The Torture of Touch

Raising a Child With Sensory Integration Dysfunction

By Laurie Dove

Some children with DSI, like Max, have nervous systems that feel sensation too easily or too much. According to the Sensory Integration Resource Center, these children might respond to touch with aggression or withdrawal or be unwilling to take risks or try new things.

Yet other children have problems with new motor skills or activities. These children may be unable to master handwriting, kicking or catching balls or may have trouble with balance.

Because the dysfunction varies so much, it can be hard to diagnose. It can also be mistaken for other disorders with some of the same symptoms, such as attention deficit disorder or autism, according to Sensory Integration International, a nonprofit corporation seeking to educate parents and the public about DSI.

Or the child can simply be thought of as "difficult," as Lofgren believed her daughter to be. That is, she said, until she read The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping With Sensory Integration Dysfunction(Perigee Trade,1998)by Carol Stock Kranowitz.

Kranowitz, who has a degree in education and human development, has been teaching music, movement and drama to preschool children since 1976. Lofgren saw her daughter reflected in the children Kranowitz described in her book.

"I was always tired from chasing after her and trying to keep her safe," Lofgren says. "I never knew what was going to set her off and was exhausted at night after trying to stay ahead of her emotional needs. I always saw peace in her when she was sleeping. I used to watch her sleep and wonder why life seemed so hard for her. Was she just a 'difficult' child? Was it me and my parenting? I didn't want to believe any of that, and really, I didn't. I remember reading [Kranowitz's] book and crying with joy. 'This is my child,' I remember thinking. And that started us on our journey."

Want to see more?

• Understanding Attention Deficit Disorder
• Terror in the Night
• Read about one mom's experience with DSI here
• Talk about it