What condition does Sensory Processing Disorder come with? Any experiences?

[artichaut27]

Hi Mums,

I'm in the slow process of getting my almost 7 year old DS assessed for Dyspraxia, Auditory Processing Disorder, and Dyslexia.

I also need to find a way to have the NHS see him for ADHD. So far no luck from the GP, who wants to wait for other assessments to be done.

I've seen the OT and Physio this morning for first of the part of the assessment of Dyspraxia.

They seemed more concerned about possible Sensory Processing Disorder. He fidgeted throughout the whole assessment and moved in all kinds of quirky ways. When the assessment was over, he started running in circles around the room, he couldn't control himself.

Lately, the analogy I use for his behaviour is that he is like a 7 year old toddler. He's very inattentive and impulsive, he moves excessively. When we go to public places, he touches everything and fidgets with anything he finds. He jumps about when not appropriate, rolls around the floor, etc.

More problematically is that he will walk away from us in public places, or he will cross the street on his own. In the last few months, we have lost him once and he has almost crossed the street in front of a car.

Now Sensory Processing Disorder doesn't seem to be straightforward to diagnose. Also, OT was saying that it comes attached to other conditions.

Do you have any experience of SPD? What condition does it come with?

Many thanks!

SPD can be a condition in its own right, or it can be a co-morbid (always hate that expression) with various other conditions (eg autism, ADHD).

If you feel ADHD might be a possibility then you could have a look the Conor's questionnaire, and also get school to fill one in too (they generally will only consider ADHD if the behaviours are seen across all settings, eg home and school).

If school agree that he scores highly there too then it will help you to be able to get him referred to the right people to diagnose.

My 12 year old is similar. He has high functioning autism. Where I live they won’t diagnose SPD annoyingly as I know he has it, they call it sensory processing difficulties he also was assessed for ADHD when he was younger and I was told he had traits but not enough to diagnose. That side of things I can deal with! I can deal with the sensory side of things... the anxiety linked to his autism is a different story!

Sounds very like my ds who has sensory processing with adhd and autistic spectrum disorder. I would go down the route of an autism assessment or look into this as times gone on we have realised that for us the adhd and sensory processing are symptoms of the autism.

Thanks a lot for the replies.

The OT called back and he is in the 2d percentile for movement on the dyspraxia assessment. She did say that his attention was so bad it probably brought his scores down.
She is brilliant and will note in her report that he needs to see an Ed Psych, which might have an influence or not.

I'm seeing the GP again for ADHD on Friday in the light of the Dyspraxia scores and OT concerns about SPD. She should refer to Paediatrician again.

Regarding Autism and High Functioning Autism, I'm not sure I see him on the spectrum but I might not have read enough on the subject. I've been reading tons about dyslexia, dyspraxia, APD and ADHD. ASD does come up as co-morbid, but I need to maybe look into a bit more.

katcatkat what other characteristics made you look into autism for your DS?

llmb how does his Sensory issues manifest themselves? Where did you find strategies? The physic recommended the Out of Sync book which I ordered today.

marshmallow09er I look into the Connor's questionnaire in the meantime. Thanks!

The spectrum is exactly that, you won’t see your child tick every box....

That’s a hard question, when he’s anxious his sensory problems are worse. He is on medication for anxiety that’s how bad he is! His sensory problems are also worse when he’s stressed or being rushed. If he’s worrying about going somewhere we have trouble with his clothes or his feet. He has to wear exactly the same clothes and shoes/socks. All identical and I have to tumble dry every thing of his as otherwise it’s too rough. He also paces quite a lot, like when he’s watching tv he often will walk up and down the lounge. The more anxious he is the more his senses are heightened. We struggle in shops and busy environments. I tend to avoid these as best I can without making him withdrawn. I will go to places when it is quietest and leave early. I only take him shopping if we are going in one shop only etc.

If he’s holding it together at school he finds it harder to concentrate. He can not cope with the loud and busy environment of the playground. Ok currently trying to get him into specialist school actually as he’s out of education.

He has changed as he’s got older as he’s more able to tell me what’s wrong or to say no sorry mum I can’t cope with doing that today etc

Thanks Ilmb My DS has had some issues with clothing when younger, I had to cut all labels off his clothes for example.

One of my childhood friends has a son on the ASD spectrum and he can behave similarly to your son. He paces when watching TV and also he echoes the dialogue of the show as well. My friend does a brilliant job managing his triggers and he's a lovely fun boy.

It's great that your son starts to identify what is too challenging for him. It's not easy for all children with learning difficulties to communicate these things.

My DS1 is very sensitive to touch and the youngest can't stand loud noises. Public toilets and the stupid hand dryers are a nightmare for DS2. They are so loud and stressful for some kids.

