Today, our good friend Cat Lichtenbelt shared her very personal story with us about her struggles and triumphs with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). Cat mentioned how many doctors she had to go through before she finally discovered an occupational therapist who was able to properly diagnose her son’s disorder as SPD. So, to hopefully help others out there who may be wondering if their child has SPD, here’s a quick summary of what SPD is. Technically, SPD can be described as a neurological disorder causing difficulties with processing information from the five senses (vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste), the sense of movement (the vestibular system) and/or the positional sense (proprioception).

Sensory processing disorders can vary widely between individuals both in their characteristics and in how intense the disorder is. Kids can also be affected in only one sense or multiple senses. To make it even more confusing, SPD can manifest itself in two different ways:

• Hypersensitivity: Kids may feel pain from simple things like clothes rubbing against their skin, their inability to tolerate a normal lighting level, dislike of being touched (even lightly), or they may be unable to tolerate loud sounds like household appliances.
• Hyposensitivity: Kids may show an usually high tolerance to stimulation. According to The SPD Foundation, hyposensitive kids “exhibit an appetite for sensation that is in perpetual overdrive“.

There is a lot more to SPD than we can really write about here, and we’re no experts on the topic. But, if you’re looking for more information about SPD, The SPD Foundation Website should be your first stop. The site is packed with information about SPD, it’s treatment, help in finding services, SPD events, news, and advocacy programs. It also features a good checklist of symptoms called The Red Flags of Sensory Processing Disorder to help you determine if you should consult a doctor or occupational therapist about SPD in your child. They also offer Sensations – a quarterly newsletter with helpful strategies, useful resources, research updates, and other information for individuals and families living with SPD. Here are some other SPD resources worth checking into:

• STAR Center: STAR Center is the premier clinic for multidisciplinary assessment and research-based treatment of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and other sensory challenges in children, adolescents, and adults. The site has plenty of helpful information.
• Two recommended books on the topic of SPD are Sensational Kids by Lucy Jane Miller, Ph.D., OTR and The Out-of-Sync Child by Carol Kranowitz

To read Cat’s entire story about her experiences with SPD click here.