I recently had an eye opening and kind of life-changing thing happen with my sensory kiddo…she was sick. This might not mean much for a child who does not have SPD, but for us, it was, and still is, a LOT to deal with. She was congested for a couple of weeks. I thought it was a cold or maybe allergies, so I was doing the normal home remedies (humidifier, decongestant, etc.). Nothing was working. I could tell the congestion was getting worse so I called the doctor and took her in.

Come to find out…she has STREP!  I was like WHAT?!? She did not have a fever, a sore throat, or any other signs of it. When the NP looked, her tonsils were red and swollen and she tested positive for strep. I could not believe it. We were there for a possible sinus infection only to find out she has strep.

This got me thinking about how or if her SPD would effect her being sick and me not knowing it. She is a seeker and her body under-registers. I asked her OT if it is possible that her body was not registering the pain and sore throat from the strep, and she said yes. I had a feeling she was going to say yes, but hearing it still freaked me out.

To be honest, I am still kind of freaked out. How am I going to know if she is really sick?  Strep left untreated can be very dangerous. I’m going to be that Mom that takes her daughter to the doctor at the first sign of a sniffle…okay not really, but probably close  . I am still processing what this means for us. I know for sure I am going to have to be very diligent if she shows any signs of a cold or anything.

I am still new to all of this sensory stuff. I am learning that it effects everything. When a lot of kids get sick, they may be grumpy for a few days, but my sensory kiddo had more than a week of issues, both at school and aftercare. Before I realized just how sick she was, I was worried that she was regressing and needed more therapy and different interventions.

After talking with her OT, I felt better about things, behavior-wise, because she let me know that when a sensory kiddo is sick, their body is even more effected and can cause a lot of issues. My daughter’s self-regulation is almost non-existent, due to her sensory difficulties, so I know that probably has a lot to do with this as well.

So what is a Mom of a sensory kiddo to do??? Laugh and Pray. Laugh so I don’t go crazy and pray so I have hope.  

This post originally appeared on Jojo’s Blog. You can read more from Jojo there.