Asperger's is not alone - Part 1 - Sensory Issues

HistoryBoy as you know has Asperger's, but he also has ADHD, sensory issues, horrible allergies, asthma, stomach and intestinal problems. I have heard from other parents that their children also have multiple issues, while not necessrily the same issues as HistoryBoy, Asperger's does not seem to travel alone. I would love to hear from more of you on this issue.

I first noticed HistoryBoy's sensory issues when he was about 18 months old (maybe a little younger) and when I would flush a toilet, especially out in a public restroom he would shriek and hold his ears like someone was hurting him. I started telling him to hold his ears before I flushed so he wouldn't freak out so badly, sometimes there is no avoiding a bathroom even as badly as you want to.

Also, at first people seemed to be a nice diversion for him to look at and then suddenly there were too many people, he needed to hide, he needed a dark place to go to. If you read my blog on May 3, "Calming with Music", I mentioned plopping HistoryBoy into the stroller, well this also worked here. Sometimes music would help calm him, once he was overwhelmed by people, sometimes not. More often than not, what I would have to do, is put my jacket over the stroller front so no light got in through the front (I started bringing a blanket after a while) so that I could get what I wanted to or needed to done. I know I could have gone home and waited until later but sometimes you NEED to get out of the house with a 2 - 3 year old and he was also learning if he acted up I took him home, I needed to establish a better pattern for myself and him. Sometimes I need to get out of the house with my 10 yr old and I wish I could throw him in a stroller with a blanket over him to soothe him! lol!

As he got a little older tags in clothing became a real issue (Thank god for tagless clothing!!) Instead of ripping out all the tags, I put tagless undershirts under all his tops, even T-shirts. This way I could still go through his closet when I needed to clean it out seasonally and get rid of everything by size without having to try to measure up this shirt to that shirt, so they still had size tags, YEAH! lol

I mentioned his need for clean hands on April 27, "Please Don't Let Me Get Dirty." He hated dirty hands. It is better now. Sometimes I even have to tell him to wash his hands after he has been playing outside like a "normal" 10 year old boy. To me HistoryBoy is my norm.

Sensory issues seems to be a huge part of Asperger's for HistoryBoy. Early clues for me that I didn't know to look for. Peditrician told me HistoryBoy just had very sensitive ears as did ENT when I took him at age 2 because of his bathroom freakouts. His issue with tags in clothing my mom said "I always hated tags in clothing. They always bother me, I rip them out" So I figured it wasn't unusual. Just because they don't bother me, doesn't mean it can't bug other people, right? I look back now and I can say yes I can all his issues now, but I don't know if I could have done anything differently back then. I did what I was supposed to do. I took him to the Dr, I followed up with the ENT. Unfortunately we needed more pieces to this puzzle.

Please feel free to leave a comment or email me at teenahope@gmail.com