Customer Reviews

The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Integration Dysfunction

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

If you are a parent or a teacher of a child with bewildering or inconsistant behavior problems, this book explains comprehensively and clearly the ofen conflicting symptoms of children with SI dysfunction. Most exciting is the hope that children can now be diagnosed at an early age so they can begin OT therapy when it has a chance to be its most effective. Also exciting is the knowledge that there are many simple things that parents and teachers can do at home and in the classroom to improve the functioning of SI kids. I have reccomended this book to dozens of parents who have come back to buy copies for their child's teacher. The book contains an excellent resources guide, too! P.S. Carol Kranowitz does a fabulous job presenting about SI dysfunction at professional workshops. See her if you have the chance.

This is a helpful guide for parents who are looking for information on this condition. It includes simple checklist tests for the parent to apply to preschool aged children to help determine if the child has SID. If the condition is suspected, then the parent may read further.

There are chapters devoted specifically to the different ways that SID may manifest (tactile, vestibular, and proprioceptive). Symptoms are compared and contrasted with a normal sensory integration vs. a sensory integration disorder in a table format, which I found helpful. One example is a detailed account of how children react if another student bumps into them-she explains how a SID child may react (very strongly and gets upset) while the non-SID child doesn't get upset and may make a joke of it and laugh it off.

This book is loaded with detailed information to help parents. For example, lists of behaviors associated with certain type disorders such as symptoms of low muscle tone, symptoms of visual-spatial processing, etc.

An explanation of the differences between SID and ADD/ADHD, allergy, and Learning Disabilities and an explanation of how a child may have two or more of these conditions whose symptom lists may overlap.

The book covers how to seek help, how to document symptoms and behaviors, and why it is important to seek help are explained. There are almost 30 pages on what a parent can do at home to help treat this condition (above and beyond getting services from health care professionals or 'experts').

How to cope with school issues is addressed in another chapter.

There is a chapter on the basics of the neurological system is included for reference and is helpful if parents are rusty on their knowledge of how the neurological system works.

A glossary of terms is included and is helpful, as sometimes the author has no choice but to use neurological terms instead of layman's terms in the body of the book.

There are ten pages of resources for parents which I feel is invaluable. There are several pages of recommended reading if one wants to learn even more. This is such a detailed and easy to understand volume.

Clarification about this review, updated 12/27/2008: This review applies to the first edition of this book which was the only edition published at the time I read the book and reviewed it back in December of 2000. At the time this review was written this was the one and only book on the market for parents to read about SID and it was valued highly by parent-readers because it was the one source of this information that we could access in written form. After this review was published some other books have come onto the market including some that were written by this same author. Additionally since December 2008 the Internet has exploded with information, on websites, on online discussion boards, on blogs, and Internet search engines have evolved to make finding information on SID easier for parents and health care professionals. It seems to me that the discussion of SID has opened further with more information being available as time went on, especially of interest to parents of children with diagnoses on the Autism Spectrum. SID was talked about much less frequently back in 2000 than it is in 2008.

This book is easy to read & understand and provides examples to further explain topics.

Our Pediatrician recommended this book as we turned to her to help understand what was wrong with our 3 1/2 year old son who was sensitive to tags in shirts, lumpy socks, getting hands wet/muddy, being touched or held. He was physical and was considered "violent" and unruly by DayCare/Preschool staff; he would not tolerate touch but would push or bang into others. The Grandparents would just say "he's all boy..".

After reading this book we had our son evaluated by an Occupational Therapist who specializes in SID and had our suspicions confirmed. This book helped explain that my son craved and needed specific movement through space, swinging & deep pressure, and why he craved these sensations. He was not being violent or unruly, he was trying to make sense of the sensory overload that he struggled with every waking moment of his short life. This book helped explain why certain noises caused such calamity, why being lightly touched by the shirt sleeve of another child would send him into a defensive mode.

After a couple of weeks of OT, my son for the very first time voluntarily climbed into my lap for some snuggling. I don't know how long it would have taken to discover what was wrong with our son if it hadn't been for the Out of Sync Child. This book contained so many examples that perfectly fit our child that it helped us, his parents, to seek out the help necessary to help our child make sense of this very sensory world we live in.

I was very disappointed with the content of this video, after being so positively impacted by the same book. I don't think that I would have been able to grasp the occupational therapy concepts presented in the video without having first read the book. Hoping for a summary of the book to share with collegues and other parents, I am hesitant to pass this video along because the content is sketchy and does not flow nearly as well as the book. It felt like some of the author's presentation was cut out. Invest in the book first.

