sensory processing disorder caused by brain damage

[needmorecoffee]

is it the same as the SPD people on here talk about?
dd has damage to her thalamus (among many. Her brain looks like swiss cheese) and so the signals from her senses get warped, vision especially doesn't get through if there's a lot of noise as her ears kinda take over. She also has no sensation in her hands/feet/arms but is over sensitive in her torso. We have to keep reminding her to use her vision as she switches it off.
As well as thalamic damage she is missing the part of the parietal cortex that lies alongisde the motor cortex that deals with sensory things.

So, the point of that big long ramble was, is it the same thing as SPD that people talk about and would any of the techniques help dd or is it a case of missing brain = tough luck?

I think SPD can stand for sematic pregmatic disorder and I think thats talked about quite a bit here as irs quite common in children with ASD

I have been guilty of using SPD to refer to Syphysis Pubis Dysfunction during my last pregnancy on here.

I've seen people talking about sensory processing issues. Thats the info I'm after.
What is semantic pragmatic disorder?
dd obviously has all the speech disorders going too cos she can't speak.

I'm out of my depth with the sensory stuff stuff I'm afraid. I believe that OT would be the most relevant NHS professional to ask about this sort of thing. Semantic Pragmatic disorder is where people have problems with more subtle social use of language -understanding jokes/colloquial phrases, taking things literally, not knowing when to take a turn in conversations etc, sometimes they may struggle with pronouns.

I think also there is sensory precessing disorder which is not caused by brain damage.

For example my DS is extremly sensitive to labels in clothes, smells (will vomit at the slightest bad smell) and can't t stand noise. This all makes him seem quite an "odd" person and can make school difficult - but at the same time he is perfectly "normal".

I've heard OTs can help a great deal - so I'm usre it would be something to be considered for your DD.

Hi NMC. My dd has Sensory Processing Disorder. Agree with Totalchaos that an OT is the most relevant person to talk to. They do a sensory profile -which basically involved our OT asking dh and me loads of questions about dd and observing her. She is now on a 'sensory diet'. She has a lot of sensory toys, such as a vibrating tube, fibre optic light- to give her the sensory information she sometimes misses.

I'm afraid I don't know enough about brain damage to comment on whether it would cause SPD for your dd. However, there was a recent programme on BBC4 about how it can be caused by incomplete development of the frontal lobes which is why it is common in prem babies. My dd was early and there were lots of complications when I was pregnant , so I attribute her SPD to this. From birth, she was tactile-defensive, along with other things, so I knew it was there from the beginning.

I know everyone on here refers to it a lot, but 'The Out-of-Sync Child' will provide loads of the answers you are looking for. It changed the way I 'handled' dd, IYKWIM. I would be interested to know how you get on. Good luck

Sensory Processing Disorder, or sensory integration disorder, is thought to be caused by something going slightly awry with the development of the central nervous system (ie something a bit odd with brain development, possibly an immaturity of neuron development), but doesn't normally show up as obvious brain damage. I don't see why the treatments for SPD wouldn't to a certain extent work with brain damaged children, though, although obviously don't know or understand enough about it to give a particularly useful opinion, I'm afraid.

so, now I need a useful OT. sigh.

My ds has sensory issues as result of brain damage. Born with arachnoid cysts, bubbles of fluid in his brain, compressing other areas. Still v. abnormal brain physiology. Sensory probs picked up by physio & ot when he was a baby, now 7. All the books help me understand him (search for sensory integration on amazon) and be a bit more patient. OT definitely help fine tune my approach to helping him cope. Now he is older trying to get him to take control in modifying his environment. affects each child in different way so approach needs to be specifically tailored. good luck

SPD is all three in context, just one of those things.

NMC ds3 has some signs of your SPD too- we were told it was a poss before we got the asd dx.

Yes I think the SPD techniques are wortha shot? None of them will hurt anyhow. And DS3 likes quite a lot.

It's worth a try re: OT. But you may be disappointed - I found that even if your child has bleedin' obvious sensory difficulties, if the questionnaire doesn't point towards classic Sensory Integration Disorder then they discharge them untreated. DD1 chews hot radiators for the sensory buzz till her face is burned. But per OT, doesn't tick the right boxes so has no sensory issues and needs no help.

From my v v dim understanding , in CP the area of brain damage is often wired around and the body tends to cannibalise the healthy bits fairly randomly though it's typical to recycle areas of visual processing first. As often as not it's the rewiring that causes the problems as much as the original damage. OK, every child will rewire differently, but still this can't be a unique problem. (DD1 has a bunch of neuro/visual problems which are presumably rewires as well as the aforementioned radiator problem) I don't know if Cerebra or somewhere would have any expertise?

Really difficult one. Until now we've always thought DD2's SPD was down to me getting meningitus whilst I was in late pregnancy with her, however she is due to have an MRI to check for brain damage as she got chicken pox badly when only 6 weeks old and paed thinks this might have caused some brain damage. DD2's SPD wasn't picked up until 6 months so it could have been either.

You definately need a sensory trained OT, our sensory diet has been fantastic and DD2 is doing really well with it.

ds2's asd, cp & sensory problems are all due to brain damage resulting from his prematurity & probabily lack of oxygen before birth.
His OT including sensory therapy has been very helpful in his case.
They helped him understand/learn that the things he struggles to understand & process don't have to be scary.
Also communication has helped, now he can communicate his anxieties he is less distressed.
I know your dd has no speech is she able to use a communication aid at all?

Riven, just reading about dd's "major sticky out lip then meltdown" ds does exactly this at various things...

the song "happy birthday"
groups of people clapping/cheering particulary the word "hooray" but not "yay"
the theme tune to "in the night garden"
those automated voices at the post office/boots that say "teller number 6 please" etc

and quite a few other random ones that i cant think of offhand, sometimes things you wouldnt expect make him totally inconsolable.

Riven, Glittery with ds2 it seemed very random but it was always the things he didn't understand or if he couldn't see where a voice was coming from or work out who a song or voice was aimed at.
It has taken us so long explaining what each noise was, for example he was fine with load aeroplanes but aircraft above the clouds freaked him out - he couldn't work out what the noise was.

He was also very upset by the happy birthday song, his ot group spent ages working on things like that, I know the sn school also work on it too. Something he just doesn't get at ms.

ds2 also loves a party & loves being next to the speakers but a crowded shop is his worst nightmare.

your right Riven, I think soemtimes people don't appreciate that brain damage can effect the emotional responses.

"What's he crying for now" is a popular phrase in our house.

How much OT actual therapy time does your dd get.

Thats b**locks Riven, can't you bring up these specific concerns & ask for her to be included in a grp therapy session.
If they have specific targets to work towards they may be willing to review the amount of input she receives.

DS2 only had 3 monthly reviews from baby until he was 4 when i highlighted with his paed my non-physical concerns.

DS2 then had a yr of weekly OT group therapy before sarting at MS school & I believe it has really helped.