Sensory Processing Disorder

[AsheSkyler]

Dunno about you guys, but the sensory issues are easily my worst thing to deal with. In the process of researching tactile defensiveness, I came across sensory processing disorder. And hit the jackpot!

Sensory Processing Disorder Checklist

It looks like all the little things like dyspraxia, photophobia, misophonia, adoration of weighted blankets, and all our other wonky nerves find their roots in SPD. With SPD and all the other stuff considered neurological, I'm not sure right off hand what the difference is between SPD tactile hypersensitivity and tactile defensiveness, or SPD oral hypersensitivity (or hyposensitivity, like my love of peppers) and Autistic picky eaters. And I've finally found some references to nausea caused by weird smells. I was starting to feel like the oddball of oddballs!

I'm pretty happy with a one-stop shopping trip for once instead of having to dart all over the internet for a few snippets of information on sensitive hearing, then somewhere else for clothing tags, and then a third website about blankets and socks.


So, do you think autistic sensory issues are the same or separate from sensory processing disorder?

Did some of this stuff look like so much fun you wanted to do it regardless of whether you had the issue it was meant to help? (I want some crawl tunnels and make a giant hamster/human tube set for me and my kid!)

Did your Aspie-sense tingle at the sight of that long list up there?

 

[Judge]

So, do you think autistic sensory issues are the same or separate from sensory processing disorder?

Learned a lot this week. First Misophonia and now SPD. I may have more comorbidity than merely OCD and clinical depression. Now if only I got a prize for all this! There's a whole lot of signs and symptoms listed that I can relate to. Yikes...interesting stuff though. Thanks for posting AsheSkyler.


"The SPD Foundation has sponsored and conducted a number of studies into the comorbidity of SPD with other common childhood disorders such as ADHD, autistic spectrum disorders including Asperger's, Fragile X Syndrome, Prader-Willi Syndrome, and other diagnoses.

The relationship between SPD and Autism is an area of great interest to scientists and families living with the condition. Studies by the SPD Foundation suggest that more than three-quarters of children with autistic spectrum disorders have significant symptoms of Sensory Processing Disorder.

However, the reverse is not true. Most children with SPD do not have an autistic spectrum disorder! Our research suggests that the two conditions are distinct disorders just as SPD and ADHD are different disorders."

SPD Foundation - About SPD - SPD and Other Disorders

 

[James Dunn]

When I look at the SPD checklist over 65% of it applies or has applied to me. I do not have the oral and alfactory stuff as much as the sensory processing itself. I however am glad i have overcome some of them and others I do not think I will overcome. I can see how it all fits in now given I have a formal Dx of Autism

 

[Progster]

I tick a lot of those boxes too, especially hypersensitivity to sound - that's the one which affects me the most, mainly because unwanted sound often comes from external sources I have no control over and I can't avoid it.

This confuses me in Visual Hypersensitivity:
"_ has difficulty in bright colorful rooms or a dimly lit room"

Aren't they opposites? Surely difficulty in a dimly lit room should come under hyposensitivity?

 

[eatmontana]

Thank you for posting the link. I am still delving into all of this and that info really helps. I have spent so many years explaining I need heavy bedding, even in summer. And i was the only teenager i knew who hated loud music (concerts are still intense for me and often overwhelming, despite my love of social events where conversation is optional).

 

[Naturalist]

This is great! Tempted to print it out so I can say, "See, people, I DON'T MAKE THIS S**T UP!!!"

Funny thing is, my son is almost exactly the opposite to me on almost every point I check: he is hyposensitive, where I am hypersensitive, and vice versa... No wonder we are driving my husband crazy!!!

 

[AsheSkyler]

I find myself in both the hyper and hypo categories for a lot of them. Heheh, as one place mentioned "inconsistency is a sign of having SPD!" Some of mine have lessened with age, some have worsened.

This confuses me in Visual Hypersensitivity:
"_ has difficulty in bright colorful rooms or a dimly lit room"

Aren't they opposites? Surely difficulty in a dimly lit room should come under hyposensitivity?

Aye, that does seem odd. Because I have to have dimly lit rooms because of my hypersensitivity.

I remember reading a while back a book about horses and how you were supposed to keep them in well-lit stables so that when they were taken out their eyes weren't extra sensitive to sunshine. Maybe that's it? We need to try to stay in normal lit places so we don't become even more sensitive to bright light? Odd way of listing it though...

This is great! Tempted to print it out so I can say, "See, people, I DON'T MAKE THIS S**T UP!!!"

Funny thing is, my son is almost exactly the opposite to me on almost every point I check: he is hyposensitive, where I am hypersensitive, and vice versa... No wonder we are driving my husband crazy!!!

I joke all the time that I'm going to print out a user manual for people when they're around me.

My son shows signs of hyposensitive too. I know it's normal for toddlers to be loud and energetic, but he's surprised some other parents too. And when he was barely walking I caught him sucking on the end of a jalapeno like it was nothing.