Category / occupational therapy

by Erin Nowicki

The Princess

Hi there, my name is Erin and I am a 30-year old, blue haired, unicorn-believin’ girl and the princess in this tale (aka my blog).

I was born in Würzburg, Germany, to the most incredible parents. My dad was in the Army my entire life, hence why I wasn’t born stateside. While growing up, we lived in Germany twice, Georgia and Tennessee. I have 2 birth sisters and 5 adopted siblings (3 girls, 2 boys).

In 2007, I moved to Memphis, TN, to go to a music college and that is where I met my hunky husband, Jon. After we graduated in 2010, with Bachelor’s Degrees in Music Ministry, we got married that following Fall. About 2 years after that, we moved to Belgium to be full-time missionaries. It was the most life-changing time of our married life. We got to travel, gain lifetime friends, train musicians, and just be adventurers. Unfortunately, we were only there for 15 months because we ran out of money (for the record…MONEY SUCKS). Those 15 months flew by, but we will never forget our time there and we still miss Belgium and the people there every single day.

Jon and I then moved to Illinois, which is where we are now. We live right outside the city of Chicago with our adorable pup, Macaroni. Currently, I am a full time nanny and I absolutely love my job. I chose to be a nanny because I love being around kids- they help keep my imagination young and keep my creativity flowing.

Speaking of creativity; MUSIC is what I am most passionate about in the entire world. I am a singer and a songwriter as well as a worship leader. I have a band called, Hello Wonder, and it is a dream come true. The ultimate dream is to do that full time, but for now, I’m thankful for what I have and that goal I’m working toward.

Alright, that’s it for now. This is your last chance to turn back from reading this blog. 😉 The posts from now on will be diving into more vulnerable, uncomfortable (but necessary), subjects pertaining to my Sensory Processing Disorder, mental health, sex, and some other things. I ask you to open your mind and leave judgment outside. I also invite you to come along with me to learn and to be enlightened. BUT—only come along on your own terms. You know what you can and can’t handle-so be free.

by Erin Nowicki

Fairytale or Not?

You probably know the story about the princess and the pea, but I bet you didn’t know that it is the most relatable fairytale for someone with Sensory Processing Disorder. Before I go any further, I want to establish exactly what SPD is, especially for those of you don’t know what it is. 

STAR Institute defines SPD like this: 

Sensory processing (originally called “sensory integration dysfunction” or SID) refers to the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioral responses.

To simplify this definition:

The “telephone wire” between your nerves and brain is disconnected somehow, which means, that your brain is being told that, for example, putting on clothes is painful- even though you know that it shouldn’t hurt. 

So…back to our fairytale. I remember reading the part of the story where the princess comes to the breakfast table and is absolutely exhausted because there was a small bump (aka the little green pea) that was bothering her all night. I remember TOTALLY relating to her and knowing exactly how she feels. The thing that people find funny and unbelievable is that is has to be “impossible” for a pea to cause pain. That is where they are wrong…this fairytale is not just about my life, but many many other people’s lives who live with Sensory Processing Disorder.

I wasn’t diagnosed with SPD until I was a Sophomore in high school. For many, many years, I got made fun of by “brilliant” doctors who didn’t believe me when I said that I hurt every time I touched something or something touched me. They would always laugh in my face and say that I was crazy and that I was being a drama queen. 

I will never forget the day that my mom and I were told that we weren’t crazy. We both looked at each other and just started sobbing. To have that knowledge that I wasn’t crazy and that I wasn’t making it up made me feel liberated. The doctor who diagnosed me was an occupational therapist who specialized in SPD in Autistic children. See, almost every person with Autism has SPD, but what most people don’t know is that there are tons of people without Autism that have severe cases of SPD (like me) as well.

The thing is, as an adult, there aren’t any reading materials that focus on being an adult with SPD. Most of the material focuses on kids with Autism that have SPD. Also, the support groups I’ve found on social media for adults with SPD, don’t really help either-or really I just haven’t had any success with feeling supported on those platforms. All that to say, I really want this blog to be a place where you can come to for advice, stories about my life while living with SPD, coping mechanisms, inspiration, knowledge, support, etc…

Now, I am a dreamer and have many dreams, but one of my ultimate dreams is to partner with an occupational therapist who specializes in SPD and write a book that is geared for adults living with SPD (whether or not they’ve been diagnosed with it). Maybe that will happen one day, but for now I will start with this blog.

**Disclaimer**

I will be excruciatingly honest about certain aspects of living with SPD and I will not hold any details back no matter how personal they are. Life can be REALLY tough when living with SPD, but if someone doesn’t write about those details, then people aren’t going to be changed for the better- and I don’t want ANYONE to feel the way I felt, because YOU ARE NOT CRAZY!