In response to a previous post inquiring about SPD and doctors diagnosing it: My doctor suggested it as a diagnosis for Bear after I had already researched it on my own and came to that tentative conclusion. She offered it up as a possibility BEFORE I mentioned that I had been researching it. She is also very cautious about diagnosis and medicating, prefering a wait and see approach.
In addition EVERY psychologist I have talked to accepts it as a real diagnosis. The issue is that is is not recognized in the "official" book as a stand alone disorder yet, although that might change with the newest edition. Basically what I have found is that it is "officially" accepted as part of a package deal with say autism or Downs or speech delay or etc and so on, but not yet accepted as a stand alone diagnosis for treatment by our early start program or school district. In fact our school district is going to try to find a speech issue to file Bear under just because they will be allowed to treat the SPD then. They are very aware it is a real issue.
Immediately after we started the OT that was suggested (not even officially by an OT, but by both the doctor and a psych as a place to start) we have seen significant improvement. In fact every doctor and psych I've talked with recognizes it and all of them have given me the same advice and ideas to start working on.
Basically it is a real issue, can be and is diagnosed by doctors and psychologists and, just like everything else out there, it can be misdiagnosed.
