Tell me a little more about SPD please

[PuppyLove22]

Hi everyone, I am new here. I have a 4 year old DD that I believe may have some SPD symptoms. I think I am going to contact her Ped and try and get an evaluation but I wanted some input first. Also, I wasn't sure what exactly OT is. How can they help someone with SPD?

Here are her "quirks"

*She hates kisses & hugs even from family. She has never been very physically affectionate.

*She cant stand anything sticky on her hands (her dad was the same way, he wouldn't move his hands or fingers after work until he could shower. he car pooled and would literally sit with his hands on his knees, fingers spread so they didn't touch. he hated the feeling)

*She complains of clothes being too scratchy or shaky. Anything other than leggings, pants wise, are called shaky pants and she wont wear them. They have to be tight against her legs. Its so hard to find clothes she will wear.

*She is over sensitive to noise. Although, she can SCREAM when shes throwing a fit like no tomorrow. Its like she has selective sensitive hearing. But things like the blow dryer, blender, loud music, etc...shell cover her ears and yell that its too loud.

*She is over sensitive to smell. She says everything stinks, she will tell you "I don't like your smell" if your sitting too close or god forbid, talk to her before you brush your teeth in the morning. lol and constantly asks "whats that smell?" < the smell issue is new. this just developed this year.

*Her nails drive her crazy, shes constantly rubbing or picking the sides creating hang nails, which is even worse.

*She seems a bit ADHD. but when I took her to the therapist (for other reasons) and tried asking about that, she of course had a sand thing that Rie loved and played with it the whole time. The lady said she didn't show any signs of add and kind of looked at us like we were crazy. Yes if its something she LOVES she can focus. Everything else is a battle. We had swim lessons last week and she was being herself by the second day. Jumping before she finished her sentence, being very...whats the word I am looking for...impulsive! I told her to slow down and try and listen to waht Miss Julie was saying. And the teacher asked if she was like this at home too. sigh.

There are more I am sure that I can't think of right now and there are some behavior issues and tantrums, but I am not sure if that has is linked to SPD or just because she has been going through a tough time with my ex ever since we split up. Maybe both. We start therapy for the issues with her dad and the separation next month, so I will talk to her therapist then too.

Any input or opinions appreciated! I feel like people think I am just making excuses for her or are looking too much into things.

[FarmerBeth]

Occupational therapists (OT's) are the main professionals to assess SPD and kind of pioneered the field.  The occupation of your child is learning and playing, and they are assessing how your child's sensory processing affects that.  They look at over and under sensitivity, organization, types of thoughts (like repetitiveness, imagination, etc), fine motor skills, gross motor skills, visual, auditory and tactile perception, balance and social skills.

Some of that stuff could be SPD.  SPD can be part of other disorders or it can be on it's own.  I guess that's the point of assessing, because it's hard to sort out on your own.  If you're concerned, it's enough of a reason to look into things, even if it's for the sake of ruling them out.

[LynnS6]

Definitely search out an occupational therapist who specializes in SPD for an evaluation.

Two books that I really like are: Sensational Kids and The Out of Sync Child.

OT works on desensitizing a child who's oversensitive, and to 'retrain' their senses to respond within a typical range. SPD kids can either be wired too sensitively, in which case they over respond to everything, or not sensitive enough, at which case they under respond. Kids who over respond tend to avoid sensations (it sounds like your daughter's a lot like this) and kids who under respond tend to seek out sensation in order to make sense of the world. Having a mixed profile is very common -- so our ds is over-responsive to almost everything (touch, sound, light, smell), but under-responsive to pain. So, when he says something hurts, I take notice. 

For us, OT consisted of weekly sessions where he did listening therapy, and then therapy in a gym to get him used to sensations, and to get him to use all of his senses. Ds tended to over rely on sight, and so didn't use tactile or sound. They had these great lycra things the kids climbed in. They worked on somersaults, swinging, balance, etc. Then at home we did the Wilbargar brushing protocol to desensitize him (it worked wonders for us) and Therapeutic Listening (not sure how much good it did, but it did help). Ds was in OT for 2 years, from 5-7. He's still a little over sensitive, but he's now within the range of typical for most things. He just learned to put his face in the water and to jump into the swimming pool this week, and I'm thrilled. 

[PuppyLove22]

Originally Posted by LynnS6 

Definitely search out an occupational therapist who specializes in SPD for an evaluation.

Two books that I really like are: Sensational Kids and The Out of Sync Child.

OT works on desensitizing a child who's oversensitive, and to 'retrain' their senses to respond within a typical range. SPD kids can either be wired too sensitively, in which case they over respond to everything, or not sensitive enough, at which case they under respond. Kids who over respond tend to avoid sensations (it sounds like your daughter's a lot like this) and kids who under respond tend to seek out sensation in order to make sense of the world. Having a mixed profile is very common -- so our ds is over-responsive to almost everything (touch, sound, light, smell), but under-responsive to pain. So, when he says something hurts, I take notice. 

