psychologist or spd

[debs40]

I spoke to my health visitor today who was great but she didn't know anything about SPD at all. Never heard of it.

She had been going to suggest sending ds to a child psychologist until I told her about SPD and how I thought it fitted ds' traits.

I'm going to speak to my GP tomorrow but am I right in thinking SPD is not something which requires psychological referral?

Sorry to be banging on about this. Just trying to feel my way through this!!

Is it an Educational psychologist? It's the only thing I can think of that'd be any help?
(not that I was much help either )

would have thought OT (occupational therapy) would be the most relevant professional. Failing that would have thought developmental paediatrician would be better than a psychologist.

Thanks that's what I thought

OT and paediatrician definitely. Both will have their uses. You can referred to both.
Here OT has such a long waiting list that it would be quicker to see a paed. And SPD could be a stand alone diagnosis, or part of a spectrum disorder, which a paed will be able to consider.

whats spd?

Sensory processing disorder

Thanks. That's what I had thought and the health visitor was very open to being guided.

Do you ever feel like you are trying to label your child though? I'm so worried that I've got it all wrong!

Hi Debs - SPD is a physical problem rather than a psychological one.

My son suffers with Modulation Disorder, a sub of SPD. GP's/Paeds have little or no experience of it. OT most definately your best option.

Would also add that SPD is not a DX, because it is not a recognised DX in this Country, very few 'experts' have even heard of it and lots of children are misdiagnosed with something else bearing similiar traits.

Hi thanks. That is what worries me. I don't want him inappropriately labelled or having to undergo treatment he doesn't need.

How did you get referred for OT?

The Paed referred to OT, we had to wait for over a year for the appointment.

Prior to this we had been referred to dietician and child psychologist. Coppertop, a poster on here mentioned sensory issues to me, i then mentioned to paed, who then referred to OT. To be honest i think they were grateful for my input as up until this point ds had them stumped!

Just thought of something you might find useful. Because SPD is so similiar to a lot of other conditions, the reg flags are responses to touch and responses to movement.

RED flags rather

Sorry, claw3, does that mean that they are the main indicators of SPD?

My son interacts well with other children and is empathic and sensitive. I am thinking this is a stand alone issue.

Not the main indicators, but the main indicators that differiante from other conditions.

For example if your ds has problems with touch, hearing, smells, taste but no problem with movement, this would indicate that SPD is not responsible for his problems.

How is your son with movement? it doesnt have to be a serious problem, does he tolerate roundabouts, funfair rides etc rotary movement well?

SPD isn't regognised as a dx in itself here, only in the US. Here is usually gets lunped in with dyspraxia/ASD etc. OT is the way to go, but not all are sensory trained. You need to find one that is. Don't be surprised if you get blank looks from the GP, and even our paed is a bit sceptical but can't argue as the OT/SALT/Physio all say it's SPD.

My DD2 is very sociable and loves other children and men (not women for some reason). It's quite rare to have issues with all the senses. My DD2 is ok with movement, her problems senses are tactile and auditory.

mumgoingcrazy - Does your DD also have an overlapping problem?

The reason i ask is that it was my understanding that to be stand alone SPD there also has to be a problem with movement. I could be wrong.

Not as far as I know but she's only 18mo. We are still awaiting blood tests (2.5 months now) to see if anything more sinister is going on. In my mind I think we might be heading towards Dyspraxia maybe but time will tell I guess. I think children with SPD might either crave it or avoid it which seems to be the case with SPD children and their problem sense. DD2 has poor sense of space which is the proprioceptive sense, but her tactile sense is the main issue which is meaning delayed motor skills. Her taste and smell are not affected.

Hi, my son has a stand alone dx of spd. Although he has many traits of ASD he does not have a dx of this. However he is also down syndrome amongs other issues.

Sorry, I'm just going to quickly change the topic. How is the teeth brushing Devie?

That's the end of my hijack. Sorry Debs40!

mumgoingcrazy - Sorry had to do school run. I used the term movement loosely, trying not to get too techincal!

It was my understanding that along with tactile problems, it had to coupled with vesibular sense problems too to be classed as SPD? Would poor sense of space, fall into vesibular sense?

Hi everyone, my impression of spd is there are different categories, proprioception, vestibular, auditory, visual, tactile and so on. You can have problems in one area of dysfunction but more often than not one area tends to have a knock on effect of another. It's really quite complicated. Hope this helps.

Sorry to hijack also.
Message to MGM.
Not happening as yet however watch this space.

An example using my DS where they overlap could be, his visual processing disorder interfere with his vestibular and proprioception. As he can't tell how fast things are moving and can't comprehend anything from the eyes down over means he can't tell where he is in space and time. Is scared of not know how to step or where to step so ends up just sitting down. Hope this helps.

For the OP i had this website bookmarked www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/step-by-step-guide-for-spd-parents.html

Hope this helps