Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums GT Research SPD and giftedness

Somewhere, some time ago, someone asked about the correlation of giftedness and sensory integration problems. I posted that there was no correlation to sensory integration disorders but that there was evidence that gifted kids have more tactile defensiveness. This was from some information I got from a researcher named Rich Carrasco who had done a small study testing gifted kids with the SIPT assessment.

I just today found this summary of research/literature review:
http://www.spdfoundation.net/gifted.html
(scroll down to the "our library" link to access the PDF file - I couldn't get the link to that to copy)

Interesting to know that someone in OT is looking at this issue. But also interesting that the author basically said what I said - there is much confusion between OEs and SPD!

Neat, wow, they have tons of info available. Thanks doodlebug.

Would you guess that OE's might be easier to self-regulate with practice or therapy than SPD's?

I found this site a while ago while researching SPD and giftedness and the whole page pretty much summed up my DS5 exactly to a T. I have run into more parents of SPD kids who have all shared that their child is also very gifted. I am also learning that dyspraxia seems to almost go hand in hand with SPD and gifted children - another trait my son has. It has made life very interesting to say the least and I am concerned about how my little guy is getting along. He has been getting OT for his SPD for almost 3 years now and I have really yet to see a huge impact/improvement.

Belle: This is cause for concern. I would suggest that you either seek another OT or revisit the issue to determine what exactly is going on. I am very concerned that you haven't seen changes big enough to warrant attention. I cannot imagine treating a child for 3 years and not seeing an impact that is both notable and beneficial in terms of improved task performance and life satisfaction. Something is not right.

Feel free to PM me if you wish to talk off list.

I think that sensory tools and a sensory based approach helps with processing issues that interfere with your life, whether you see them as OEs or SPD. I've mentioned this reference before but it's worth mentioning again:

http://www.amazon.com/Living-Sensat...mp;s=books&qid=1223390914&sr=1-1

This is Living Sensationally: Understanding Your Senses by Winnie Dunn, PhD. Dr. Dunn created the Sensory Profile assessments and believes that sensory processing is a continuum of normal and should only be considered disordered when the processing interferes with daily performance. What is disordered for one person may not be for another, even though they process sensory information in a similar manner. This is a great book for just understanding how sensory processing is a normal process that every human being experiences and to better understand patterns of sensory processing and how they impact on our lives. Easy read, too!

My son really liked his OT and he says he wishes he could go back, but our insurance only paid for a total of six sessions--one session every two weeks. Sensory integration therapy is not covered under our insurance plan, but the OT said was she was doing was sensory integration therapy and she showed me what we needed to work on at home.

At home I had a hard time getting him to do some of the things she suggested. I worried that he wasn't going to make those new neural pathways if he didn't do everything just right and do it every day like the doctor said we needed to do. Because of my extreme anxiety over other issues, I sometimes was not as patient with him as I should have been. He started asking me if I even liked him again.

The one thing I really wanted help with was getting him to the point where he could learn to swim and the only suggestion I got from the doctor and the OT was to get in the pool with him. His fear of putting his face in the water in the swimming pool was holding him back. He could do this in the bathtub, but not in the pool. So instead of fighting our insurance company, I am spending what I spent on co-pays for OT for a family membership at the YMCA. They don't offer private lessons and I told them about the instructor who called my son a wuss during group swimming lessons a few years ago, but they don't have any suggestions for how I can get him swimming, so I guess we will have to do this on our own. He wants to conquer this fear. He was almost there several months ago but the two week swimming lesson was almost over by the time he got his face in the water.

If we could have success with just this one thing I thing we could build on it.

He does like using all the different kinds of weight equipment at the YMCA, so if nothing else he can work on strength and endurance and I think when he does any kind of physical exercise it helps.

Lori:
The fear of putting his face in the water doesn't strike me as an SPD type of issue, especially if he does it at home in the bathtub. I don't believe that anything done in the OT clinic is going to help him with this issue. Except perhaps if the OT is able to help him develop more self confidence in general and more willingness to approach challenges.

