Night Terror's

I am probably one of the few women in Northern Minnesota who literally HATES Winter!  Sure I love sledding and the beauty of snow and little rosy cheeks.  I love pine tree's covered in sparkling frost, and the sound of the crunch of heavy boots as they trudge across the pasture.

What I don't love is the cold.  The cold and the affect it has on my children; my eldest to be specific.

As many of you know, Gage has what is called Sensory Processing Disorder.  I am going to go ahead and post the definition.

Sensory processing is a term that refers to the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioral responses. Whether you are biting into a hamburger, riding a bicycle, or reading a book, your successful completion of the activity requires processing sensation or "sensory integration."

Sensory Processing Disorder  is a condition that exists when sensory signals don't get organized into appropriate responses. Pioneering occupational therapist and neuroscientist A. Jean Ayres, PhD, likened SPD to a neurological "traffic jam" that prevents certain parts of the brain from receiving the information needed to interpret sensory information correctly. A person with SPD finds it difficult to process and act upon information received through the senses, which creates challenges in performing countless everyday tasks. Motor clumsiness, behavioral problems, anxiety, depression, school failure, and other impacts may result if the disorder is not treated effectively.

Sensory Processing Disorder can affect people in only one sense–for example, just touch or just sight or just movement–or in multiple senses. One person with SPD may over-respond to sensation and find clothing, physical contact, light, sound, food, or other sensory input to be unbearable. Another might under-respond and show little or no reaction to stimulation, even pain or extreme hot and cold. In children whose sensory processing of messages from the muscles and joints is impaired, posture and motor skills can be affected. These are the "floppy babies" who worry new parents and the kids who get called "klutz" and "spaz" on the playground. Still other children exhibit an appetite for sensation that is in perpetual overdrive. These kids often are misdiagnosed - and inappropriately medicated - for ADHD.

Sensory Processing Disorder is most commonly diagnosed in children, but people who reach adulthood without treatment also experience symptoms and continue to be affected by their inability to accurately and appropriately interpret sensory messages.

OK so I know that is a super long definition... but sadly even THAT is not a complete one.  Gage's main issue's are things like excitement in public and around large groups, distress at loud or disturbing sounds, dislike to being touched, poor fine motor function, severe clumsiness, no reaction to heat or pain, and many others.   A lot of people don't think of Gage as having Special Needs because when you look at him he just looks like a typical kid. He can talk and walk and is cute like his mom (score).  The one thing we are dealing with very severely right now though.....

Sleeplessness and Night Terror's.

In the Winter, Gage struggles pretty badly with sleeplessness.  I understand because I do too, but Gage and I are a bit opposite.  I cannot fall asleep, but Gage has no problem in that area.... it's the staying asleep he cannot do.  So basically now he is waking up for the day between 1:30am and 2:00am.  Trust me it is rough for Mommy.  Mostly because I am lucky if I have the other two passed out by then.  

So Gage is waking up many hours before sunrise, but not a nice wake up.  He is officially back to having Night Terrors first.

If you have never seen someone have a Night Terror, let me tell you, it is a thousand times worse than a nightmare.  When Gage has them, sometimes he is functioning like he is completely awake until he does something like pee's all over himself, pours a jug of juice on the floor or punches himself in the face.  One time last Summer he walked out of the house and I caught him right before he fell in the steep, water-filled ditch.  This was at about 3:00am.  Reasons like this are why I sleep with one eye open.

The other face of Gage's Night Terrors is exactly what you might imagine it to be.... Terror.  Blood curdling screams, crying, drool, vomit, clawing, punching and a 65 pound flopping body.  There is nothing worse than trying to help your child through a Night Terror and being completely helpless.  What I have to do is get a cool wet rag and try and help him through it.  A child in the midst of a Terror does not just wake from it... they have to work themselves out of it.  This can take minutes or a couple of hours.  Our longest one lasted about an hour and a half.

So now we are back to Sleeplessness and Night Terrors.  This does not make for a healthy child.  He has big black circles under his eyes, is no longer making eye contact, had a meltdown when I attempted to wash his hair and brush his teeth today (yes, when it gets this bad I have to do this for him) and has decided he does not want to learn to read.  A month ago, you couldn't have TOLD Gage that reading wasn't an option.  He is backsliding in a matter of a couple of weeks, but even more so in the last couple of days.

I had truly hoped that allowing him to do Hockey would help us with the coping of the Winter months, but it has not.  It hasn't made it worse though, so I really can't complain.  All I can do is count down the months until Summer.  

We will now officially be clearing our schedule for the next couple of days, shutting the ringer off on the phone, and not allowing visitors.  We have to do this every once in a while to get him back down to Earth.  Shut out the outside world to help him get where he needs to be.

Tonight Gage was given a hot, comforting supper and hot cider.  We did a warm lavender bath, layered three pairs of jammies on for compression and I layered a couple of heavy weighted blankets on him for bed.  I am thinking next Summer we are going to have to look into some fundraisers to raise him the funds for the service dog.  Uff da.

Please keep Gage in your thoughts over the next couple of months.  He is going to need all of the love and support he can get to make it to Summer.   He is a good kid, and it seems like the more people that show him love and support, the better he thrives.