My Sensory Child

I decided to post a bit about a facet of autism some of my "learning about autism" readers might not know about, sensory processing disorder (SPD) (sometimes also referred to as sensory integration disorder, or sensory processing dysfunction). SPD is not currently a recognized diagnosis in the DSM-IV. The DSM-IV is the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, currently in its 4th edition and is the most recognized manual of diagnosis and criteria. There are many groups trying to get SPD as a specific entry into the DSM-V which is scheduled to come out 2012.

A person with SPD finds it difficult to process and act upon information received through the senses, which creates challenges in performing countless everyday tasks. Motor clumsiness, behavioral problems, anxiety, depression, school failure, and other impacts may result if the disorder is not treated effectively. From the SPD Foundation website.

Studies by the SPD Foundation suggest that more than three-quarters of children with autistic spectrum disorders have significant symptoms of Sensory Processing Disorder.

Now for the ironic part of our story. Zach has autism, and has some sensory issues. He likes to jump and walks on his toes, and has some self stimulatory behavior. These are part of the SPD. However, SPD effects our family more from Sophia.

So what are the signs in Sophia? She is like a walking definition of SPD Sophia :

• is a picky eater,
• likes her milk still warmed up,
• crashes all the time jumping into furniture,
• appears clumsy,
• hugs people all the time,
• has a great difficulty with certain loud sounds and certain frequencies (which is great when Zach starts his screeching),
• she cannot write very well, or color with crayons,
• she is very 'active' and doesn't sit still for very long,
• she is uncomfortable in a lot of clothing and complains about tags or scratchiness,
• extremely sensitive sense of smell,
• has difficulty getting herself dressed and undresssed,
• just started brushing her teeth herself but I still have to help,
• she is easily overwhelmed, (being outside is so much stimulus she goes off into another world sometimes)
  
• doesn't recognize when someone is not interested in what she wants to do,(has difficulty picking up on social cues)
  
• very easy to distract,
• has a hard time staying focused and completing her tasks,
• has no sense of personal space,
• complains of failure, refers to herself as a loser.

The last item is what kills me. I'll never forget hearing Sophia refer to herself as a loser. We NEVER use that term at home, so I can only imagine where she got it from. It totally breaks my heart and pisses me off at the same time.

Now I am sure several of you out there are saying, I have a few of those symptoms. Almost all of us have a few of those symptoms, but likely most of us don't have all of those. Furthermore, these things inhibit Sophia and disrupt her ability to function normally and most importantly learn.

Mind you, I thought all of this was bullcocky initially. Sophia actually was evaluated for this prior to Zach's dx. It all came after a well visit to the pediatrician where I mentioned a minor concern of her inability to draw. He mentioned having her evaluated and went on to say he thought they would likely provide her with some materials (like workbooks) to help her out. This is the same pediatrician that I had mentioned Sophie's challenging behavior to a year prior, told me some kids are just more active, and at the end of the appointment after witnessing the energy source also called Sophia referred me to read a book on spirited children that was indeed very helpful.

When the school district was notified about the request for evaluation, I thought to myself - wow, such major overkill and a waste of our taxpayers money. You can check out my old post of the event if you are interested. Anyhow, they did a full eval- speech, OT, PT, cognitive and social. She totally exhausted the speech therapists test (of course.) Then the school psychologist sat down with me to review the results. Clearly, the psychologist was intrigued in what was going on. I thought for sure she was going to tell me "here are some workbooks, now go away". But actually, she said Sophia was a very interesting case. She did extremely well on some of the tests, and quite poorly on the others. Overall, her scores didn't look too bad, but she felt the things Sophia scored so low on were interfering with Sophia's ability to learn, and although her cognitive testing showed little if any delays, her tests on social abilities were impaired. Sophie was a smart girl, but she could be doing much better if we addressed some of this other "stuff".

At the time, they didn't give me a label. It wasn't until the OT worked with her for a month or so that I was finally given more information.

We all grew up with these kids in our classes - perhaps we were these kids in classes. Why bother paying this disorder much attention? Well, in Sophia's case, she is bright enough that she has learned avoidance techniques that help to mask or hide her problems. However, a lot of these children are not as capable as Sophia and struggle much more. Many of these cases also have co-morbidity with other ailments such as autism, ADHD. Autism or not, there are many treatments for these children that are causing significant improvement in symptoms, and furthermore, progression in skills, particularly academic.

We know so much more now today than we did back when I was a kid. Ritalin was the drug of choice from the 70's through the 90's. Isn't it great that there are non-pharmaceutical treatments available that are just as helpful if not more so?

What is Sophia's treatments? Currently she does sound therapy and brushing therapy. She also gets lots of individualized attention when it comes to riding her bike and writing her name. We also encourage her to jump on the trampoline and give her family members as many hugs as she needs (deep pressure gives her an intense feeling of calm.) What progress has she made? Sophia can now have her hair washed and not scream, she was able to watch fireworks for the first time (albeit from within a car with the windows rolled up a half mile out from the actual show) and has begun to do such self care actions such as brush her teeth and get herself undressed and dressed 75%. This is huge - although she has a lot more to do in order to be totally independent in these ways.

As for learning, after viewing the curriculum for kindergarten, she will likely have no problems academically in school becuase she has mostly covered everything. This half day business just doesn't hack it - any kid who went to preschool likely knows three quarters of what they will cover. *sigh* Knowing how challenging school will be for her when she gets older makes me wish we could challenge her more now. Guess that will be up to me at home to do with her. Wish I had a little background in education, wish I had a little talent when it comes to this stuff. I'll take recommendations.... (hint, hint)

Very few people would likely understand this - but Sophia has issues of her own - has been labelled as having a disability by the school district. It might not render her as different as the autism does Zach, but I cannot forget that she needs specific treatment herself.

I sure do miss normal.