Sensory Processing Disorder and poss Dyspraxia

[MerlinsBeard]

Recieved a part diagnosis for DS2 today. He saw a different consultant (who specialises in autism) and he was fantastic DS3 is not autistic and is not on the spectrum - at least not in a way that would require a name or any help.

His diagnosis was that DS3 has sensory processing disorder with dyspraxia. Although he said he would need Occupational Therapy to properly diagnose the dyspraxia. It explains his "issues" perfectly and now i have a long list of appointments to take him to so that any help he may need is in place for starting school in september. trouble is, that none of us know what help he really needs but i have been given some good advice and feel heartened by it all

Can i draw on your experiences of the next stages please? I am a bit confused to what happens next other than his follow up appts and audiology and OT

My DD2 has SPD but she is a little younger than your DS3. She has weekly physio/OT/SALT/Portage (your DS3 will be too old for Portage I think) but she is on a sensory diet to re-wire her brain so she interprets sensations appropriately. The OT deals with her general sensory issues and the SALT deals with her oral defensivness. She is also about to start 'therapeutic listening' hopefully in the next couple of weeks which is meant to be extremely beneficial for regulating all the senses.

I've just finished the Out of sync child and also the out of sync child has fun. The latter is definately worth a read as it gives an overview of both SPD and Dyspraxia and gives you loads of useful games to play for both conditions and for the appropriate ages. It has loads of helpful tips to help your son.

I hope this helps, a sensory trained OT is the best way to go for SPD and dyspraxia.

Good luck.xx

are they books i can get from a library or better to order from amazon or somewhere like that?

I have found a page that mentions a diet but its taking an age to load...what is that?

i thought it was diet like food

I posted on another thread re Ot and assessment here. Some of which may be applicable but obviously he/she may focus more on the specific areas identified by the consultant. ds has some sensory issues with his dyspraxia.

I'm sure you could probably get them from the library but the 'out of sync child has fun' you would probably want to buy as you'll refer to it constantly over time. I got mine at Amazon. Maybe get it from the library initially and see if it's something worth having a copy of.

DD2's sensory diet mainly consists of the deep pressuure brushing technique as she is severely tactile defensive. It definately improves things but the therapeutic listening should hopefully improve things even more. Both are part of a sensory diet. Your OT will assess your DS3's sensory needs and then give you an appropriate sensory diet.

I thought it was food when I first heard it too!!!

ah right so wait for OT rather than getting ahead of myself.
i just want to help him now that i know at least a little bit of what he is going thru

A lot of the activities in 'the out of sync child has fun' are activities that work alongside a sensory diet so there's no harm in doing these and they will help. It will also give you more of an idea what sensory issues your DS has. I must admit though after reading it DD2 had a lot more issues than when I started so be prepared for that. It covers SPD and Dyspraxia.