We to struggle with this. We have the diagnosis through an occupational therapist. We were given a home program, exercises to work on at home since DS7 is homeschooled. I recommend the book "The Out of Sync Child" by Carol Kranowitz for starters. It helps to become aware of your child's behaviors/reactions to his environment. I agree with Grinity that you should have an evaluation if you suspect it and follow the plan they set up for you not a step-by-step in a book.
My son has the flight response as his primary coping strategy. When he cannot flee, he melts down. He is very intuned to when he needs to get away from stimuli. He is especially sensitive to loud noises, crowded places, encloses space. Funny story: We took him to an optometrist appointment. Enter small enclosed room, dark lighting, and a man putting a big round heavy object directly onto his face. He was squirming up a storm. After the exam the OD asked me point blank if we had ever had him evaluated for SID. When I told him we had the dx, he said his daughter (now a teenager) had gone thru occupational therapy. He said now he recognizes it in kids right away. Amazingly once the machine was gone and the lights turned on and the door open, DS7 calmed down and sat perfectly still. We have worked on coping strategies and while the behavior still rears its head, DS7 is learning to cope. He still wants to flee but his tolerance is going up. He never would have stayed in that room 8 months ago before therapy.
We do tons, tons, tons of hands-on tactile stuff: play do, clay, shaving cream, whipping cream, mud in summer, goo, slime, oil, etc. We do the bouncy ball, trampoline, hoola hoop (his latest), bike riding, and walks EVERY day. There is no quick fix. It is learning to understand your body's responses and a lot of stimuli avoidance, for us museums have to be 1-2 hours max, no movie theaters, understanding that certain stimuli require absolute alone time/quiet/down time afterwards.
DS7 lost a tooth last week. For 2 weeks prior he easily could have been diagnosed with ADHHHHHD. Yes tons of emphasis on the hyper part. Once the tooth came out-instant calm. We caught up on school work after that.
HTH.
