Article:The Disorder is Sensory; the Diagnosis, Elusive

From the CA Gifted Homeschoolers Yahoo Group:


The Disorder Is Sensory; the Diagnosis, Elusive
Kevin Moloney for The New York Times

DENVER � Almost every parent of young children has heard an anguished
cry or two (or 200) something like:

"This shirt is scratchy, this shirt is scratchy, get it off!"

"This oatmeal smells like poison, it's poisonous!"

"My feet are hot, my feet are hot, my feet are boiling!"

Such bizarre, seemingly overblown reactions to everyday sensations can
end in tears, parents know, or escalate into the sort of tantrum that
brings neighbors to the door asking whether everything's all right.

Usually, it is. The world for young children is still raw, an acid
bath of strange sights, smells and sounds, and it can take time to get
used to it.

Yet for decades some therapists have argued that there are youngsters
who do not adjust at all, or at least not normally. They remain
oversensitive, continually recoiling from the world, or
undersensitive, banging into things, duck-walking through the day as
if not entirely aware of their surroundings.

The problem, these therapists say, is in the brain, which is not
properly integrating the onslaught of information coming through the
senses, often causing anxiety, tantrums and problems in the classroom.
Such difficulties, while common in children with developmental
disorders like autism, also occur on their own in many otherwise
healthy youngsters, they say.

The rest of this article is at
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/05/health/psychology/05sens.html?em&ex=1181188800&en=56c98f4b525a5f83&ei=5087%0A

--
Corin Barsily Goodwin
Director, Gifted Homeschoolers Forum
http://giftedhomeschoolers.org