Customer Reviews

I'm Not Weird, I Have SID

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4 star:		(1)
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"It's all too much for me to see...it's all too much for me to take..." -- George Harrison, 1968

Alexandra, 4 has SID (Sensory Integration Disorder). She is ultra sensitive to certain sights, has an adverse reaction to loud noises, odors and finds certain things painful and repulsive to the touch. Show me a person with sensory issues who DOESN'T hate loud noises and surprises and I'll show you a flying bulldog that sings.

This wonderful book takes readers on an incredible voyage with Alexandra from her birth to age 4. Extreme sensory reactions such as Alexandra had are often found among people on the autism spectrum. While it is extremely doubtful that Alexandra is on the autism spectrum and most likely is NOT, there is some overlap as autism also is a sensori-neurobiological condition.

For ANYBODY with sensory issues, whether they have autism, SID or both, it is terrifying to cope with an onslaught of sensory input and not know why others are not as adversely affected. For many people with autism, sensory processing is a very real issue as well.

This book is an olive branch to the neurotypical population and to anybody on a sensory spectrum, SID or autism or both. It is unfortunate that Alexandra's peers jeered her with the epithet of weird, but that is sadly not uncommon. This book will hopefully allay Alexandra's and any child on a sensory spectrum's concern by assuring them that they are NOT alone, NOT weird and that their responses are natural and understandable.

I thank this author from the bottom of my heart for this wonderful book. How I wish I had this when I was a child. Kudos!

While this book is good for it's intended audience, young children with SID/SPD, I am also excited about it's potential for educating siblings- and even parents. It can be difficult to really understand what a child is going through with SID/SPD, and to siblings, it can look like they are just attention seeking (and receiving!). This book can help siblings understand what is really going on, which can be invaluable to them. I hope to see more by this author!

I bought this for a child with SID, but I've changed my mind about giving it to him. The problem is that no one has called him "weird" and so I don't really want to introduce that word into his self-identity even in the manner of saying it isn't true.

I could wish for more stories from more kids talking about various ways they experienced SID, but these generalizations give the right idea. I think many people have SID but they don't experience it to this extreme.

This would be a very good book to help others such as siblings and adults understand what it feels like to have SID, but I'd be careful about using it with a group of kids, because again a child might start calling another child "weird" just because they heard it in the book.

I wish they would republish the book and deal with this one issue, because other than that, its an excellent book.

Before I read this book and also Chynna's story in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Children with Special Needs: Stories of Love and Understanding for Those Who Care for Children with Disabilities I had never heard of SID. Many people I talked to hadn't heard of it either. Chynna Laird's book helps bring understanding to parents, teachers, and children who may know some one with SID. (Sensory Integration Dysfunction)

Written through the eyes of a four-year-old girl, Alexandra, this book tells the story of her journey, from birth (and not knowing she had SID) to finding out why she was experiencing these things (sight, sound, smell, touch) and learning how to deal with it. For someone with SID the world is a very scary place. Children with SID are more sensitive to things such as smell, lights, and touch, and have a hard time processing the senses around them. Chynna's book allows us to understand what children are going through and gives some great tips on how to combat these feelings so that the world isn't as scary. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about SID. It's a picture book, and the illustrations really help to visualize what children with SID go through. Thank you Chynna for giving the world this gift!