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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Sensory integration/processing isn't a valid diagnosis, was invented by OTs and rejected by medical professionals.[/quote]

People say this all the time on here trying to sound smart. Do you have any idea how the DSM is revised? By a bunch of "medical professionals" on committees voting in favor of the labels that will keep their grant revenues flowing. Just because a label doesn't have favor in that crowd doesn't mean it isn't a useful model for thinking about a child's strengths and weaknesses. Ask parents of kids diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome what I mean. Presto chango, it isn't a diagnosis anymore, either.[/quote]

My kid has Asperger's syndrome and it isn't the same as SPD at all.  Every Asperger's parent always knew that Asperger's was a type of autism.  It's still a useful synonym for High Function Autism, or highly verbal autism, but we recognized the line between Asperger's and "regular" autism was fuzzy.  And that's why it was taken out of the DSM.  The line was too fuzzy for doctors to clearly distinguish where to draw it.   And there was tons of research on where to draw that line, they just couldn't figure out where to put it.  Different doctors drew it differently, but it didn't affect treatment anyway.  If they wanted to keep the dollars flowing, they could have kept Asperger's in the book and continue to waste time trying to draw a line that doesn't matter much and probably doesn't exist.  But researching actual treatment is a lot better use of money than researching fuzzy lines.

SPD is different.   My kid also got diagnosed with SPD.  Go to an OT with an ASD kid, and you'll probably get an SPD diagnosis.  Sensory processing problems are a symptom of ASD, so of course they will see it, and want to treat it directly.  That's the problem.  An OT may tell you that the SPD is causing your kids ASD or ADHD or anxiety, and recommend a "sensory diet."  But it didn't work for my kid and the research doesn't support the treatment.  That's because they have it backwards.  ASD/ADHD/Anxiety causes the sensory processing problems, not the other way around.

I have nothing against OTs.  We still go to OT and it helps. But for other related problems, not the core symptoms that come with our diagnosis.

You can get research money to study sensory processing because it's a known issue.  And there has been research in SPD and sensory diets specifically, but right now it just looks like a blind alley. [/quote]

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