About today’s author, Marilyn Barr.
“Marilyn Barr currently resides in the wilds of Kentucky with her
husband, son, and rescue cats. When engaging with the real world, she is
collecting characters, empty coffee cups, and unused homeschool curricula.
She has a diverse background containing experiences as a child prodigy
turned medical school reject, biodefense microbiologist, high school science
teacher, homeschool mother of a savant, and advocate for the autistic
community.”
Barr is the author of Strawberry Shifters, a series of novels focusing on magic, romance, and Sensory Processing Disorder. You can learn more about her book, her background and her other writing projects on any of the following platforms.
Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // Goodreads
Sensory Processing Disorder: What you need to know.
And how it inspired my debut novel.
October is not only the spookiest season but also Sensory Processing Awareness Month. Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) is an umbrella term for not only SPD but also Sensory Integration Disorder, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, Sensory Modulation Disorder (SMD), and Sensory Discrimination Disorder (SDD). The goal of the term is to have a single diagnosis recognized by insurance companies to help families gain access to therapy. While we’ve come a long way since I was diagnosed with “Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified” in the 1990s, SPD hasn’t quite reached universal acceptance outside of the therapeutic community.
In my debut novel, Strawberry Shifters: Bear with Me, Alison has the same classic sensory modulation disorder symptoms as myself. Our experiences are just one example of how the disorder manifests itself in an individual.
“Each of the seven senses (touch, smell, taste, sight, hearing, proprioception, and vestibular awareness) is regulated independently in the sensory cortex of the brain.”
Each dysregulation can be over-reactive, under-reactive, or seeking as well. That are thirty-five different combinations without taking into account the severity of the reactivity or the motor response to the dysfunction. Just like with any spectrum disorder, each person’s experience will be similar but not exactly like the experience of another.
As an adult with SPD, it’s my opinion that kindergarten can be the most difficult. In kindergarten, a child is introduced to learning in larger rooms with constant stimulation. This could be in the form of fluorescent lights, other children, and sitting still for long periods of time among other things. All this while being asked to learn fine motor skills which have been a struggle due to proprioception dysregulation.
It was in kindergarten that I also met my nemesis – the cafeteria. Cafeterias and food courts are a nightmare because of my over-responsive sense of smell. My spouse teases me that I write about shifters to normalize my ability to identify restaurants while driving past them by smell alone. As an adult, I’ve the option to avoid them or to sit by the door. I control my food choices and the speed at which I eat. As a child, I didn’t have that luxury.
“It’s not just over-responsivity that makes school especially difficult for someone with Sensory Processing Disorder.”
My character Alison and I are both under-responsive to touch. It wasn’t until I was in sixth grade that someone told me it wasn’t normal to have to concentrate when putting your shoes on the correct feet. I would get asked why they didn’t “feel wrong” when my shoes were backward. My son’s occupational therapist cuts large stickers in half to put in shoes for a visual cue, but not every child is as fortunate to have an OT in their life. In high school, I had to be vigilant of hallway PDA as I couldn’t concentrate on feeling a trailing hand on my back when I was walking in the overstimulating environment.
“Now Sensory Processing Disorder has turned into my superpower.”
I match each character with their own candle scent and each couple with their song to set a vastly different mood for each narrator. Since I’ve heightened sensitivity to food textures and smells, I can replicate a dish after only a few bites. Of course, I dissect my meals before I eat just like Alison does in “Bear with Me”. A fun challenge for readers is to count the number of references to our food sorting habits throughout the series.
Being touch under-responsive allows me freedom in my fashion because itchy fabrics or heavy accessories don’t bother me. And as a high school teacher, my students never whispered gossip. I played a game with them on the first day of school to demonstrate Sensory Processing Disorder and how I could replay their whispered conversations from the far corners of the laboratory. Alison uses her under-responsivity as the ultimate weapon in “Bear with Me” too, but I won’t give away spoilers.
