Sun and Sensory Issues

Right after Logan's diagnosis, we began dealing with a sensory issue that nearly killed us.  Literally.  Logan HATED for the sun to shine on him through the car windows.  We did not know it was a sensory issue at the time. Just that Logan wouldn't ride in the car without screaming every time the sunshine touched him.  His screams were so ear piercing that we would do anything to get him to stop. Considering that we live in Florida, you know the Sunshine State, not taking him out in the car was not an option. Add to that he had special needs preschool  the next town over from ours and I worked 30 mins from there and  he spent a considerable amount of time in the car.  What we resorted to was to hang a towel in the window he sat by to block out the sun.  That made his window completely unusable for driving purposes.  See what I mean by nearly killed us. Knowing  what we know now, we can clearly see that it was a sensory issue.  If I had to do it over again, God forbid, I would brush him before we left the house to get him in a calm and relaxed state. I would put a weighted blanket on him to give him the sensory pressure that he so craved ( I believe it is proprioceptive input but don't quote me on that).  I would keep the extra stimuli to a minimum in an effort to keep him calm.  Back then, I was so stressed and overloaded that I would turn the radio on to calm me.  It never did because it overloaded him more. Then he would scream louder and I would get more stressed.  It was a no win battle. The one thing that I would change from those early years is to take his sensory needs more seriously.  Unfortunately you are still in crisis mode when you first get the diagnosis.  You are trying to get through the day and grieving the loss of the child you imagined.  That's a whole other post though.