The concept of Sensory Intregration Dysfuction is difficult to grasp. It sounds like some touchy feely diagnostic fad at first. It's even harder to explain to those around you. This book is an excellent detailed account of what it means, what to look for, what to do to correct it. Through this book we began to find help for our child and it was the first clue of an underlying more serious disorder (in his case, Asperger Syndrome.) Once you understand Sensory Integration Dysfuction you can spot it so easily it's hard to believe you could miss it before. On a playground, in a classroom, at Sunday school I can pick out the kids who have sensory issues in a heartbeat. If teachers were armed with this book they could save themelves, the parents and especially the chidren so much heartache. Kids would be diagnosed faster and be able to overcome their difficulties. If you have children in your life, please read this book. Knowledge is power.

Kristi SakaiFinding Our Way: Practical Solutions for Creating a Supportive Home and Community for the Asperger Syndrome Family

This book was recommended to me by an occupational therapistwhen I told her about how "different" our 12 year old wasfrom his brother and sister. The Out-of-Sync Child has answered our question of "Why does he do that?" We were ready to consult "psych" professionals to help our family deal with these "odd" behaviors. This book has truly changed and improved our relationship with our son.

I have a child whom no label seems to fit. He's not quite this, seems a lot like that, but none of the extensive testing had given us any answers. "He can do it if he wants to, he just won't." That was the diagnosis of school, therapists, etc- the educational and medical community was certain my child was just not motivated. Trouble was, I KNEW how much he wanted to succeed- how badly he wanted to fit in and get along. Then I read 'The Out of Sync Child". It was him ! This book carries real life examples and real life solutions. You may not be at your wit's end - but don't wait until you are. It's not just for professionals, it's written for parents as well- and I wish I'd read it years ago.

A child with sensory integration disorder spends most of his life uncomfortable in his own skin. The Out-of-Sync Child is an excellent resource for parents whose children suffer from this crippling neurological condition, and demonstrates the devastation that can come from having "the volume control" on one or more of the senses (including the sense that allows the average blindfolded person to eat with a fork without impaling his own cheek) set too high or too low.

In actuality, sensory integration disorder -- or sensory processing disorder (another way of saying it) -- is usually a painful comorbidity with some other disability. It rarely occurs in a vacuum. Many children with disabilities of all kinds suffer from this, and the list of those disabilities is sometimes counterintuitive. If you read Boy in the Moon, by Ian Brown, you will find that his son, Walker, suffers from sensory processing problems that go with having CFC, a very rare genetic condition.

The Out-of-Sync Child helps the reader not only understand their child better, but also to understand the evaluation process better. Why does the evaluator care that he wakes up frequently in the night? What does it mean that he loves bear hugs but lashes out at a gentle touch?

One cannot explain sensory integration disorder in a sound-bite, but at least, thanks to this book, parents have understanding of this multifaceted, complicated disorder, and parents will be delighted to find in the book some immediate solutions for helping the sufferer -- and the parents -- cope.

The treatment of choice for S.I. Disorder is occupational therapy, and many treatments must be carried on at home as well as by the specialist.

I found this book by accident..stumbled upon it at a thrift store (sorry Amazon!) but I am so grateful I did!
My son, by the age of 1, was hitting, screaming, kicking, punching, biting, etc. on a daily basis. The vacuum would send him hiding under the table, screaming. A slight touch to his head would make him come at you with fist flailing. I was at a loss as to how to help him or reach him...Shopping was a nightmare because a store environment would make him loss control completely.
When I read this book, I felt like somebody was explaining to me in very straightforward language what was going on with my son. And better than that, I was being offered 30+ pages of concrete, practical, do-able ideas for how to help him.
Implementing the suggestions in the book plus some independent reseach and the addition of a vitamen supplement formulated for ADHD kids turned my son's behavior around.
He is now (at 3) only rarely combative or self-abusive and even when he is, I now understand what is triggering it and how to stop it.
My son's sensory dysfunction is a result of mild autism but with or without other issues, this book addresses the sensory issues so well that it can be used as a parent primer and treatment guide freestanding or in companion with something autism-specific.
Wonderful book....this is a very worthwhile purchase, in my opinion.

This book opened my eyes to exactly what was "wrong" with my bright but "out-of-sync" child. He read like the checklist for one of the dysfunctions. This book not only explains what DSI is, it helps you identify it and gives you practical advice on how to cope and where to get help. Best of all--it confirms that there is hope for your child to function "normally" with just a little bit of help. Thanks to this book, my son is getting the help he needs and improving at an astounding rate. I highly recommend it if you suspect ADHD or something more serious in your child. DSI is often misdiagnosed by parents, teachers and pediatricians as ADHD and this book can give you a place to start.