please help me get head round SPD: hyper v hypo sensitive

[oodlesofdoodles]

Forgive me, I'm new to the world of autistic spectrum conditions. I have been thinking that DS doesn't have sensory issues because he loves stimulating stuff like the fun fair or sandpit.

I now realise that he is acutally hypo sensitive. For instance last weekend his shoes got soaking wet. He came in, took the shoes off and wandered around in his socks for a a couple of hours before it was time to go out again. I picked up the sodden shoes ... hmmm... checked his feet and his socks were soaking too. Feet like blocks of ice.

He is hypermobile in some joints.

I've been looking up exercises for proprioception and the like. We have noticed his behaviour deteriorate in the winter with less exercise. Mostly more loud repetetive monologueing (sp?).

Why is SPD always described as being hyper sensitive?

Do any of these SPD exercises have long term benefits or does it just help day to day?

Is the problem in his nerve endings, eg can his ears not hear how loud he's talking, can his eyes not see where his coat is?

Or is there a part of his brain that can't process the information that his nerves are sending in?

dd2 has both and i think it's not uncommon.

(she's not asd and i hers is def because her brain doesn't respond to her nervous system 'normally')

so she has very high tolerance for pain/ cold etc, but couldn't bear stimulation in the form of lights/ noise, but loved sensory stimulation from slides/ swings etc.

i think the sensitivities are discussed more often because they lead to more problems?

Hello again madwoman
ASD/C is a popular label, but SPD seems more marginal. Would anyone in the NHS know anything about it?

Hi Lenin
One of my questions is whether SPD improves with age....
I'm wondering whether a lot of ASC people could just as easily be labelled SPD.
One of DS's key deficits is eye contact. Not sure how that fits in with SPD though.

Hmmm DS isnt much bothered by annoying noises, he bugs the rest of us by switching the hoover on and off for fun.

We waited a year for an OT assessment, so i'm not expecting an info session any time soon! There seem to be lots of ideas on the web though.

Does anyone know how SPD and hypermobility relate to each other?

I've often seen hypermobility and ASD co-morbid for DC on this board, but apparently there's no known connection. Seems too much of a coincidence to me...haven't seen SPD mentioned, but there's a lot of crossover with ASD.

DS2 (ASD 12yo) is hypo-sensitive to most sensory stuff, it took me ages and the Hanen SALT book, 'More than Words' to understand his sensory seeking behaviours for what they were. I just knew he had a high pain threshold and seemed hyperactive etc. All the ASD sensory explanations were around hypersensitivities. I do think hypo is easier to live with, energetic, yes, but generally causes less anxiety IMO. With DS2 I'd say it's the brain that interprets the sensory stimulus differently rather than the eyes/ears/tastebuds etc not working.

Sorry not much help, but I'll watch the thread with interest.

DS just diagnosed with SPD

He talks louder than most because of his auditory filtering. He thinks he has to talk loud above other noise that he can hear what other people cant iyswim. Clock ticking, foot tapping, window rattle are very loud to him.

He sensory seeks though to cope and regulate his anxiousness. It was described to me that its a bit like having a row with your DH stomping upstairs and slamming the wardrobe door with a belt and thinking "that felt good" and you begin to come down a level inside, so its a bit like a self regulatory fix for want of a better word.

He has a very high pain threshold also and that doesnt seem to have differed at all over the years from when he was a baby.

I would say some sensory issues would improve with age. But I know that I cannot stand noise when concentrating and will turn everything off. Nor can I concentrate if someone is talking and a ticking clock is behind as that is all I can hear but I can cope better than DS because I know what is annoying me, whereas he will shout above it or turn the tv up to drown a noise he doesnt like as he is still young.

Sensory seeking wise I would think the rough and tumble we do now why he is small will be replaced when he is an adult by things like sports, jogging, weights etc he will be a very active boy!

My DS has dyspraxia and SPD and is classed as sedentary (at home we call it lazy . He needs to find stimulation to get his brain in gear. Sometimes i do have to get his attention by shouting like a fish wife as he is just zoned out. Other times he is hanging upside down, blood rushing to his brain, jiggling anything that jiggles and using a voice that would make a regimental sergeant major blush. He needs more of everything to get the same effect as you or I.
I would agree with Ellen that there is less anxiety involved - but it is very exhausting for all around to have someone in full on mode for hours on end.
DS is also hypermobile, which i thought was more to do with the dyspraxia? But then dyspraxia is very much to do with SPD . He has somatodyspraxia, which means he has very poor motor planning and co-ordination, which is probably not helped by the fact that his limbs don't always bend in the right direction. His poor muscle tone means that he has to put twice as much effort in to achieve a task and his sensory issues mean that he has very little idea if he is 'over doing' the task. So when walking, he often zigzags across the pavement, double backs, adds a spin or 2, legs in exaggerated movements, stomping his feet down really hard, but getting tired after a short distance. lots of co-morbidity going on.

