Sensory Processing Disorder article - washpost today
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Anonymous
| Does anybody know any person who really does have only SPD? I mean someone who is not 3 or 4 or 5. Every single person I know eventually either grew out of the delays or got a DSM diagnosis (ADHD, anxiety, ASD). I know that people insist that SPD can exist on its own. I used to believe it and I am open to the possibility but my experience of years in OT offices for two kids is that everyone ends up either "outgrowing" SPD or, more often, it turns out the child had something else all along. |
Anonymous
| Very interested in responses. I have few friends who have DC with that "diagnosis" and feel like they are being sold a fraction of the real picture. They are all "banking" on the idea that their DC will get a year of OT and then be done, at the end they will have a NT child. |
Anonymous
| Like a prior poster, my son was "diagnosed" with SPD when he was about 3. We were desperate to know the reason for his behaviors and a developmental pediatrician had already ruled out an ASD. OT was mostly a waste of time and definitely a waste of money. Eventually, we went to Kennedy Krieger and he got an ADHD diagnosis, which seems to be right. My view is SPD is a "place holder" diagnosis for when kids are too young to diagnose things like ADHD or an LD. |
Anonymous
| But the thing is, wouldn't classifying it as a "real" diagnosis enable more people to get treatment, by making it insurance worthy? Even if it came with an upper age limit while you figure out what else is going on? Other diagnoses in the DSM come with age brackets. |
Anonymous
| ^^ interesting point |
Anonymous
| I remember hearing on the radio where they were discussing the DSM-V and why some things made it into the DSM and not others. "Hoarding" and "skin picking" are diagnosable issues recognized in the DSM now whereas SPD did not make the cut exactly for the reasons pps mentioned: SPD is a placeholder for another diagnosis and it keeps people from investigating the underlying issues further - issues like ASD and ADHD that are not outgrown and involves children and not adults. |
Anonymous
| Interesting. I never bought into the SPD thing. My child had sensory stuff going on but I went first to a developmental pediatrician. We do OT after a diagnosis and in combination with other things, but I wouldn't have imagined going to just an OT for therapy first since I guess I just assumed sensory stuff was part and parcel of a bigger picture. In our case, it was ADHD and the diagnosis was not in the least surprising. |
Anonymous
| So admin will not allow the article link? |
Anonymous
I think I bought into it at first because the sensory defensiveness was the only obvious thing wrong with my child at that age... he was overwhelmed by crowds, noise, hated tags, teethbrushing, wanted to play with kids but was so bothered by them, and so on. Well, anxiety was the other thing we picked up on early on but I think, technically, generalized anxiety is not a pediatric diagnosis either, even though every physician we ever talk to accepts the diagnosis. My son was eventually also diagnosed with ADHD at age 6, but in the early years he was neither unusually hyperactive nor impulsive, if anything less so than most peers. And because he has always hyperfocused, we thought his attention span was extraordinary. So because ADHD was not on our radar at all, I believed that SPD might be the underlying problem that caused the anxiety. Interestingly, now that he is older and his anxiety is under control, most of the SPD stuff is totally gone. We did OT diligently for two years and--unlike other interventions--it was not helpful at all. I did learn a lot from the OTs and I think that their ideas were valuable but one hour per week, which is what they suggested, is meaningless. Several hours a day would have been awesome and could have helped my child be happier and more settled. I think if people did OT like they do ABA therapy it could actually help more people. I eventually bought a trampoline and various things that were particularly necessary for my child, had him swimming as much as possible, signed him up for martial arts and, more importantly, treated the anxiety. And all of that has made a huge difference. |
Anonymous
A diagnosis should be recognized when there is some scientific basis for recognizing it as a distinct disorder, not so parents can get insurance to pay for their child's "treatment". SPD is a symptom, not a disorder. |
Anonymous
| The treatment for SPD is largely BS. Its all about OT mission creep. |
Anonymous
I have heard people talk about the OT mission creep many times and I don't agree. I think the growth of the OT industry has been driven by the consumers, the worried parents. We'll try anything to help our kids. I think this mission creep view is incredibly cynical. Once there start to be studies saying X percentage of kids are not helped by OT, or only Y problem is helped by OT, people may think harder about going. Their are all sorts of neurological problems that are being diagnoses and addressed earlier and this is a field that, in a sense, has benefited from that trend. I am a PP who considers SPD a part of other disorders and whose kids were not helped by OT. But I don't regret trying. |
Anonymous
| The thing about the DSM is that it's really based on constellations of symptoms that are out of the ordinary. That is what the psych who did my child's evaluation told me. She said it is important to have a diagnosis if the child is suffering/ would benefit from treatment, even if hat diagnosis later changes. |
Anonymous
| How does a three year old get SPD? |
Anonymous
I could've written the same exact thing. My son had all kinds of trouble in preschool stemming mainly from "sensory issues." He did a few OT sessions when he was 4 but since I had to pay out of pocket, I couldn't afford it long term. Fast forward a few years and he was diagnosed at KK with ADHD. So yes, he did have neurological issues. |