if such a book had been written was I was a girl.

How lucky her daughter is that she has the SPD diagnosis.  In the book the fictional girl goes from the hurting words to words of relief.  Her parents are able to help her, and they accept her the way she is.  In my heart, I know that had there been an SPD diagnosis in my childhood, my mother would have read this book to me.

As a parent of a child with SPD, we hadn’t known about it in “his” younger years.  (My child does not wish to be identified.)  “He” hated to be touched.  Like in the book, he had to be taught to accept a hug, but only a certain kind–the very tight ones.

Later he learned that touch can soothe also, but always hard touch like a massage when I push my palms hard into his back muscles and neck.  I had to do that every night for years so he could get to sleep.

This book is too late to read to him, but it is perfect timing for so many parents who wonder what is wrong with their children.  It’s as much of an education for them as it is for the child, since, in parts of the book, it is written from the child’s perspective, so parents may be able to relate to their child a little bit more.

I must admit that when I first read it, I was sad–very sad.  I remember the pain, literally and emotionally.  One event stands out in my mind.

Forest Park Elementary School was a radical idea in the 70’s.  It was an open concept school, meaning children could move from class to class depending on their skill level in a particular subject, which my mother thought would be better for me rather than skipping any more grades.  But, the classes had no walls; it was literally an open concept.  The 360-degree noise burned my senses until one day, I freaked.

I ran to the bathroom and sat in the corner and leaned against the wall.  With my fists clenched and my body in a tight fetal position, I rocked.  The breath coming into my lungs hurt.  My head hurt so badly that my vision blurred.  A teacher found me and carried me to the front office where my mother picked me up.  At home, I hid in my room for hours until the pain abated.

After this happened many times, I was dubbed as having migraines.  Now I know that I don’t have migraines and likely never did.  It hurt; I screamed in my head for help; I was in pain; and I was very scared.  Yes, I did get teased.  My mother was mystified, and I remember her face looking scared too.  The doctors said there was nothing they could do.

If you know a child who screams, hits, hides, runs away, or has other unexplained outbursts, read about Sensory Processing Disorder.  If the child is diagnosed with this disorder, buy I’m Not Weird, I have SPD so the child can feel a sense of relief too.

Chynna Laird’s Website
Chynna Laird’s Blog

Related posts:
360-degree Noises
Family TV Watching and Autism

This is my brain on green beer and a cacophony of noises on St. Patrick's Day

That’s how I felt last night at the neighborhood bar celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.

A cat will turn its ears toward a sound.  If there are too many sounds, the cat looks scared and will run away.  I’m like the cat when it comes to sound because it’s like my ears are turning toward each sound, but when there are hundreds of sounds, I start feeling all wound up and I get a fight or flight response going.

Here’s the story:
John (love of my life and professional extrovert) asked if I wanted to meet the kids and their friends (they’re older) at the local haunt for a St. Paddy’s day beer.  I like them, so I said, “Sure.”  (My name is Eileen and I have curly, reddish hair and I have freckles, so I have a right to celebrate it!)

Enough parentheses.  I will get on with the story.  They were sitting at a table against the wall, but in the middle of the dining/bingo/karaoke area.  The only spaces left to sit were at the end of the table facing the wall.

The place was packed because it was happy hour and soon-to-be bingo night.  I sat and smiled at everyone because they were joking and laughing.  In minutes I started to feel confused, but didn’t register why quite yet.  Then I just watched people and said nothing but a word or two.  I could hear every noise in front, to each side, and behind me.  The noises were like needles shooting by the hundreds into my head, one after the other, non-stop.  I tried to make them go away by looking at the floor and at my beer.

John knew the look on my face as I grabbed my coat and said, “I’m going to stand outside for a while.”  It didn’t help.  I sat back down and took the abuse from the noise.  My brain confusion mounted; my breathing got shallower; my temperature increased; my sweaty palms started; and a hurting headache came on like a migraine.  It was harder than usual to look at people and I could feel myself whining without making a sound.  I couldn’t think.

“I have to get away, but I can’t because it’s socially incorrect and John wants to socialize,” I thought.  The corner booth was open so we moved there and I thought that would be the end of my problems because I could sit in the corner and calm down.  Not.  I could barely focus on the rapid-fire conversation.  I didn’t know where to look.  Plus there were so many people that my visual field became very confused.

