Finding The Right Care Can Make All The Difference – 

Sensory Processing is the neurological ability to take in, filter, and respond to sensory information provided by the body’s eight senses in order to successfully interact with the surrounding environment. A diagnosis of Sensory Processing Disorder refers to the brain’s inability to accurately and successfully process any combination of these senses and can result in observable differences in overall behaviors. It is a diagnosis that can make every day experiences very challenging, and can be difficult to identify and diagnose. That was the case for 8-year-old Declan, who spent the beginning of his life angry, frustrated, with frequent outburst due to his inability to self-regulate his sensory needs. It was a daily struggle for Declan and his family, before he came to Weisman Children’s Outpatient Rehabilitation in Washington Township. His mother Christy explains what life was like for Declan before they came to Weisman Children’s. “It has been a journey with Declan. Since he was a baby we always thought something was a little different with him and took a while for anyone to pay attention to us. He was misdiagnosed for much of his life. He had been struggling and declining in behavior at home and at school. We needed help so we can be provided the tools to help him be ok.”

When Declan was referred to Weisman Children’s he started with occupational therapists Jenni, who almost immediately was able to begin working on Declan’s sensory regulation. “Declan had emotional regulation difficulties. He would often have very big tantrums and could not calm himself down even, though he was trying to. This impacted his daily life in multiple ways, including being held back on social interactions.” Declan’s comfort with Jenni, as well as her guidance offered to Christy lead to a very fast progress for Declan.

Christy attributes this relationship as to one of the reasons why Declan was able to start turning things around. “Before coming to Weisman Children’s, I didn’t feel like I had anyone to talk to about Declan’s condition and help me figure out the why of it. Since starting with Jenni, I feel like I have someone in my corner now. She is familial. I feel like I have someone helping us that understands him and understands what we are going through. After years of people telling us nothing is wrong, it has been a positively refreshing experience to have someone in our corner. It has made a world of difference.”

While good relationships are always a factor in progress, Declan’s therapy sessions are where the big progress with his sensory processing diagnosis have been made, Jenni explains the strategies she uses to help improved Declan’s condition. “We used a lot of sensory strategies and focused on ways to help him be able to control his emotions. People with Declan’s condition, do not have an awareness of where there body is in space and for all of us our body’s number one drive is to know where you are in space. It lets your body know if you safe. Since he had deficits in those areas, his body was always in a flight or fight state. Any problem became a huge problem and he was always under such stress.  We used a program called zones of regulation. This program allows him to describe his state and better regulate his emotions.”

Therapy with Weisman Children’s has already made a huge difference in Declan’s life according to Christy, “the difference in his behavior has been a 180. He has been able to verbalize his feelings, which has made a world of difference for him at home and in school. Before Weisman Children’s, he would get so angry, frustrated that he couldn’t regulate. As he has been able to tell us what is going on, we have learned how to teach him how to react.”

Thanks to the work of Jenni, Christy is excited for her son’s future. “Coming for therapy at Weisman Children’s is the best thing we have done for him. It has been a journey for us since he was little. I was finally able to have the confidence that an organization had the people that will understand my child and his needs. It was easy to feel alone and coming to Weisman Children’s validated everything that was in my head. I want to give Declan the tools to be a successful child and adult and coming here has been a learning experience for us as well. It is therapy for Declan, but therapy for us too, so we understand what we need to do to let our child be successful. Declan has amazing gifts, having a sensory processing diagnosis is not something we want him to be ashamed about or embarrassed to talk to others about. We are just so happy we were able to find people who could help Declan and now with his new skills learned in therapy he can show how he is extraordinary he is in so many ways.”