Sensory processing issues-can they outgrow it?

[Anonymous]

I have a 4 yo daughter. Our daughter has been referred to an OT for SPD therapy. She has problems with emotional regulation, often doesn't like to leave the house, getting her dressed is a huge hassle because she objects to wearing so many things. I'm freaking out about launching into OT due to the expense. I'm afraid it could really put us under. On the other hand I want her to have the therapy she needs. I'm also freaking out b/c I want her to have friends and making friends is a huge issue. She really wants friends but doesn't know how to join a group appropriately. Also she puts up a fight about going to preschool, gymnastics class, etc. due to the stress of having to be around a lot of people-it really exhausts her. Playdates have not been that successful since she either spends the whole time talking to the other child's parents or gets grumpy for some reason and sours the date. I have attempted to invite various kids but nothing has really taken off. She rarely gets invited and then only b/c the mom has a connection to me somehow. At home though she says she misses her friend and begs me to invite them again. Anybody been down this road? Any words of wisdom or encouragement? What do you share with other parents about this? I don't want my daughter labeled. Thanks for any advice.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I've been down this road. My son has Aspergers syndrome, an autistic spectrum disorder. I urge you to get your daughter evaluated for an ASD because I see several red flags in your description. None of us want labels but an accurate diagnosis is the only way to get your child the help she needs. It also facilitates funding therapies. I don't mean to freak you out, but early intervention makes a huge difference. We got in there early and my son now has tons of friends and is happy.

[Anonymous]

One more thing, sensory integration disorder is not a medical diagnosis. It can be a symptom of something else, but it really gets bandied about a lot.

[Anonymous]

I see some parallels between your 4 yo daughter and my almost 4 yo son. He had an OT evaluation in February of this year and they strongly recommended OT for sensory processing and integration. The OT is a bit costly but we have seen great benefits after only 4-5 months. If you are at all in doubt, try to have your daughter evaluated by a developmental pediatrician. The waiting lists are long, but it can really be beneficial. In the meantime, if you can get her on a list for OT, there are places that will take insurance and then insurance plans that will cover some or all of the cost. Also - OTs can give you exercises to work on at home if you cannot afford regular visits. Read the book Out of Sync Child which may also give you some advice. Please take care!

[Anonymous]

I would add ( mother of child with Aspergers) that you should not put all your eggs in the OT basket. It sounds like your daughter could use a social skills group. Many are run by speech therapists. I think this has been the single best therapy for my son.

[Anonymous]

I agree. Social skills groups are excellent. I would look into those as well. Since it is a group it is often a lot less expensive. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. Thanks for the feedback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see some parallels between your 4 yo daughter and my almost 4 yo son. He had an OT evaluation in February of this year and they strongly recommended OT for sensory processing and integration. The OT is a bit costly but we have seen great benefits after only 4-5 months. If you are at all in doubt, try to have your daughter evaluated by a developmental pediatrician. The waiting lists are long, but it can really be beneficial. In the meantime, if you can get her on a list for OT, there are places that will take insurance and then insurance plans that will cover some or all of the cost. Also - OTs can give you exercises to work on at home if you cannot afford regular visits. Read the book Out of Sync Child which may also give you some advice. Please take care!

This is OP. I am wondering, did you ever go to the developmental ped? Since our ped referred us only to the OT and not to a developmental ped or neurologist, I took it that he didn't suspect autism. Also, what places in the area do you know that take insurance? It seems the OT places that are on our insurance really only work with accident or stroke victims. Thanks for any info. you can share.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree. Social skills groups are excellent. I would look into those as well. Since it is a group it is often a lot less expensive. Good luck.

Do you have some specific social skills group recommendation?
Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
This is OP. I am wondering, did you ever go to the developmental ped? Since our ped referred us only to the OT and not to a developmental ped or neurologist, I took it that he didn't suspect autism.

I'm not the previous poster, but similar experience of getting an SPD diagnosis, but finding it was not the final destination. Our personal experience is that eventually we arrived at an autism spectrum diagnosis, independently from a psychologist and a developmental pediatrician.

