Making sense out of senses

There are more senses than the big four (sight, sound, smell and feeling). We are totally unaware of all the senses that we use just to move through our environment. Several of these senses are related to the organ we use for hearing but it isn't hearing. Remember the inner ear? Well that is an amazing organ that does quite a bit of work for us all the time. It not only collects the stimuli that is translated into meaningful sounds but it also tells us whether we are upright, lying down, sitting, etc.

Why am I writing about this? Because I never knew how many senses we have. I never knew that things could go wrong with the intrepretation of the stimuli. I do now because after many years of thinking that something wasn't quite right with Storyteller I finally found out what it is. She has Sensory Processing Disorder. It tends to be mild but things can set off temper tantrums that others find uncomfortable.

Starting in January Storyteller began her therapy sessions. It is rather amazing that things are settling down. Storyteller's temper tantrums are fewer. We actually respond differently to her now. Now we stop and try to evaluate the environment to figure out what is bothering her. We try to lessen those things we can not change and change those we can.

Take this morning. First Storyteller is recovering from something. Two, she didn't get to bed early enough last night. Three, this morning the sun was out in full force. After calming her rage and figuring out what was bothering her I gave her a pair of sun glasses to wear. Sounds corny to wear sunglasses in the house but it did make a change to her responses to her environment.

So I suppose the world will think of me as a mother to a special needs child but I don't. I'm a mother to a child. She is bright, sweet, and loving. Storyteller is filled with compassion. She is intelligent. There is nothing wrong with her other than how her brain interprets the stimuli around her. Don't get me wrong. I will do everything in my power to get her the help she needs but I don't think of her any differently.