On the way home, we stopped at Target, and I waited in the car.  Every little sound in the parking lot stabbed me in the brain.  I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t even move.  It was very difficult to talk to John and to understand what he was saying as we were driving home.

Evening was supposed to be for some work I had to finish up, but it ended being no-brain TV night instead.

Today, I feel better.  I woke up to the sound of John making coffee, and that’s a find sound for this Irish girl.

By Dr. Paul Drew, author of Red Carpet Posture

Where posture could make a difference with SPD is that it’s one less overload of stimuli going to the central nervous system and the brain. If a person is standing, moving, or sitting with incorrect posture and not in the correct alignment, he or she may experience an overload of stimuli.

People without SPD get used to being in an incorrect alignment or posture, and can filter out those signals of overstretching and tightness. Even though there are muscles that are adaptively tighter, normally that signal of tightness is ignored by the brain. With SPD, the signal won’t get processed out, and could be interpreted as pain.

Let’s take an example of someone who is standing with the shoulders forward. What will happen is that the muscles between the shoulder blades become overstretched and those in front of the shoulder become tighter. The muscles that are in between the shoulders activate stretch receptors that send stimuli to the brain that these muscles are being overstretched. Now, there will be more stimuli along with other stimuli coming into the brain leading to an overload.

Golgi Tendon Organs
There are also Golgi tendon organs which are inside the tendons of muscles, and help to prevent a muscle from over exertion such as a person who is lifting a lot of weight. When the tendon gets too much pressure, the Golgi tendon organ sends a message to brain to stop the contraction.

Often this signal will be filtered out when the muscle contraction is not that intense, but the problem with people who have SPD is that this signal may not be getting filtered out of the brain.

When someone is in an incorrect posture such as a slouch position, then muscle tightening in the front of the shoulders is activating the Golgi receptors which are sending signals to the brain to stop this contraction which is usually filtered out in the normal brain, but not one with SPD. This is a reason for having good posture, and trying deep tissue treatment or massage. These will help to deactivate the Golgi receptors to decrease the overload of signals to the brain.

Nerves in Sensory Function

One has to know that the same nerves that control muscle contraction are also involved in sensory function and nerves can also be calmed with deep pressure massage and proper posture. Nerves themselves can also be tight or won’t glide as well in the body. For example, we have major nerves that start from the spine in the neck, and go deep in the shoulder area, and down into the arm. These are referred to as brachial nerves.

If someone has bad posture such as one whose shoulders are rounding forward, the brachial nerves that travel down the arm into the hand will be affected. There may be a tendency for these nerves to be tight or shortened and not glide very well in the body.

Brachial Nerves
Nerves are like muscles in the fact that they need to be stretched as well. One of the most common brachial nerves to have problems is the median nerve, which can be felt as tenderness and pain in the hand between the thumb and index finger where one of the endings of the nerve exists. This is the same symptom that occurs with individuals who have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.  In a person who has SPD, this nerve may be sending signals to the brain of pain that is not being filtered.

A physical therapist can show how to stretch tight neural pathways. For example, the median nerve can be stretched by putting your arm out to the side, keeping it straight at the elbow and the whole arm is parallel to the ground. The palm of the hand is against a wall, with the fingers pointing backwards and touching the wall. Now turn the body the opposite way, while keeping your palm against the wall and the arm straight. You will start to feel numbness in your hand. This is a sign that the median nerve is being stretched. This may be a complicated example to give, but it is something that a therapist can show you.

Massage at Home, not a Spa
I do recommend those with SPD who seek massage or deep tissue treatment to have someone come to the home, instead of going to a spa, because in your home, you are more familiar with your surroundings. At home, you know the stimuli that are going on around you, the normal sounds and lighting that are familiar to you. When one with SPD goes to a spa, there are stimuli that are not familiar, such as music or different sounds from the spa facility that will raise the amount of stimuli that could overwhelm the brain.

I am the author of “Red Carpet Posture” which is a book that gives advice and exercises to improve posture. When I designed the book, I tried to make the exercises simple enough as to not be overwhelming, and not require an overabundance of stimuli. Even if you don’t do a single exercise pictured in the book, the advice will be an exercise in itself. “Red Carpet Posture” can be found at www.RedCarpetPosture.com

Dr. Paul Drew has a Doctor of Physical Therapy from the University of Southern California. He is the author of Red Carpet Posture, which features advice and exercises to help improve posture.  Learn more at www.redcarpetposture.com.