Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion SPD's and Kindergarten

I've known for a long time that my DS5 was a little off kilter. But because we've put all of our time and energy on his physical well being, not a lot of time has been spent on his quirks.

That being said, he started Kindergarten a couple of weeks ago and those "quirks" have come back to bite me! Based on lots of reading, in particular "the mislabeled child" I am convinced that my son has a fairly serious case of SPD.

In order to get the school to move forward with any sort of accomodations and OT, I need to have him formally diagnosed. So the question is by who? I got very mixed info from my reading, some say a psychologist, a neuropsychologist, a neurologist, some say all three. So which is it? And is this something that requires someone specific or is this a more common diagnosis that is familiar to most in these professions?

Given my choice, I'd fly to the Eides but my money tree is just not growing!

Not one idea? Anyone?

Sorry, no idea! The high level answer is that you need someone who believes that SPD exists as a useful diagnosis, since that's controversial, but how you find such a person, I don't know.

If you're pretty sure it's SPD, it would be an OT. Beware that many (most?) school OTs either (a) don't officially recognize SPD, (2) aren't experienced/trained enough in SPD to know what they are talking about, or (3) even if they did, they may not be permitted to treat it on a global level, which can involve an OT gym and be rather expensive. Usually school OTs focus on things like handwriting ability, and the whole IEP process is involved. We've done OT for SPD privately and were relatively pleased with the results. I've also spoken with one school OT who won't even discuss SPD, and another one who seemed well-versed and had plenty of home recommendations but was not allowed to treat anything except for my ds's fine motor (handwriting) situation.

I think that there is also quite a bit of variability of expertise in SPD amongst private OTs as well.


If you're not sure you're looking at SPD, I'd consider seeing a neuropsych for issue-spotting purposes. (Isn't what the Eides do a neuropsych eval? You could find someone to do that locally though that can be expensive too, as you know)

I'd also take a look at some books on SPD to consider what type(s) of SPD you are dealing with, e.g. Miller's "Sensational Kids":

sensory modulation (sensory over-responsivity, sensory under-responsivity, sensory seeking

sensory-based motor disorder (dyspraxia; postural disorder)

sensory discrimination disorder

that's my two cents. now off to fiddle with my internet connection...

I do not believe that any doctors (psych, neurologist, etc.) are involved in "diagnosis". I don't think it's necessarily possible to officially diagnose SPD until it's included in the DSM or some such thing, which last I heard it was not (though I do not know the status of the DSM V)

Some websites that may or may not be helpful:

http://www.starcenter.us/sensory-processing-disorder.html

http://www.spdfoundation.net/

Shari, what are the quirks?
DeeDee

Shari,
I second the private OT route. If you can get insurance to cover it, its a great resource.

DD is way more physically confident after a few months in private OT that focused on balance, coordination, and vestibular stimulation. If her school hours had not changed, we would still be doing OT. DD says it was the BEST after school activity she participated in last year. We are back in the waitlist of an end of day time slot.

A good private OT can send reports/treatment summaries to the school with recommendations as well as interface with school OT for more classroom support. I'm sure it is slightly different at every school, but here school OT is about handwriting and teaching kids to sit in their seats.

Chrys

Quirks.....

Doesn't like loud noise, lays flat on the floor whenever he becomes upset or overwhelmed. Has an oral sensory thing that involves picking long hair off my shirt and wrspping it around his tongue. Can't go to Chuck E Cheese or any other place with lots of flashing lights, it makes his eyes roll back in his head. Couldn't stand the touch of water until he was about a year old. Didn't speak until he was 3 1/2 after a year of therapy. Potty trained three months shy of his 5th birthday. Extremely tactile, touches everything, seems to need to be in contact with something most of the time. Very reactionary, fight or flight to the point of almost seeming feral at times.

He's a really smart little guy who was born addicted and hyper- tonal to the point of maintaining the fetal position for most of his first three months. He is tough as nails and has been through a lot in a very short life.

In reading what I wrote he sounds awful but that couldn't be further from the truth. He loves to cuddle, is super Mr. helper and gets along great with the other kids.

Hi Shari,

I'd probably find a neuropsych for this. OTs are the main people who diagnose SPD; but they tend to overdiagnose it (attributing everything to sensory when it may or may not be sensory in origin), whereas a neuropsych will be qualified to look for a broader range of issues including but not limited to sensory ones.

My feeling is, find out all you can sooner rather than later about what you're dealing with, so you can target your efforts most effectively.

HTH, good luck with Mr. Helper-- he sounds sweet and also like he's had a tough lot to deal with.

DeeDee

I'm a huge fan of the pediatric occupational therapy route. My mom and I often joke that it worked like voodoo magic on my DS, now 6. He spent 2 1/2 years going twice a week to the OT and he now has unbelievable coping skills and manages his quirkiness in a socially acceptable way. What a confidence builder for him!

I would strongly recommend seeing an experienced pediatric OT. Our pediatrician was the first to recommended we see an OT, and so we went for an evaluation. I learned so much. I guess in retrospect it was "sensory processing issues" but nobody ever said those words to me. The approach we got was, your son needs help in these areas. Some of his quirkiness went away and some he learned to manage in an appropriate manner, all while having the time of his life. OT for kids is fun.

Some of the things our son did over and over again went away when the OT suggested we let him do it as much as he wants. Sometimes the body craves something it needs (like head butting into the couch over and over and over again). Once we stopped resisting, after awhile he had enough and it stopped. Some things we just learned to manage, like picky eating. The OT taught us to relax and make sure he is getting proper nutrition but not worry about his limited diet choices. We were told he might be 12 before he ventures out past his texture issues, but it's ok as long as he is well-nourished, which he is.

I loved our OT and still keep in contact with her. Perhaps we were lucky to find the group we did, but it was a life saver for us. Last year our DS's Kindergarten teacher even remarked on how well he copes with situations.

As a last remark, the OT did say before we started therapy that some issues might work themselves out in time naturally, or they might not, you never know, and OT is not a magic fix. I didn't want to take the risk that everything would be ok on its own so we went ahead with the therapy. I will never regret it.

I would ask your pediatrician for the name of a pediatric OT. Good luck!

Thanks girls!....

We have an appointment with his Ped on Monday. I'm going to request two referrals, neurophysch and OT. We'll see what happens.