I think kids who are identified with SPD have something going on -- just that it probably doesn't begin and end with perceiving the world differently. Therapeutically I think OT's do amazing work with kids with motor or sensory issues; I just think that when getting a diagnosis you want to be definitive (or as definitive as you can be in these murky areas), and that may mean getting an evaluation from someone with broad training.

There is really not much downside to getting a second opinion from a developmental pediatrician. If you are undecided, you may as well get on a waiting list now, as it can take a 6 months or more to get to see one. They may say there's nothing more going on, and you can keep going with the OT; otherwise, maybe your child has some unmet needs, and now you can begin meeting them. The point of the diagnosis is not the label; it's identifying what therapies your child needs.

Best of luck to you -- it is a really difficult time, and I know that we felt lost at sea when it all started emerging. It does get easier.

[Anonymous]

I would definately seek a second opinion with a developmental pedetrician for some of these issues the pedetrician does not see what you see at home on a daily basis in the few skattered visits with him. Only you can truly know your daughter's symptoms and you may need to go to bat and seek second and third opinions to find the right therapy and/or diagnosis if one exists.

If you happen to be in Montgomery County they have a fabulous infants and toddlers program that helps set up services-I've seen many kids who benefit greatly. Also most OTs and Speech therapist give at home exercises so you can learn to work with your child one on one and learn to do many of the therapies yourself so you can minimize visits. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I concur with the suggestion of consulting with a developmental pediatrician. I just wanted to add one caution about relying on MoCo services. I found the Infants and Toddlers services to be wonderful. But they end at age 3 and OP's child is 4. I did not have a great experience with the over age 3 services until I got more connected to school, which doesn't really happen until either your child who needs services hits kindergarten or you have another child who is enrolled in the same school where your child who needs services will get those services. Once I was able to get connected, I was not dissatisfied with the services, but they are limited to those issues that affect the ability to educate your child. Because of this, I found that I also needed to supplement with private services to fully meet my son's needs.

[Anonymous]

We have found OT to be very valuable for our kiddo with regulatory and processing issues. You really want to find someone who works with sensory integration, if there is no one in your plan, see if they will raise the coverage for an out of network provider, I believe that it is 50-70% in many plans. There are also OT groups which confer many of the benefits, plus the benfit of some additional social coaching, at a lower cost.

I agree that additional evaluation is a good idea. One possiblilty, which is free, and has a short waiting time, is the autism study at NIMH. My child was found not to be on the spectrum, but we had a very positive experience with the first part of the evaluation process, and found the testing and insights of the team to be really useful.

In the meantime, this book http://www.isitabigproblemorlittleproblem.com/, which was written by staff at Ivymount, is full of helpful ideas about how to foster development, from speech to creative play, to making friends. It also has advice on the evaluation process.

In answer to your direct question - I think everyone has some sensory integration issues or sensitivities - however, if they are interfering with your DD's development, I would say that outgrowing SPD without help is unlikely.

[Anonymous]

I think the Jenny Waelder Hall Center has a social skills group for children your daughter's age. The website is www.jwhcenter.org.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have found OT to be very valuable for our kiddo with regulatory and processing issues. You really want to find someone who works with sensory integration, if there is no one in your plan, see if they will raise the coverage for an out of network provider, I believe that it is 50-70% in many plans. There are also OT groups which confer many of the benefits, plus the benfit of some additional social coaching, at a lower cost.

I agree that additional evaluation is a good idea. One possiblilty, which is free, and has a short waiting time, is the autism study at NIMH. My child was found not to be on the spectrum, but we had a very positive experience with the first part of the evaluation process, and found the testing and insights of the team to be really useful.

In the meantime, this book http://www.isitabigproblemorlittleproblem.com/, which was written by staff at Ivymount, is full of helpful ideas about how to foster development, from speech to creative play, to making friends. It also has advice on the evaluation process.

In answer to your direct question - I think everyone has some sensory integration issues or sensitivities - however, if they are interfering with your DD's development, I would say that outgrowing SPD without help is unlikely.

Would appreciate the name(s) of your OT group/provider. Thanks.