Below is a quick overview of SPD and what we can do to help reduce symptoms. For the full article with more information, please read our blog.
What is Sensory Processing Disorder?
Sensory processing disorder (SPD) affects how your brain processes stimuli e.g. things you see, hear, smell, taste, or touch. Most people with this condition are overly sensitive to these sensory inputs, but for some, they need much more stimuli to feel engaged with the world. It affects mostly children and can cause them a lot of distress if they either feel overwhelmed or under-stimulated.
Symptoms of SPD
Your child may be oversensitive to stimuli if, for them:
- Clothing feels too scratchy or itchy
- Lights seem too bright
- Sounds seem too loud
- Soft touches feel too hard or painful
- Normal food textures make them gag
- They have poor balance
- They hate playing on the swings
- Sudden movements, touches, loud noises, or bright lights are distressing
Your child may be in the "sensory seeking" category if they:
- Can’t sit still - even for a few minutes
- Love jumping, heights, and spinning
- Can spin without getting dizzy
- Miss a lot of social cues.
- Chew on things (including their hands and clothing)
- Crave visual stimulation (like electronics)
- Have problems sleeping and settling at night
What causes SPD?
What has always fascinated me is that symptoms of SPD fluctuate from day to day and sometimes from hour to hour. This means that children with sensory processing disorder may not have a "brain disorder" but a disorder in the way information is fed to the brain e.g. through brain nerves called neurons. These are responsible for relaying information to the brain from stimuli (sights, sounds) and for also communicating from the brain to our body (e.g. to move our limbs).
Sensory development also relies on the appropriate amount of external stimuli while their brain and nervous system develops. Different senses develop in different stages, e.g. the baby's visual network starts to develop shortly after birth by taking in sights, but their sense of balance (vestibular sense) does not start to develop until they start moving and walking, usually between 12 and 36 months.
In normal development, the brain lays down a very complex and vast network of neurons that are protected by something called myelin. If myelin does not protect the neurons properly, they can 'misfire' - like a frayed electrical wire. When the wiring is faulty, the whole system can be compromised.
Many different things can cause this faulty wiring including exposure to toxins, viral load, and nutritional deficiencies. This is simplifying it a lot but again, if you want a "deep dive" on this system please read the article on my blog.
How to reverse SPD symptoms
It's not yet been possible or proven to reverse SPD completely but we have found some things that reduce symptoms. In some cases parents do report that their child doesn't seem to react to things the way they used to, so no longer qualify for a diagnosis of SPD.
Remember, a child's brain continues to develop until they are 24 years old so it's never too late to put in things that support optimal brain development.
Here is the list of things we recommend you address in order to help a child with SPD. Please contact your health professional in order to find the safest and most effective way to do these. This list is not intended to serve as a recommendation for treatment. It's very important to do this with a qualified team.
- Reduce the toxic load by managing exposure to toxins from the environment, diet and household products
- Support natural detoxification to help remove toxins from the body
- Identify and remove the viral load. I cannot stress how important this step of the process is
- Reduce immune reactions to fungal and bacterial pathogens
- Address key food sensitivities – gluten, dairy, soy, eggs and corn are the most common but there can be others
- Neurons need a lot of energy so address any mitochondrial issues
- Optimise melatonin to improve sleep. It is also an important antioxidant for the brain
- Ensure there is adequate fat in the diet – especially DHA from Omega 3 oil. You can't make myelin without DHA!
- Appropriate exercise - tailored to your child's sensory needs
- Encourage socialising and learning new skills
- Address mineral imbalances. Heavy metals can dis-regulate minerals significantly. See Table 3 in my article for symptoms caused by mineral deficiency
- Ensure adequate intake of nutrients to help myelination: Lots of DHA, vitamin D3 and K2, C, B vitamins, zinc, iodine, iron, lithium, copper, phosphatidyl serine and choline
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