“Of the senses, proprioception and vestibular awareness are the least understood but most important for helping someone you know with Sensory Processing Disorder.“
Vestibular awareness is measured in the inner ear and balances your orientation in space. Are you right-side-up or upside-down, spinning or stationary? Little kids love to test their vestibular senses by climbing on the furniture or hanging upside down on playground equipment. I found my outlet in dance classes and have random dance parties in my kitchen if I need input. Guests and visitors are caught off guard but always join in the fun after a small explanation. My autistic son loves to spin, spin objects, ride rollercoasters, and perform daredevil stunts to get the amount of vestibular work his body seeks. Our living room has no furniture but instead has a sensory swing for spinning breaks in our sensory diet.
Proprioception also measures where you are in relation to your environment or the orientation of our limbs to our bodies. Is your arm bent or straight? Are you sitting up tall or slouched? It is hypothesized that hand-flapping and repetitive motions are calming measures when the individual is under-responsive to proprioceptive input. This has been my experience, as I dance-in-place less when I’m wearing tight socks to remind my body of the placement and orientation of my legs. I also wear heavy bracelets and thumb rings when I write to encourage communication between my brain and my hands. These seemingly simple accommodations were suggestions of my physical therapist, but not everyone is fortunate enough to have access to a physical therapist.
In conclusion.
I’ve been fortunate to have OT, physical therapists, chiropractors, and holistic healers in my life to create my sensory diet. It isn’t necessarily about food choices but rather activity choices. With the millions of resources on the internet, it’s much easier for parents today to design accommodations and sensory diets for their children. However, having a professional therapist to build a therapy plan is crucial. It’s my hope that the more we are aware of the disorder, the closer we’ll get to insurance coverage for much-needed thearpists.
“Happy Sensory Processing Awareness Month from the Strawberry Shifters Book Series!”
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29 Comments
I’ve never even heard of these, I appreciate being able to learn a little more.
Great post! I didn’t know about this till now so thank you for sharing this information with us!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment. I really appreciate it.
Thank you Nyxie, for helping me spread awareness. SPD without the other symptoms of autism is more common than insurance companies are recognizing. With awareness, we can help parents who are trying to get coverage for their kid’s PT and OT visits. Building a sensory diet is crucial for anyone with sensory processing differences and is not always related to social complications.
Thank you so much for your input. I really appreciate you speaking up. Anytime you would like to discuss this topic again, please remember my blog is always open.
I find this topic fascinating – thank you for sharing more on the topic!
Thank you so much for stopping in and reading. I really appreciate it.
I have never heard of Sensory Processing Disorder before. This was a very interesting read. I love that you took your experiences and made a book out of it.
Thank you so much for reading.
I have not heard of this before. Thank you for sharing your experience and solutions.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment.
My kids both have sensory processing issues. I’m so glad to see someone is raising awareness about this!
Thank you for enlightening me on the subject of Sensory Processing Disorder. I definitely learned a lot from your post.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read xx
Very informational! I wasn’t aware of this until now, thank you for sharing.
Very informative post which is definitely going to help others who live with it. It’s also a valuable read for teachers who have a child with Sensory Processing Disorder in their care (through the years I’ve had a few children with it so I appreciate the info)!
I was not aware of exactly what sensory processing disorder is. Thank you for the great information and your novel sounds very interesting.
This is the first time that I’ve heard of this disorder. Thank you for sharing your story and enlightening me.
I have never heard of this before. It is crazy what some of these things can do.
Wow! You have a great background. I admire you. As for the sensory I am glad you got help. -Lois
I have never even heard of SPD before – Thanks for sharing. 💚
It was really good to learn more about this, thank you for sharing!
This was a really interesting read. I honestly hadn’t heard much at all about sensory processing disorder before reading this. That being said, I am now doing more research to make myself familiar with the terms and what that means for a person’s life.
I hadn’t heard about sensory processing disorder. I found out a lot of useful things. Thanks for sharing your story!
the human body is so fascinating, so many functions/jobs there are in our body. I found this interesting and hadn’t know much about SPD, but now I have a better understanding, thanks!
Like many others who have mentioned before, I have never heard of this disorder. This is all new to me. I appreciate your spreading awareness to something not well known.
I’ve heard of the Sensory Processing disorder and autism terms interchanged frequently. I don’t personally know anyone with either of those issues but I am sure it can be overwhelming. I get some sensory overloads when I am having a high pain day due to my fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. I don’t like being in loud situations.
This is a really helpful explanation. Sending to a few mommy friends of mine.
Thank you for sharing.