DS once told me that he makes noise all the time because he doesn't like silence.

Re: growing out of sensory issues. Had an interesting couple of conversations recently.

1. CP said it won't last; like all senses they depreciate and your hearing/eyesight decreases
2. told OT this and she laughed. she said is that how long DS1 has to wait? when you think about it he might not wear socks till he's 50! OT said what happens is that they find their way round what they don't like and adapt. I suppose we're still at adaptation stage!

If DH has the radio on in the mornings and is trying to talk to me at the same time and also DS is in front room going mum mum I find my voice going higher to rise above it. Everything is low key and not loud but its noise none the less and the more I try to concentrate the more fuddled my brain/hearing becomes and the louder the noises seem. The main one you are trying to concentrate on is the one that becomes drowned out and you only collect bits of convo. Its extremely annoying!

That is how I think DS is. That in order to hear what he wants, the more he concentrates the more he cant hear........say the tv and so up goes the volume. Same with speaking to us if we are talking with background noise the louder he becomes the more he concentrates. Gets to a point and then gets frustrated.

Then the frustration becomes..............lets bounce!!

My DS has not been diagnosed with SPD (but he has ASD). He is sensory seeking of touch, movement and visual stimuli. He is sensory defensive of sound, taste and smell. Some children are hyper, hypo or they can be both. Carol Kranowitz's books are helpful if you want more info.

There's a checklist here

oodlesofdoodles

ASD/C is a spectrum of issues diagnosed from observed bahavour traits, and like other observed spectra such as dyslexia, there are multiple underlying causes of the observed bahaviours. And having co-morbid issues means that you may have more than one type of disability, which may not be related (like only having one arm and and no toes).
Research is still trying to identify the specific underlying causes of ASD, or in many instances find the causal links. Currently it has been suggested that there may be multiple autisms having different sets of underlying issues. Many of the potential underlying causes have been identified as separate individual disabilities or spectra of disabilities, all very complex. The more advances made by international research, tends to identify even more complexity in relation to the working of the brain.
You might like to have a look at some of these research paper collections as they related to issues mentioned in this thread.
Hypermobility (3 links)
Joint Hypermobility Syndrome
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS)
Marfan Syndrome

Dyspraxia - Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)
Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) used to be called Sensory Intergration Dysfunction (SID)

and the other issues often discussed in related research
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)
Specific Language Impairment (SLI)
Pragmatic Language Impairment (PLI)
I have probably missed some out lol
you could have a look a my list of My PubMed Collections to find few more

Thanks for the links dolfrog I'll go through them later.

I've been thinking about this over night. I wonder if the whole autism industry is coming at it from the wrong end. What if ds's social problems are basically SPD, that he's living in his own world because he's so slow to process the real world.

Interesting that other dc's have high pain thresholds. Ditto my ds, although I think he feels pain, just doesn't know where its coming from so he can't articulate the problem.

EllenJane I'm amazed that there's no link between ASC and hypermobility. Loads of people on here seem to have dcs with both.

Coffeepot and Auntevil - how did you get SPD dx for dcs?

Re hypermobility and ASD, there was a thread about it a few months ago, I'll have a search.

Here you go Sparklerainbow seemed quite knowledgeable.

Thanks Ellenjane

DS1 was assessed by OT using SIPT (Sensory Integration and Praxis Test).
We were lucky enough to have this on the NHS - although we waited nearly a year.
There are different tests to find out exactly which functions can and cannot be done. Some are physical, some using senses of touch etc. Its a marked assessment and is therefore not subject to personal opinion by the practitioner - although they obviously will have comments when they present the findings.

This is an interesting thread.
DS has been diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder. A few weeks later he was dx with ASD.

He is sensory seeking (so that makes him hypo?). He chews his bed clothes and leans a lot. He does love a lean and a slide down a wall

He gets worse when he is annoyed. He spent most of his younger years on the floor. As soon as he got upset, sad, happy, excited he would hit the deck.

He loves noise. He loves throwing things and he breaks stuff a LOT. Give him a toy and he will bend it till it busts.

He can fall on his head and not bother about it at all but if someone brushes past him he will squeal that he has been punched.

He has real issues with food. I have to keep certain ones locked up.