Eat the Doughnut!

"You haven't lived until you've dissected a doughnut."

Several weeks ago, I posted that as my Facebook status, and got a few puzzled comments.  Most of my friends could not understand what I was talking about.

But you, my fellow parents of children with sensory issues, you understand.  Don't you?

My son is an incredibly picky eater.  In order for him to eat a plain doughnut, we have to remove the "brown" off the outside of it, so just the inside white part is exposed.  This stems from the fact that over a year ago, he gagged on a plain doughnut, and the sensory memory of that has stayed with him ever since.  So for him to be able to eat it, he has to have the outside surgically removed.  Never mind the fact that he's able to eat a plain munchkin no problem.  The memory is from the doughnut, and can't be changed, reasoned with, or explained.

So, you ask, why even bother giving him the doughnut in the first place?  Give him a different kind.  Or none at all.

Because my son isn't just a picky eater.  He's a picky eater with SPD and autism, who also happens to have an intolerance to all corn products.

That's right.  His diet, already limited by his sensory disorder, is that much smaller because he can't digest anything with corn.  That means no corn starch, no corn syrup, no modified food starch, no dextrose, no maltodextrin, and of course, no high fructose corn syrup.

I'll give you a moment to go check your pantry and see how many foods have some corn product in them.  I'll name a few kid-friendly ones:  Cheerios, Rice Krispies, several brands of peanut butter, breads, jellies, crackers, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, bologna, deli meats, yogurts...and we haven't even left the house.  Forget about fast food or eating out most places.

I Have A Little Dreidel (SPD Hanukkah) by Alysia

Happy Hanukkah!

It’s my kids’ favorite holiday, and we’re getting ourselves ready for eight nights full of celebration.  This year, Hanukkah starts at sundown on December 1^st, so we’re quickly changing gears from eating Thanksgiving turkey to decorating the house with dreidels and menorahs. 

For those of you who don’t know, Hanukkah is a celebration of the Jews' victory in a battle to reclaim their temple from the Syrian army.  In order to rededicate their temple, the Jews needed oil to light their “eternal flame” candle.  They thought they only had enough oil to burn for one day.  However, a miracle occurred and the oil lasted for eight days, giving the Jews enough time to make more oil.  This is why the holiday is called the “Festival of Lights” and is celebrated by lighting candles for eight nights.

Any holiday can disrupt a family’s routine.  One that is eight nights long can really change things up.  My son, with all his sensory issues, can’t sit through an organized Temple Tots celebration or anything like that.  So for a successful holiday, we’ll be doing all our celebrating at home, just like I did when I was a kid.  And this year, we’ll be making our Hanukkah sensory friendly.

We’ll be celebrating the eight nights of Hanukkah with all eight senses - the seven senses of sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing, vestibular and proprioception, plus the latest sense in the world of sensory processing: introception.  Here’s how our family will focus on one sense for each night:

The 813 Mile Car Trip by Alysia

It’s that time of year again.  Thanksgiving.  It’s a tradition in my family that we all go to my mother’s house in Vermont for the holiday.  In the past 30 years, there have only been three times when she didn’t host the big turkey dinner.  Usually, there’s about 30-35 people there – my immediate family, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, friends of second cousins…you have a connection to our family and you’re welcome at the house. 

Making 250 mile car trip is always somewhat of an adventure for us.  It’s hard for any kid to sit that long, but a four year old with sensory issues can make the car ride incredibly hard.  One year, he asked for a “hug” for an hour straight.  Factor in food breaks, toilet breaks, coffee breaks and sensory breaks and a four hour ride can sometimes turn into six.   Oh yeah, and diaper changing breaks for the two year old too.

Leaving the comforts of our house is somewhat of a challenge.  Besides my son’s sensory issues, he has a food intolerance to all products with corn in them (corn syrup, corn starch, dextrose, etc.) so we travel with our own food.  Additionally, my husband is a vegan so we need to make sure we have things that he can eat as well.  All this makes eating anywhere but home a little dicey. 

However, we’ve made the trip enough now that I know what to do ahead of time to get us ready, and what to pack to make the journey successful.  I thought I’d share our packing list with you, in case you are also getting ready for a big holiday adventure.  I’ve based our list on the car game “I’m packing my grandmother’s trunk and I’m bringing…” something based on each letter of the alphabet. 

Getting To Know You by Alysia Butler

When Hartley asked if I would be a regular contributor on her Hartley’s Life with 3 Boys site, I was humbled and honored.  I started writing about my family’s journey with sensory processing disorder because of her, and I have learned so much from all the information she provides here. 

I sat up late at night trying to figure out the best way to introduce myself and my family to everyone.  I wanted to tell all her readers that I know what they are going through, that while the details of our adventures might be different, I understand the daily struggles that we all encounter.  I couldn’t figure out a good way to share all that.

I could start with “Hi, my name is Alysia and I have a son with sensory processing disorder”.  But that didn’t quite feel right.

I could tell you that I’m a stay at home mom with three boys, ages 8, 4 and 2.  My four year old was diagnosed with sensory processing disorder at age 2 ½, and with autism spectrum disorder in December 2009.  Still, that just didn’t tell the whole story.

But then it hit me.  Why not introduce myself through the Dunn Sensory Profile*?  You know, that multi-page form that so many of us have filled out for our schools, our occupational therapists and our early intervention coordinators. I have filled it out so many times I can almost do it in my sleep.  I figured I could pull out a couple of the questions and share my answers from two years ago with everyone.