Life as a SEN mum

For those of you who may not know, SPD stands for Sensory Processing Disorder, it’s generally officially diagnosed but will be referred to within other diagnoses, particularly those with an ASD diagnosis.

I could easily do a whole post on SPD, but given the weather at the minute I thought it was an apt time to discuss it, particularly when it comes to clothing, because with extreme weather conditions can come a whole load of problems.

You’ve no doubt possibly noticed kids who just never seem to be dressed for the weather. We’re talking no coat in winter or still wrapped up in summer. Those that I know people are staring at wondering why, don’t get me wrong, I look at my own kids and think exactly the same, but it’s not them just being “awkward” or “bad parenting” that parenting one really gets me. I often find myself shouting “are you sure you don’t want your coat on” while carrying said coat, just so everyone is fully aware that I am trying.

So why do they seem to not be able to dress appropriately for the weather? It’s all down to the senses, this is going to vary from child to child. Often it’s very similar reasons, you’ll find lots of parents with any item of clothing referring to very similar sensory triggers, but as with anything it’s not always going to be the same for every child.

Anyone who knows us, knows that James has always spent most of days in minimal clothing. Sometimes it’s the feel of clothing, but a lot of the time it’s simply that he’s always so warm that extra layers causes him to over heat and therefore makes him uncomfortable. But while that’s the case for us you do find with some that they may still wear a big coat in summer because they need the extra comfort from that extra layer. Even if for most of us it may seem uncomfortable.

Charlotte on the other hand is more triggered by the general feel of clothes. Not so much when it comes to the material, but the fit is extremely important. I know this may seem like something that lots of us contend with, and is something we often overthink, but bear with me in this one. It can take her a lot of time to get used to items such as winter coats that are that bit longer than thin summer jackets, meaning as the seasons change she becomes reluctant to want to wear it, regardless of the weather. The fact that winter coats are generally quite bulky is another issue that she struggles with as she seems to feel it hinders her movement.

All of this may seem like things that are maybe obvious, or a lot of you may be reading it thinking, actually you know exactly what I’m talking about because you deal with these things as well. But for those who maybe don’t have to deal with it on a day to day basis, just remember that before judging someone, we’ve probably exhausted ourselves just trying to get our kids to wear clothing that they aren’t really comfortable wearing, all for your validation.