Editor’s note: Woody Sims is an18 year-old with SPD. He is about to graduate from high school and will be attending Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Woody is a remarkable young man who became a part of the SPD Foundation and STAR Center family many years ago when he came for occupational therapy. Over the years, Woody has volunteered his time to help in any way he could. His parents, who own a few local restaurants, have also been incredibly supportive of the Foundation by catering numerous events over the years at no charge. We wanted to share Woody’s success story, which just so happens to be his entrance essay for college. Thank you, Sims family, for your devoted support.
By Woody Sims
I was never what you could consider a “normal” boy. Sure I was in boy scouts for a year or so, I enjoyed cartoons, and I played imaginary future army games with my friends from time to time. However, most of the time I spent my days pretending a picnic table on the playground was a computer, my friends were vampires, and my basement was a haunted mansion. While that could be chalked up to good old-fashioned imagination, my deep fears of loud noises, cooked carrots, and handwriting, however, were something else entirely.
After much research and many consultations, it became clear I had a condition called Sensory Processing Disorder, SPD for short. Basically, those with SPD can’t process stimuli correctly. Either they get overloaded with stimuli and can’t handle it, or they end up with too little stimuli and actively crave more. I was over-stimulated, which meant I couldn’t handle certain textures, and freaked out at loud noises. I also had problems managing tasks with multi-sensory inputs, like handwriting and catching a ball. These sensory problems meant that sports, driving, and concerts would all be things I couldn’t ever do or see without a great deal of difficulty.
Despite the multiple negatives, there was still a positive twist. SPD wasn’t, and still isn’t, recognized as a condition. Not enough research had been done on it in time for the psychiatric handbook refresh. One of the biggest arguments against SPD as a diagnosis was that these complications, over- and under-stimulation, could easily be ADD or even Autism. Lucky for me, they needed someone with signs of SPD and without ADD or Autism for their research, and I fit the bill perfectly. I would be able to get treatment as part of the study, and the usually expensive therapy would be free.
The best treatment for SPD was Occupational Therapy, which in essence had me moving between different styles of platforms suspended from the ceiling over a floor covered in gym mats. My therapist, a nice British woman named Andrea, told me which platform to move to, and I would try to get there. At first, I struggled. Some platforms were easy enough to get on, and would only take a couple of tries. There was one, though, that was evil. It was basically a gymnastic vault horse, covered in padding, and suspended from the air without any handles. It was nearly impossible to grip, since it hung higher than most of the other platforms, and it was always just a little bit out of reach. Sometimes I would spend an entire hour trying to get on that annoying horse, and still never get it. Weeks passed, and I managed to squirm onto it if my therapist held the platform closer. Then one day, without any help, I reached for the horse, pulled it closer, got my leg over, and it was over. I had conquered the horse. In my moment of glory, I heard Andrea say, “Good, Woody. Now, move that one.” The phrase “get back on the horse” never had more meaning.
In the end, I’m still not a normal kid. I often prefer the company of myself to the company of friends, I listen to dance music, even when I’m not dancing, and my current dream careers consist of Imagineer at Disney or CEO of Disney. The only difference is that now I play varsity basketball, sit in the front row at concerts, and hate cooked carrots because of their flavor, not their texture. As for the other stuff, I think why be normal? Being different is way more fun.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for sharing your story, and thank you for giving this sensational mom a whole lot of hope for the future!!!!
Beautiful article. As a Mama to a beautiful 5-year-old SPD boy in his 2nd year of OT, speech therapy and social skills groups, I hope and pray he finds self-acceptance, confidence and joy from within, and writes an article like this when he graduates high school. Thank you for the hope, Woody!
Woody, thanks for sharing this. I’m the mother of a 5yr old boy with SPD, and I’m scared about his future. Your article made cry because I can see my boy in you, and that’s not something that happens often as my son is certainly not average, but like you said, normal is not nearly as fun as different.
This is a great entrance essay!! Wonderful!! And gives me lots of hope as I am the mother of a now 13 yr old who STUGGLES with this disorder! The schools don’t recognize it and told me he had Add. I put him on pills and he literally became the devil himself! I knew that he had sensory integration (as it was first presented to me) and explained this to the teachers and his daycare they took the packet of information I took the time to print off my pc and highlight for them but my guess is they just threw it out as soon as I left because they both basically told me I was making excuses for his difficult behavior! I started homeschooling and told the doc that he was looked at in Pre-school screening and that they told me they thought he had sensory integration she told me ok let’s get him into some occupational therapy I was SOOO relieved that finally at the age of 8 now somebody was listening and agreed with me! He’s now 13 and had a ways to go but these words from an 18 yr old give me sincere hope!! Thank you SO SO SO much!!
This story gives parents with a child with SPD the opportunity to open the eyes of those around them. Family and friends that cannot grasp the reason why your child does what they do (or can’t do what others do). Thanks!
Great story! I have SPD and I am 30. I was diagnosed at age 7 and I am a lot like you. As a young girl I got picked on a lot because of it and still to this day have a hard time socializing and going on roller coasters. I did get my drivers license last year finally and it felt great. I ended up graduating college with honors when my high school said I wasn’t going to college. I have done so much more than anyone thought I would. It is great to hear other stories of success. Way to go! I also want to be an ot who works with kids who have SPD.
I have Asperger’s Syndrome (all the social and emotional frontal lobe control issues) along with SPD. I have received treatment for my life-long auditory sensitivity. I actually was blessed enough to be able to receive Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, which also works for those with hyperacusis (or hyperactive hearing). Hearing is interpreted inside the brain. This really helped me. My life has expanded in the 3 years following completion. There is more work to be done, but I can see that I have a future if our legislators don’t cut federal & state spending to balance a budget maxed out by greed & mismanagement (I’m from the U.S.). Because I have an I.Q. of 110 and my problems do not show up unless I am under stress, I am/have been very misunderstood, bullied, physically abused by police & medical professionals, and given up on everyone aside from my mother & God. I am glad you have a future ahead of you. You know you still have struggles-but that you can manage them. I’m 32.75 years old & only recently found that out. God bless. ~autisticaplanet
Thank you for writing this ! I