In Australia they don't generally diagnose Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) as a distinct disorder. Other things, too, like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - they will give the label if it's a stand-alone condition but if you have autism they simply say, "As part of the autism package he's got sensory sensitivities, he is very obsessive and ritualistic and he will be easily distracted by the need for sameness as well as any sensory stimulation in his environment."
But when it all boils down - all three of my younger kids fit the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) labels, as part of their autism/tendencies.
Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) - they are all different. difficult child 1 was very fussy about labels in his shirts, and seams. The school uniform for our primary school kids (up to about 11 years old) is much the same around the country - grey shorts (or grey flannel trousers in winter)and blue cotton shirt. The labels inside the shirts used to really annoy difficult child 1 so I had to unpick them. Simply cutting them out was no good - the remaining edge stuck in the seam would still scratch. Some shirt labels were OK - where the label was made from printed plain cotton, it didn't bother him. But those brocade ones were the problem - the label is woven, not printed.
Seams - french seams were always best. Ordinary seams stitched and overlocked - not bad if they were stitched in cotton but some polyester threads are scratchy when used to overlock and he would refuse to wear those shirts. Nothing I could do. So I learnt what shirt brands to avoid.
Because difficult child 1 was so rough on clothes, I often bought his second hand. This meant they were always pre-washed, so we didn't have a problem with a shirt being acceptable to begin with, and then not being worn later. In general though, the kids have preferred the softer feel as the clothes get worn and the fabric treatment given to new clothes washes out.
Trousers - difficult child 1 would wear through his school trousers in a matter of hours, so I would patch them with vinyl. It looked awful but it stopped them falling apart. The inner city school he later transferred to had t-shirts and jeans as school uniform - the denim didn't wear out like the grey flannel did. And t-shirts made of stretch cotton were much more practical as well as more comfortable for him.
easy child 2/difficult child 2 and even easy child were shocking when it came to the feel of clothes. easy child 2/difficult child 2 is especially bad - a fabric has to have just the right feel or she won't wear it. So not only is there the fashion side of it, the outfit has to feel acceptable too.
She also had a fetish - only word for it - for fur fabric. She covered it up by carrying a teddy bear where she could, and by making a fur fabric cover for her school folder, which she then carried everywhere. She claimed she carried her folder instead of putting it in her backpack, because the folder was too big - but she had deliberately chosen a big folder so she WOULD have the excuse to carry it and cuddle her fur cover.
Food - textures are important for easy child 2/difficult child 2 and difficult child 3. No problem for difficult child 1. But the younger two - she doesn't like anything with "bits" in it, he won't have anything with a creamy texture. Tonight we had two Asian jelly desserts for him to try - mango jelly and coconut jelly. He eats jelly, but these were made differently and were not translucent, but opaque. For him, it was too close to creamy and he couldn't tolerate them. And yet he will eat ice cream! But then, it is solid when he eats it.
Sounds - both boys are highly sensitive to sudden loud noises, thunder excepted. Shrill noises are the worst for both, especially difficult child 3. The younger two both have very good pitch (close to perfect) and are very sensitive to anything being off key. difficult child 3 especially. I'm not a lot better - I hate to hear a guitar being tuned (especially if it's being tuned badly).
Light - difficult child 3 was obsessed with the flicker of light through the leaves on the trees. We noticed this first when he was a week old. Really bright lights upset difficult child 1. There does not seem to be a sensitivity to colour.
Vision in general - all three younger kids are highly distracted by the range of visual stimuli in their environment. Too much stimulation means choices have to be made, as to what to pay attention to and what to ignore. difficult child 3 copes best; the other two have a hard time. easy child 2/difficult child 2 is worse here - she has a hard time making decisions, even ones like, "I don't know whether to have chocolate cake or strawberry cake." She can actually have a meltdown because SHE can't make a choice and wants someone else to choose for her!
With physical sensation/touch, both boys like to feel pressure - we bought difficult child 3 a "hug vest" (named by easy child 2/difficult child 2). It is a weighted vest with weights made of long thin sandbags which can be moved and removed to vary the weight. It was made out of calico with french seams and can be worn under regular clothes, or over the top.
easy child 2/difficult child 2 has taken to wearing corsets. Not just the fashionable ones not really made for tight lacing, just made to look good; no, she has gone to a specialist costume reproduction place and bought fully boned, solidly made reproduction Victorian corsets. She wears these under or over her regular clothing. They are made from more fashionable modern fabrics such as velvet, but are very sturdy. I've told her she's got to lace herself, not to get someone else to lace her. This way there is a limit on how tight they are laced. She says it's "like wearing a hug". She used to wear the corset under hr work uniform when she worked in the bakery - even having to squat down to reach the lowest shelves, she would do the graceful bunny duck because the corset did not permit her to bend at the waist. She stopped wearing her corsets when she had her appendix out a year ago, but is getting back to wearing them again.
Something I've realised - first, you need to accommodate the sensory stuff and not try to force them out of it. However, you can still insist on small tests of exposure to other things to broaden their experiences, as long as they know they can go back to what they feel safe with.
And also, they are amazingly inventive when it comes to meeting their own needs in this. For example, easy child 2/difficult child 2 tracking down where in Sydney she could buy reproduction corsets.
Life is never dull in our house!
Marg