Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional 2E, what about 3E? SPD?

So we (finally) had our IEP last week. It went well, I'm happy we finally got it on record.

A few things were discussed about DS7's behavior though that we weren't aware of previously. He throws his food away instead of eating it or bringing it home. I had been told he did this a few times last year, so I started making him make his own lunch (he said he threw it away b/c he didn't like what I packed). His teacher also mentioned that he wears his jacket all day and sometimes his gloves.

The SpEd teacher mentioned that he might have Sensory Processing Disorder.

Anyone know much about this? I've been looking/researching online about it and it's definitely something that could be a possibility. How would he be diagnosed? Is it something that can be treated? Is there something we, as parents, can do to help?

Any help/advice/etc. would be greatly appreciated!

My DS did things like that, and they were related to anxiety.

Occupational therapists frequently evaluate for sensory integration problems/sensory processing disorders. There are things you can do that can make it better over time.

I used to wear my jacket and gloves at school because they kept the classrooms freezing and I was always cold if I didn't. (I had Reynaud's phenomenon, so cold hands were incredibly painful.) My son (who has difficulty with sensory integration) likes to wear long sleeves, jackets, and gloves because the weight and pressure is calming and they protect his skin from encountering unpleasant textures.

Occupational therapy can treat many aspects of SPD. Schools often have OTs, but I would recommend a private evaluation if your insurance covers it (most do). Usually you just need a referral from the pediatrician.

Occupational therapy usually involves devising a "sensory diet". The thing about SPD is that it manifests differently in each person. Some are sensory avoiders, others are seekers. And different stimuli bother them. So OT allows you to figure out what your child's triggers are and then gives you a plan for dealing with them (this is the "diet").

From what you've described, it's hard to say whether your son's behaviors are related to SPD or anxiety (or something else). I would talk with your pediatrician and ask for a referral for an OT evaluation. I will warn you, however, that you may need to be fairly insistent. SPD is a relatively recently recognized phenomenon and many docs who aren't keeping up with things know little about it. You could also google children's occupational therapy centers in your area and get more info from them. They often provide a free screening, which isn't sufficient for your needs but may help you get a referral.

Realizing my DS's SPD was incredibly helpful to understanding where he's coming from and how he experiences the world. Even if your son doesn't suffer from SPD, it would be useful to rule it out.

aculady - I think he wears it as "protection", at least that's what it seems. He says he's cold, but when you touch him, he's always super warm and he doesn't wear it at home?

LNEsMom - So an OT would need to diagnose/treat SPD? I'll talk to his Pediatrician.

Thanks everyone so much for the information!

Sounds like he is "protecting" his senses then! My son has sensory sensitivities associated with his autism and some of his actions are self-protective whether he consciously realizes it or not. Some of his are sensory SEEKING as well which seems weird.He does not have not enough of some sensations and an overload of others. I do not claim to have a good understanding of sensory processing problems even though my son has been with an OT for over 6 years!!

I assume perhaps a neuropsych might also diagnose, but occupational therapy is the only treatment form I know of (aside from just trying to deal with it on your own at home). If you look for an OT, you definitely want to find one that deals only with kids and is familiar with SPD (most of them are). The sensory diet is really what you are looking to develop: figuring out his triggers and coming up with activities that sooth them. There are also lots of products designed to help SPD kids, depending on their specific needs. The OT usually has these things for you to try out and see if it helps.

I can't recall if you said what your DS's IEP is for, but SPD is often discovered along with other issues, but can be found on its own. Often it is the kids who don't have any other obvious issues that get missed. And like Kate said, kids can have both avoiding and seeking behaviors and the pattern of problematic stimuli is fairly unique to each person. But the therapy is very helpful, and I also found that for me, recognizing the sensory issues really helped me, especially with my DS's seeking behaviors and occasional meltdowns. If I imagine how the world must look, sound, smell and feel to him and imagine what his body is telling him to do about it, it made alot of his behaviors alot more comprehensible. And it helped me figure out what he really needs to help him figure out how to deal with and control it. For example, in kindergarten his reward for having a day of keeping his hands to himself (sensory seeking) was a few minutes playing basketball with the PE teacher at the end of the day. I now realize that this should have been reversed. Playing basketball actually feeds his sensory seeking needs and therefore should have been the remedy or preventive measure rather than the reward, if that makes sense.

I also think there is some overlap between SPD and the sensory overexcitabilities associated with giftedness.

Here are a couple of sites that were helpful to me when I was trying to figure this out. HTH!

www.sinetwork.org
www.sensory-processing-disorder.com

YES!! The more I talk about it, think about it and read about it, the more I understand a LOT of his behaviors. I'm going to call his Ped tomorrow to see if she can recommend a good OT to visit.

His IEP originally was just for Gifted & ADHD, but the more we talked about things, the more the other things came out = specifically the mention of SPD. I hadn't even really heard of it until then.

Thank you all, so very much, again, for your help.

The tricky part of it is figuring out when giftedness, ADHD, and SPD occur together and when one thing is being confused with the other. For example, some kids with SPD are thought to have ADHD because the behaviors look similar, but the reasons for them are different. The same thing for gifted kids. But yet, some kids do have all three. There is some discussion that gifted kids have higher levels of SPD, although the data has not been collected to say this for certain. However, it makes sense with the idea that gifted kids experience the world more intensely than others.

If your DS has an ADHD dx I would suggest learning about the sensory seeking behaviors as well as the avoiding ones that you mentioned above. He may be exhibiting both, but the seeking behaviors are interpreted as part of the ADHD. I believe that SPD kids may often be misdiagnosed with ADHD by someone not familiar with SPD.

And for me, what is most concerning is how the child interprets the experience. If seeking or avoiding is such an intense need for them and they are constantly being corrected for it but not given effective alternatives, then they may start to think that they are just bad kids or that there is something wrong with them. But if we recognize their needs and find constructive ways to meet them with an appropriate sensory diet, then the world becomes so much more manageable for them.

It also gives you something to prepare their teachers with. So, at the beginning of the year I met with DS's teacher and explained some of his issues so she would understand where he's coming from and has some ideas of what to do if the sensory issues come up. His SPD issues include a lack of awareness of where his body is in the world and a need to "ground" himself by touching other people. So he bumps into people alot and sometimes invades personal space. Since I prepared the teacher for this, when he had trouble at the end of the day when all the kids crowd in to get their backpacks and coats, instead of seeing him as causing trouble she recognized the problem and allowed him to get his things first before the crowd hit.

I hope the OT evaluation gives you some useful info for your DS. And I will also tell you that OT is alot of fun and most kids love it! My younger son is SO jealous that his brother gets to go to OT!

From what I've read and experienced, if the child is believed to have ADHD + 'something else', the 'something else' is typically treated/evaluated first. Since there is no definitive way to diagnose ADHD, you would want to treat any other suspected conditions first, in hopes that the ADHD behaviors were simply a result of the other condition.

Sadly, giftedness is rarely, if ever, taken into account.