I would think that just having him in swimming class on a regular basis or even just a regular opportunity to be in the pool (like family trips for swimming every week) with lots of time to enjoy the pool, have fun and develop skills in the water *without* putting his face in might eventually lead to him being intrinsically motivated to try his face in the water. In SI based therapy the key to success is having the child *intrinsically motivated* for mastering the task. That is what changes neural pathways and allows the child to create an adaptive respose (ie: do the right movement or sequence, etc). If the child is not intrinsically motivated then the "magic" of SI based treatment just doesn't occur. In good SI based therapy the child sets the pace, the therapist puts opportunities in place and then structures the opportunities to build success for the child. And, if done right, the child is convinced he did it all by himself! Then, voila! you have a child who is empowered to do more!

I find the approach works in most everything when working with children. Especially GT kids like mine!

Sounds like for the swimming thing he just needs more time and opportunities for success. He'll do it someday, I'm sure!

I assume that my DS had a frightening experience during a YMCA swimming lesson when he was 3. He has never spoken of it and the teachers never saw what happened. But one day he just refused to go in the water and sat on the side of the pool. His fear prevented him from swimming for several years.

When DS was about 8, we found a college student who gave private swim lessons in her parent's pool over the summer. She was working on her PE teaching degree with special ed endorsement and she was a Godsend for DS. She was amazingly patient. Her prices were quite reasonable. After 3 summers of lessons DS is now a competent swimmer with little water anxiety.

From watching DS, I do think there were sensory issues involved. It was the feel of water in his nose that really freaked him out. When he did get his face in the water, he would take about 5 minutes at the side of the pool, meticulously clearing our each nostril. Once he felt better, he would have a minute of lesson and another 5 of clearing out. But each lesson got a bit better until now he is diving of the diving board and swimming under water the length of the pool.

As my Spanish speaking friends say, "Poco a poco." little by little.

This is a great story and I love how your patience and that of the instructor paid off!

But I have to disagree that this is a "sensory issue." I would bet that he had an experience where he inhaled water through his nose or somehow experienced that feeling of water in his nose that perhaps freaked him out and created the fear or anxiety response. This is actually a very logical conclusion for a 3 year old to make. The level of fear response might not have been logical, but the initial experience and perception certainly make sense - if that's what happended.

This is NOT an example of a sensory processing disorder, though. This is an example of a situational sensory experience that created an inappropriate response. He definitely had a need to keep his nose clear of water, but I don't think it was related to a sensory processing disorder. Did he also react this way when he had a runny nose? Did he also have problems blowing his nose? Was he overly sensitive to a bloody nose? See what I'm getting at? He may very well have a SPD but this example, standing alone, does not warrant a label of SPD. Now, if he couldn't tolerate the feeling of water in his nose and also had other examples of

I think it is a problem when we start to attribute any atypical responses related to sensory experiences to a "disorder" or "sensory issue". The reality is that we all have "sensory issues." If someone doesn't like the sensation of water in their nose when swimming they can use a nose plug. It doesn't necessarily constitute a disorder. Just a difference.

Hi Debbie,

I totally defer to your expertise on this and certainly on the use of terminology. You are right; I would never call it a "disorder" because besides being really annoying, it didn't limit his activity. I was thinking that by using the word "issue" I was taking it out of the realm of "disorder" but allowing there to be a small senory componant in a non-diagnosing non-technical way. Does "issue" have a technical meaning in this area?

When I watched the kids in the lessons before and after him quickly blow the water out of their nose and get back to swimming while DS spent over half his lesson clearing his nose (while I kept thinking what a waste to be paying the teacher to watch DS blow his nose and leave these little pools of nose water one the pool edge!), I did see that there was "something different" about him, whatever you want to call it.

I would probably say that DS is very sensitive to any fluids in his nose and over reacts to nosebleeds and colds. But I still wouldn't call it a disorder. He is definitely OE and it is probably that combined with whatever bad experience he had.