Yes noises can be a problem but I just make sure I pre warn him, I find that helps. The other option when you’re out, whilst they are young, is take anti bac hand gel. I used to have to do that, literally straight in have a quick straight out so that he wasn’t having to hang around. Not ideal but a suggestion?

We still cut all labels out

You could try noise cancelling head phones when out and about? We don’t have any but my eldest puts on head phones and listens to music whilst I walk and hold his hand still (his preference) as he can ‘zone out’ Of what’s going on around him/

DS (3) has been diagnosed with SPD - it can exist by itself but is often also found in kids with ASD. However, if they have SPD, it doesn't necessarily mean they're autistic (if that makes sense?)

Best way it was described to me was like a Venn Diagram - NT on one side, ASD on the other and the SPD behaviors in the middle.

The difficult bit to figure out is (imo) is the behavior SPD related or not? Often the issues presented in SPD look like ASD - but is that because ASD kids often present with SPD?

The out of synch book is excellent - I read it and it was like a lightbulb moment as it describes to a tee a lot of what's going on with us.

Our SPD triggers are (with varying results...) certain messy play where he can't clean up, noises such as handryers and blenders, screen time on a tablet / phone, groups with lots of people. Manifests itself in meltdowns or blanking and crappy behavior the day or 2 after usually. A lot of the time his extreme behavior (rolling on furniture, trying to push / pull stuff) is SPD related as he's looking for sensory input thats missing

We've had some OT for him, and a lot of the sessions are focused on addressing the bits that are missing so they do a lot of what they call 'heavy work' and pressure techniques - push / pulling heavy stuff, wrapping up in blankets, lots of physical pressure stuff

I can also recommend the book 'understanding your child's sensory signals' by Angie Voss - its basically a scenario based book on likely issues and how to address and mitigate which doesn't revolve around "don't do it' (which seems to be advice I see a lot - not v practical day to day!)

Thanks a lot LittleMy77 that is very useful. I've ordered 'Out Of Sync' book and I'll order Angie Voss's book too.

OT and Physio specifically noted tactile sensory seeking at the assessment. I've ordered several sensory fidget toys for him. It will be useful for going back to school.

I think his sensory issues come with his dyspraxia. So far dyspraxia is where he shows more symptoms. We're on the APD assessment process too, as he struggles with background noises.

I went to GP on Friday to start looking at ADHD, she referred him back to Paed reluctantly and said (verbatim) that he "didn't look like he had ADHD' (other thread).

It will good to understand his triggers and how I can help him when he's struggling.

It's strange that DS2 is also showing sensory issues, more auditory though. I'll have to keep an eye on that!

Quirky little monkeys!!

DD2 has dyspraxia and sensory issues similar to what you're describing - OT picked up she's undersensitive to touch and seeks it out, also chews/mouths stuff, squirms and wriggles and generally doesn't sit still (having seen this in action the OT is going to have a think about how to approach this for next appointment). There's a lot of propioception/vestibular seeking goes on with her- I tend to tell her to go out on the trampoline and do X number of bounces when she's at her "worst" or we have a gym ball that I just encourage her to fling herself over and roll around on a bit to get it under check (she needs to work on upper body and core strength anyway so her trying to do handstands over the ball is doing some good I figure).

Paediatrician doesn't believe there's any ADHD or autism co-morbidity there with her - have done the ADHD questionnaires, as have school but haven't had them checked over yet as next appointment hasn't rolled around yet.

500KallaxHoles thanks, your DD2's issues sound very similar to my DS1's. Good idea on the gym ball.

OT also gave upper body exercises for him.

Re: ADHD, DS1 has problems focusing at school, and he has no sense of danger, and impatience, impulsivity, interrupting, etc.

I just need to find out if it's all on the Dyspraxia or if he needs extra intervention at school regarding attention and fidgeting, need to move etc.

Any intervention in place for your DD2 at school for sensory issues? Also, out of curiosity: was she assessed by Ed Psych for cognitive aspect of DCD? If yes, do you know which test and if her processing speed was tested?

Thanks again!

Have had nothing from the Ed Psych at all. School are mid-SENCO change so seeing what actually gets put in place for September should be telling. They're fine with things like fidgets, wobble cushions and the like but I'm not picking up the similar helpful vibes from the new class teacher shall we say. Big promises are being made by returning SENCO (she's been on maternity leave) but I remain to be convinced.

OT has recommended a cognitive assessment for Dyspraxia by Ed Psych. Not sure will have it but we’ll try.
His school is pretty relaxed on uniform etc. So they’re bound to be ok for fidgets.
He’s the only with SEN in his class of 23 so it’s easier to accommodate his needs.