Sensory Seeker

This morning I commented on a facebook posting from one of the autism sites that I follow.  The posting discussed sensory processing disorder and the three types of the disorder.  I commented that Bobby is a definitely a sensory seeker.  She posted back, "What does that look like in your house?"  I think you all know me well enough by now that I have to answer that type of question in pictures.  So, I wrote a comment back and looked through some pictures to find one to put with the comment so that she could "see" what I meant.  Oh my, me picking just one picture is not an easy task.

I only went through one folder of my pictures (it contains over 2000 pictures) and decided that I would put some of them together in a posting so that you too can see what Bobby's sensory seeking Sensory Processing Disorder looks like in our house.

What does "sensory seeker" mean?  Well, in Bobby's case it means he loves to feel things over his body....water, dirt, beans, mulch.  He also likes to feel water running into his mouth and out, especially with the water hose or when he is in the pool.  The most important thing about this is that Bobby likes to be OUTSIDE.  He likes to go fast...in the Rhino and in the car.  He LOVES visual stimulation, he puts things right in front of his eyes and watches them differently than the typical person.

So, without further ado, here is what Sensory Processing Disorder looks like in my house...

Riding the Rhino with Daddy, the dirtier they get the better!!!

 Playing underneath a shrub in our yard...

Sitting under the laundry basket so that he can see through the slots...

 Watching bubbles out of the corners of his eyes...

 Playdough fun!  First, you mush it in your fingers...

 Then you smell...

 Finally you taste...

 He got out the party decorations and decorated himself instead of the room...

A water puddle is like a Bobby magnet...

He mixed the potting soil, rice, and beans containers that we had for him so that he could play with it all at once...

 Even though he is in the pool, he still needs to pour water over his head...

 Watching the water shoot out of the fountain in the pool...

 Going as high as he can on the glider...

 Climbing on logs and rocks...

 Splashing the water in the air so that he can watch it fall in front of his eyes...

 Letting the water pour over him at Krepps...

Daddy put in a waterfall for Bobby in our pool so that he could have the sensory stimulation at home...

 Playing with the water hose, Bobby's favorite toy...

 Playing in the mulch...

 Playing with moon sand....

 Sitting in his sand box, which was filled with water instead of sand, pouring water from cup to cup in his mouth and in front of his eyes...

 Watching the water come out of the hose...

 Sitting in his sensory bin full of beans...

 Pouring the beans in front of his eyes...

Hope that you enjoyed a little glimpse into Bobby's World of sensory seeking behaviors.

Why I Have So Much Laundry

Bobby wanted to go outside first thing yesterday.  The sun was shining but it was chilly, so I dressed him in pants and a long sleeve shirt and he obviously took his shoes off as soon as he got out.  He loves the independence that he gets in the small fenced in part of our yard.  Mommy and Daddy aren't hovering over him...in person anyway, we are standing in the window watching him play (and I usually have my camera).

When he finally decided to come inside, he had to take off his clothes because they were way too dirty for inside.  After lunch we wanted to go back outside and while I was washing dishes he dressed himself.

He didn't care that it was 75 degrees outside, he kept his coat on and his hood up.  Daddy had mowed the yard while Bobby was in having lunch so now Bobby was gathering grass clipping in his hand and throwing them up in the air over his head.  So when it was time to come inside, he had to take his clothes off...too dirty for inside.

You guessed it...a little later, after snack, Bobby wanted to go back outside and play.  So this time I went and got him some clothes to wear.  Yes we are on outfit 3 for the day...

But when I watch him laying under the pretty tree looking up at the sky....oh, if we could all relax and enjoy nature like this boy does!!

After dinner was over, we all went outside to play.  Bobby had enough of the fenced yard and was ready to play somewhere else.  Daddy got out Bobby's new ball that the Easter Bunny brought in Bobby's Easter basket...

This ball is so cool.  It switches while in the air and turns itself inside out.  So Bobby has some visual stimulation to look at while the ball is in the air.  Daddy, Bobby and Mommy stood in a triangular formation in our back yard and played catch.  Yes, Bobby played catch with us...for 10 minutes!!!  Yes, I said 10 minutes!!!  That is more that all the time he has played catch combined in the almost 9 years of his life.  Daddy was super happy...and so was I!

The ball is softball size and just super cool!!  After the game was over, we got out the firepit and made a small fire because Mommy was getting cold.

Zoi thought that the sticks were for her to chew, not to burn in the firepit.

Bobby was too busy gathering mulch and dirt to care about the fire.  In fact he decided that he would rather go jump in the trampoline...

When it got dark, we went in for the day and Bobby got a long bath to wash off hours of Bobby style fun...playing in dirt, grass, dirt, mulch, dirt...

I was so tempted to take a picture of the bathtub after I let the water out so you could see just how dirty Bobby gets during the day.  Plus, Mommy gets to wash that much dirt off of three changes of clothing for one day!!  That's my boy...I love him, dirt and all!