For us, OT consisted of weekly sessions where he did listening therapy, and then therapy in a gym to get him used to sensations, and to get him to use all of his senses. Ds tended to over rely on sight, and so didn't use tactile or sound. They had these great lycra things the kids climbed in. They worked on somersaults, swinging, balance, etc. Then at home we did the Wilbargar brushing protocol to desensitize him (it worked wonders for us) and Therapeutic Listening (not sure how much good it did, but it did help). Ds was in OT for 2 years, from 5-7. He's still a little over sensitive, but he's now within the range of typical for most things. He just learned to put his face in the water and to jump into the swimming pool this week, and I'm thrilled. 

Thanks ladies! That was really helpful I. I am definitely going to do an evaluation.

@Lynn- Wow, she is VERY under responsive to pain. She has been since she was a baby, I didn't even think about that being connected.

Congrats on you DS swimming! That is very exciting!  I guess I will never know until I get her evaluated but it's really nice to have an idea of what OT is all about.
 

[LynnS6]

Originally Posted by PuppyLove22 

Thanks ladies! That was really helpful I. I am definitely going to do an evaluation.

@Lynn- Wow, she is VERY under responsive to pain. She has been since she was a baby, I didn't even think about that being connected.

We got back from the swimming pool at grandma's yesterday. As ds was getting dressed, I looked down at the carpet and there were spots of blood everywhere. Ds had a cut on his toe and was bleeding all over grandma's carpet! When I asked him if he felt it, he replied "well, it stings a bit." Dd (who is oversensitive to pain) would have been howling in agony. 
 

[beachcomber]

My DD has SPD as a feature of her Autism diagnosis. She's also very VERY under-responsive to pain. I remember following a trail of blood to her when she was 2. She'd been playing with the fins on the electric baseboard heater (it was summer so it wasn't working) and had cut her finger on one of the fins. Didn't even notice that she'd cut herself. Most of our girl's SPD is hyposensitivity or under-responsiveness to stimuli. Taste and touch fall into the "sensory seeking" category. She eats and likes the strangest things. Her liquid iron supplement, for example. Baking power and baking soda. Vinegar. Flour. She loves eating all these things straight up. She's also very much about seeking touch, hugs, tickling, etc. She literally can't sleep at night unless she's physically touching me.

Our DD is hypersensitive to sound, though. Loud noises, high pitches and complicated music all bother her to extremes. We got her a pair of noise muffling headphones, decorated them with stickers, and she loves them.

I'm working on a sensory diet for her. I found a great checklist here: http://sensorysmarts.com/sensory-checklist.pdf

It comes from a great website, Sensory Smarts.com. Here's their link to Sensory Diet activities: http://sensorysmarts.com/sensory_diet_activities.htmlj

Also seconding the book recommendations!! Both those books are amazing resources. I went to hear Lucy Jane Miller (author of Sensational Kids) speak about SPD and learned SO MUCH from her.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by PuppyLove22 
 

*She seems a bit ADHD. but when I took her to the therapist (for other reasons) and tried asking about that, she of course had a sand thing that Rie loved and played with it the whole time. The lady said she didn't show any signs of add and kind of looked at us like we were crazy. Yes if its something she LOVES she can focus. Everything else is a battle. We had swim lessons last week and she was being herself by the second day. Jumping before she finished her sentence, being very...whats the word I am looking for...impulsive! I told her to slow down and try and listen to waht Miss Julie was saying. And the teacher asked if she was like this at home too. sigh.

There are more I am sure that I can't think of right now and there are some behavior issues and tantrums, but I am not sure if that has is linked to SPD or just because she has been going through a tough time with my ex ever since we split up. Maybe both. We start therapy for the issues with her dad and the separation next month, so I will talk to her therapist then too.

That therapist probably is not qualified to diagnose ADHD. Being able to only focus on what is "loved" vs. what is necessary is an ADHD symptom, as well as the finger picking . I wouldn't necessarily stop at your regular ped's opinion either, particularly at such a young age. I recommend a developmental-behavioral ped for a more thorough evaluation; we went to a clinic like this which was very helpful in sorting through ds' SPD/ADHD/Asperger's symptoms.  It can take 9-12 months to see a developmental-behavioral ped, so you could start that process while continuing with the therapy and perhaps an OT.

Though ds' issues with clothes have been minor, he is sensitive to smell and sounds like you described, though he can handle sounds much better now than at 4yo. Ds' issues got really bad (particularly behavior/tantrums) at 4yo and Kindergarten was...not good. Ds actually wanted to be held ALL the time as a baby but was less affectionate as he got older and got to the point where he might accept it but not give it--this has gotten better.

This article lists hourly fees, but I just pay my insurance co-pay as with any other provider.

Who Can Diagnose ADHD?