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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My DS was about the same age as yours (just before his 5th birthday) when he started exhibiting some similar behaviors.  We couldn't figure it out because it was so very unlike him.  It was getting the point that he was refusing to go to home birthday parties if he didn't know all the kids.  He even got out of a bouncy house at one because there was one kid in there with him that he didn't know.  He was refusing to try novel physical activities that he previously expressed interest in (and his younger siblings were doing).  We were growing very concerned about it because it was getting worse over a 6 month period.  I spoke to his pediatrician who suggested we meet with a child psychologist and also schedule an OT evaluation.  We were able to see the psychologist first - it was just DH and I.  After listening to our case history, he agreed said it sounded like DS had some general anxiety and asked us to first proceed with the OT evaluation.  If OT didn't help, we were to come back to him.

Now, I know someone is going to come on here and [b]start bashing OTs and say 'they all diagnose SPD' [/b]- which is what the OT did diagnose as well as low muscle tone.  During the evaluation and subsequent OT sessions, it became clear to us that DS had some motor planning/coordination issues.  He'd met all his physical milestones and was, up to that point, seemingly totally normal.  But, up to that point, he'd not really be self aware nor did we notice that he was slightly lagging behind his peers.  It was a lot harder for him to do new physical activities and he was becoming aware of it and it bothered him.  After about 6 sessions of OT, his confidence really shot up and it wasn't as much of an issue.  We continued OT for a while after that because of fine motor delays (we joined an NIH research study and learned a lot more about it from the NIH research team).  After a while, we discontinued it.  These SPD issues he's got are still there but manageable.  However, his anxiety has waxed and waned over the years and has, at times, been problematic.  So, for us, the issues he had when he was 5 were a combination of anxiety and motor planning/coordination.  I suggest you read up on it and see if anything pertains to your DS.  If so, you might consider an OT evaluation.  It really gave our DS a lot of confidence.  HTH.[/quote]

Well, they do "all diagnose SPD".  I'm one of THOSE posters and our OT diagnosed SPD for our kid with motor planning/coordination issues.  He had also met all milestones on time and while he did have gross and fine motor issues they were mild.  We went to a developmental pediatrician who diagnosed ASD/Asperger's.  Had we stopped with the OT diagnosis, we never would have gotten a global evaluation and help for ALL his issues.   My Aspie rarely/never throws tantrums like OP's kid.  He was diagnosed at 4 and received OT and PT.  He has pretty much caught up (enough to enjoy gym classes and play soccer) at 6 and no longer does PT.

Since OP also mentioned a speech delay, I suggest a global evaluation with a developmental pediatrician not just an OT eval.  GL![/quote]

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