Part 2: Understanding Annie’s Sensory Processing Disorder

This is the second installment in a three-part series, where one mother relates her family’s journey to accept and understand Annie’s Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder. To read the first article, click here. We pick up where Morgan and her family received Annie’s diagnosis and quickly realized they needed to move to find a medical community better equipped to support her and her family.

We planned to move in June, once our oldest daughter was out of school. While we waited, I began to research the Autism Diet. A doctor tested Annie for food intolerants because I read how diet could potentially help children with Autism.

Annie had many issues, but one dietary issue that really affected her was an intolerance to dairy. As an infant and toddler, Annie drank milk non-stop. She didn’t eat very much, and she never would try any new foods. This didn’t alarm me because my oldest daughter was the same way — she only drank milk and only ate a small variety of foods. The difference in Annie’s situation was that she was very intolerant to the milk. She did not have obvious symptoms, like one would notice as an infant. Internally, her body could not properly process milk, but I didn’t know this until she was over two years old. Once the doctor explained this to me, we immediately cut out all dairy. It was agonizing at first because Annie was having withdrawals. She screamed with rage for three days straight, but when it was over, we got to meet a new Annie.

There is a great cookbook called, The Kid-Friendly ADHD & Autism Cookbook, by Pamela J. Compart, M.D., and Dana Laake, R.D.H., M.S., L.D.N. The book explains what happens when a child is craving certain food items with opiate-like peptides. The effects on a child, who is craving a product such as dairy or wheat, can be extremely intense. Annie did not want to eat or drink anything besides milk because nothing was giving her brain the same high as the opiate producing food. When we cut out the dairy, Annie’s sensory disorder quickly improved. She stopped climbing to watch the TV so closely. She didn’t flap her arms. She started eating better. She would try new food items and eat different textures. She didn’t seek to play with water as much as she did before, and her eye contact improved. I am not saying that Annie had been cured of all of her sensory issues. She still has some issues, but I noticed a profound improvement. I have learned that the smallest improvements can optimize the outcome. If this diet could possibly make any change, then I was willing to try it. Annie began to maintain a gluten, casein, egg, and dairy free diet.

Her doctor also prescribed various supplements, which included items for intestinal repair. When I spoke with her doctor, she gave me such hope. We had gone through all of her problems — some much bigger than the dairy intolerance — but, at the end of our conversation, she said to me. “I think this is going to really help Annie, and I really believe that you haven’t seen the best of your daughter yet.” In that moment I was sad about our circumstances, but I was rejoicing in our hope that the best of Annie was yet to come. We started an intense supplemental treatment, and we monitored her bloodwork every three to six months.

Because it sometimes takes months for a therapist to take a child’s case, frustration sets in. To deal with this frustration, I learned that I had to be creative in order to keep helping Annie while waiting for all of her services to come together. I started keeping a file of the tablework Annie and I would work on together each day. I timed our sessions. We worked on colors, shapes, tracing, and counting. One of her favorite things to do was go for an Easter egg hunt in our back yard. After the hunt, we would sit down and count the red skittles, the five stickers, or the three pennies hidden inside the plastic eggs. I made sensory boxes for her that were similar to the boxes the therapists incorporated in her therapy sessions. She practiced using a spoon and a cup while working on her gross motor skills and strengthening her hands. I didn’t know what I was doing, or if I was saying all the right things, but I gave it my best effort. I wrote down the date of all of our sessions and kept a log in a folder in the event Annie ever had regression.

Continue reading “Part 1: Annie’s Autism Diagnosis”  and “Part 3: Annie’s Autism Progress” by clicking the posts’ titles.

The Fort Worth Moms Blog hosts the online Moms of Special Needs Kids Tarrant County Area Group, as part of the Neighbor Groups offerings. This is a safe, supportive place where local moms can discuss special needs issues and questions with one another. It’s simple and free to join!

Morgan was born in Roswell, New Mexico, where she grew up with her older sister just outside the small town’s city limits. She attended New Mexico State University where she studied Journalism and Mass Communications. Morgan and Ryan, her husband of eight years have three daughters — Evelyn (2009), Annie (2012), and Scarlett (2014). Morgan enjoys getting to be with all her girls and watching them grow each day. When Morgan is not with her family, she enjoys spending time with friends and golfing with her husband. After her daughter was diagnosed with Autism in 2014, Morgan and her husband decided to move to Texas to find better services for their daughter. In June of 2015, this party of five arrived in Keller, Texas, where they now live. Morgan loves to explore Fort Worth, and take her kids to the wonderful zoo and other kid friendly attractions the city offers. When she has time, Morgan enjoys shopping online, wine tasting, and writing, but in no particular order.