Becoming a Sensory Smart Mommy

I'm no expert.

I'm a mom.

I'm also a teacher. An Early Childhood Special Education teacher.
Which is really a long title for "I teach special preschoolers."

I LOVE my preschoolers.
I LOVE special learners.
I LOVE having a difficult child to "unwrap."

I did not dream of being the parent of a special learner.

I thought I was empathetic when I told parents that their child qualified for special education services based on delays in the areas of cognitive, motor, speech/language, adaptive behaviors, or social/emotional development.

I. knew. nothing.

My daughter is very functional. She's the low end of "special." Sometimes I think this is the hardest spot to be in. I expect so much from her...I sometimes forget that her brain twists things so that the world around her doesn't make sense.

Natalee has undiagnosed Sensory Processing Disorder.
Undiagnosed because we haven't taken her anywhere to get a diagnosis. But as a professional I can pick apart her file and "see" it. As a mommy my heart can feel it. I see the anxiety rise when the environment gets loud, the room is hot, there are new people, and someone asks her a question. I stand beside her when the routine shifts unexpectedly and she doesn't know what to do so she melts. I lift her up when things don't make sense to her and she gets confused and doesn't know what to do.

Natalee is not autistic. She makes eye contact. She has social ability (delayed but in tact). She communicates her needs and wants clearly. Natalee probably has Asperger's. She gets fixated on one topic. She likes sameness. She is black & white (literal). She has a rigid imagination.

Natalee is a little girl. She is 3. She is funny, loving, lovable, ornery, sincere, thoughtful and perfectly made in the image of Christ.

This blog is a journey of helping Natalee journey out of her world of sensory processing disorder into a world that is hopefully more comfortable and makes more sense to her. It's not about changing her into someone else - it's about loving her enough to help her feel the best and be the best that she can be.

Not everything we try will work. I want to record those things too. Some things will work really well. I want to share those successes. My hope and intent is to create a log so that when Natalee and her brother Xavier, and any other future children we might have, look back they know that every weirdo "not the norm" decision we made we did for them. To give them every chance at living long and healthy lives.

To my babies...this is for you.