I'm Not Weird, I Have Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD): Alexandra's Journey (2nd Edition)

by Chynna T Laird

Overview

Through Understanding Comes Respect and Love
This book was inspired by the author's daughter, Jaimie, who struggles with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) every day. It was written to validate Jaimie's feelings and to show her other children feel things the way she does. This book can help children with SPD learn how to explain their disorder to others; help peers understand what children with SPD go through; and also help therapists, teachers and/or counselors learn how to talk about it. Helping others learn about children with special needs brings understanding to them and help to make them seem less... different.

New 2nd edition includes suggested activities teachers or caregivers can do with children to help develop a deeper understanding of how SPD "feels" plus new pages on vestibular and proprioception systems.

Praise for I'm Not Weird, I Have SPD:
"This book is a must-read for any parent who has a child suffering with Sensory Processing Disorder. It also helps your child put words to what they are feeling on a daily basis. Teachers and other professionals working with children who have SPD also come to a better understanding of how to help these children."
--Tanya Wilson

"A heart-touching book, written in a straightforward, kid-friendly manner that provides an excellent insight to the trials, frustrations, and new discoveries children with SPD and their families may encounter. This book has assisted in creating an appreciation and acceptance of the unique qualities within all of us, and that we are not 'weird'-we are 'wonderful'!"
--Lillian Baulkham, Grade 3 teacher, Sweet Grass School, Edmonton, Alberta

"When I read Chynna Laird's I'm Not Weird, I Have SPD, I almost cried. Not because the story of a child struggling with severe sensory disorder is so sad, but because the frustration shared by child and family alike before diagnosis is so heart-wrenching. Ms. Laird leaves the reader with a moment of with a moment of joy and a real hope for a brighter tomorrow!"
--C. Hall

Learn more at www.LilyWolfWords.ca
From the Growing With Love Series from Loving Healing Press www.LHPress.com

JNF053180 Juvenile Fiction : Social Issues - Special Needs
EDU026010 Education : Special Education - Communicative Disorders
FAM034520 Family & Relationships : Parenting - Hyperactivity

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781615991594
Publisher:	Loving Healing Press
Publication date:	05/09/2012
Series:	Growing with Love
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

When I was born, I loved everything around me. I liked looking at my Mama and Daddy, I liked hearing their voices, and I loved feeling their arms around me when I needed a cuddle.

But things changed as I grew. Things got scary. So scary, I screamed. It frustrated me because nobody else seemed to feel the scary things I did and it made me mad.

Noises, even whispers, hurt my ears. This made Daddy sad because his voice hurt my ears a lot and I wouldn't let him talk to me. When things got too loud, I covered my ears and screamed until the noises stopped.

Smells bothered my nose and sometimes made me sick. I smelled things differently than other people did and I also smelled things no one else could. I tried covering my nose but that never worked very well. So I screamed to make the smells go away.

Sometimes when things didn't smell good to me, I wouldn't eat. I thought the yucky smells in my nose were what Mama put on my plate. I tried eating the food anyway but if it didn't feel good on my tongue, I got sick. Mama and Daddy couldn't understand why the food I used to eat starting upsetting me so much.

The lights in stores or in other people's houses hurt my eyes. My eyes hurt even more when I went outside on a bright, sunny day. I covered my eyes to block out the brightness and screamed to make the pain stop.

I especially didn't like how things felt on my skin. When the wind blew on my arms and legs, it felt like thousands of creepy caterpillars crawling on me that I couldn't get off. The tags in my clothes tickled me and made me mad so I got Mama to cut all the tags out of my clothes. Sometimes Mama got frustrated with me because I tried on lots of different clothes until something felt just right.

I didn't like the feeling of lots of things and it could be hard getting ready some days. Brushing my teeth made me gag; brushing my hair hurt so bad, I cried or hid from Mama; bath time was scary because the water tickled my skin and if it was too hot or cold, it hurt me; and I hated my winter clothes.

Everything had to be the same. I liked my bed and bedroom to be the same way. I liked knowing what we were going to do because when things changed, it was too confusing for me. When things were the same, I felt safe. When things were different or changed or there were too many things to remember, I got scared and cried.

Touch scared me a lot. I didn't like people touching me and I didn't know how to tell people their fingers felt like fire on my skin. Mama and Daddy wanted to hug me but I couldn't let them.

I fell down a lot too. My arms, legs, hands and feet didn't always listen to what my head told them to do. Sometimes when I tried doing stuff, my body got all tangled up and I ended up crashing down on the ground. It didn't always hurt, though.

At the park, I didn't like playing the same games the other kids played. They liked climbing high or sliding or going down the poles or swinging and it made my tummy jump doing that stuff. One time, I climbed the ladders but couldn't remember how to get back down. Then I was too scared to climb anymore or even let someone lift me up.

I didn't know how to tell people I didn't like their voices; or the way they smelled when they got too close; or the way their faces moved or looked when they talked to me. I didn't know how to tell people I liked them but they scared me.

So I screamed. I screamed long and loud to block out the things that nobody else saw, heard or smelled but me. I even tried hitting my head, scratching my arms, or biting myself to make it all stop — but it never worked.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "I'm Not Weird, I Have Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD): Alexandra's Journey"
by .
Copyright © 2012 Chynna T. Laird.
Excerpted by permission of Loving Healing Press, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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