The Miracle Boy: How Early Intervention Aids in Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)
In the April 2011 issue, we feature Jennifer Shaw, a musician who went through a troubling time. Here's some more of her story about her son Toby's battle with a Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD).
____________________ SPD is a dysfunction of the brain in which sensory signals from the body (vision, auditory, touch, olfaction, and taste) are not processed normally by the brain. For Toby, any touch was received by his brain as hurting. “Food in his mouth hurt. Droplets of water hurt,” Jennifer explains. “Clothing felt intolerable. These children go into survival mode and they don’t learn to speak. That’s why speech delays are the first marker.”
Occupational therapy made the difference for Toby. “Any therapy before the age of 3 is critical,” Jennifer advises. “The brain is able to be re-wired at that point. So don’t wait. Don’t second guess yourself.”
Play-based, with no medications involved, Jennifer watched as Toby’s therapists positioned his body in weird ways, forcing his brain to make new connections. “We did everything they did at therapy at home as well,” Jennifer notes. “We didn’t want the girls to feel ignored because we had a child [with special needs], so we really tried to involve them in his therapy.”
Toby’s progress was rapid. The folks working with Toby called him “The Miracle Boy.” Today Toby is healed completely. Jennifer remains clearly grateful to all those who helped Toby. “It was like they led him out of prison, the prison of his own body,” she says. “They let him be who God made him to be.”
Is your family going through a difficult time? Maybe it's a diagnosis of special needs or a death in the family or _________ (fill in the blank). Find encouragement in Jennifer Shaw's amazing testimony in the April 2011 issue.
