I have been reading all the posts and trying to figure out my 5 yr old daughter. She was dx with adhd in April. We started her on concerta and gradually increased it until we found the right dose. Well when we hit 54 mg two days after starting that dose she started having strange fits. She does't want to play outside because the bees and wasps might get her. The spiders are scaring her and even flies. She reaches the point of standing still outside and fidgiting, scrathing, and jerking her head all around to watch out for bugs of any kind.
She didn't start this until we hit 54 mg. Mind you everything else with her was going great. I really thought the medicine was working. We cut her dose in half and she is still doing it. It has been since mothers day, if it we the dose wouldn't that have stopped?
Anyway my question is what is sensory integration dysfunction? We have a follow up with her phys. on June 3rd, if she lasts that long. I want to know what to tell you him and what to ask.
Thanks I don't know where I would be with out this website!!
http://www.spdnetwork.org/aboutspd/whatisspd.html
This should help answer your question.
Sensory dysfuction is defined as where 1 or more of the senses are functioning abnormally.Hypo,hyper, or combined.Our son is combined type. Ot helps greatly on this.My son was diagnosed with ADHD and after a lot of research I found SID now known and Sensory Processing Dysfunction which is often misdiagnosed as ADHD.
Type Sensory Processing Dysfunction into your search engine and look into it. If you feel that your child has this, ask your doctor to refer him to an Occupational Therapist... there is help for it!
If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.
Cindy
Bump This disorder is where the brain ineffectientely processes the senses comeing from your own body/environment. It all effects learning. No it's not curred it's for ever. It can be minamized that's it. When I learned I had there was no name for it even. RNmy daughter at 5, non ADHd, went through being scared of bugs at 5. I think it may be a developmental stage possibly. Although its strange that its with the increase of medication. I think there are alot of children with sensory issues, and not just children with ADHd or with a dx. Tags on shirts drive alot of people nuts. I'm not much on labels for kids, but if an O.T. could help thats the direction I would go. I would only look into a dx if the child was in the extreme range. I read the book "Out of Sinc Child " It was interesting.momiss238756.2665740741Asd is a spectrum which there for not everyone knows all the in's and out's of this. Asd was thought of as a mute unfunctional person years ago. My family watched a movie about Asd before I was ever a parent. Boy time has changed. RNMOMOFADHDGIRL, my 8 yo dtr. was dx with sensory integration dysfunction or disorder at the age of 4. This is a very complex disorder and takes some time to grasp. If you'd like you can look into the book "The Out Of Sync Child" by Carol Kranowitz. Carol has seminars all over the states and I actually attended one in NC when she came. This was over 4 ys. ago and im kinda rusty. The way that it was explained was that the 5 senses are almost supersensitive. Tags on shirts irritate and distract, loud noises that are just loud to us actually hurt their ears. It's almost like us walking into a room with people talking, the radio playing, the tv, someone singing and you get sensory overload. Well their little senses get overloaded with just having the hum of the class. There are many different areas that can be affected. Bug is very hard to get to sleep and stay asleep. While she was going through Physical Therapy, they would put her into this huge swing and within minutes she would go from extreme tense to asleep just by the motion of the swing. Spatial Awareness is also a major problem. This is like looking for something amongst a group of other things and cant find it for any reason. The sense of touch is also an area that was affected with my girl. Up until recently and she has now been dx. with adhd she did not want her hair brushed or hugged. That kills you when u cant hold your little one. The therapy looks more like just fun but that's what they need. there is a therapy catalog with sensory products in it called Southpaw. Just go on the internet and look it up. Some kids need added weight to make them feel grounded. I have actually swaddled my 8 yr. old like a baby to get her to go to sleep without problems bc it relaxes these kids so much better. I hope that I havent confused you or complicated things any more than already. email me anytime
Our problem has been our son had Ait therapy in Kindergarden so the school has never seen our son cover his ears.He doesn't do that since that therapy. Why is psychologist/ teachers give us such a hard time. I also found the psychologist who laleled our son looked more at what school said and claimed our opinion is a family problem. Today I faxed a complaint form to Tx. board of psychology.
[QUOTE=IMac]Next time, it might to your advantage to let the doctor take the lead. Some of them may be distracted by the parent and lose sight of the child. [/QUOTE]
It wasn't until AFTER his initial assessment that I started to bring all of this info to her attention. When I filled out the questionaire, I answered it as precisely as I could - as is expected. I didn't mislead her although (I admit) I did mention that I suspected he had ADHD. It was one of the indirect questions though. Overall, I didn't mention to her about ASD until afterwards because it didn't cross my mind until his teacher suggested it .. and a few members in here. So I was just trying to give her all the pieces so she could come to her own conclusions. She never did do the re-evaluation and I don't think I was distracting her in any way.
I sat in and watched my son. Teachers are not qualified to diagnose and are poor diagnosticians, tending to think everything is ADHD. I found it helpful to watch my son in a large, crowded school environment. I then reported what I saw to his NeuroPsych. I think my son was more distracted by me than the teacher, but he still displayed the extreme inattention and fidgeting that he always did. But his symptoms are not caused by ADHD, rather PDD-NOS, a diagnosis even his special ed teacher never heard of. Parents have to take the lead for their kids, imo. We are invested. The teachers aren't..IMac38946.7138773148Well he doesnt have much of a school file. He just started kindergarten but she did have the teacher fill out a few forms on his behalf: behaviour report; sensory.INaBOX38753.8138194444.IMac38946.7141087963WEll his teacher also suspects that he has ADS and I brought that up to the psychologist's attention for various reasons. She didn't take it into consideration. I also told her I wanted him assessed for CAPD and she ignored that as well..IMac38946.7143287037.IMac38946.7130902778[QUOTE=IMac] [QUOTE=Cindy]My son was diagnosed with ADHD and after a lot of research I found SID now known and Sensory Processing Dysfunction which is often misdiagnosed as ADHD.
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The symptoms of SID do sound a lot like ADHD. How can you tell the difference?
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I think you'd have to be well informed about them both (ADHD/SID) Then you'd have to keep a close eye on the ABC's of a situation (antecedents/behaviour/consequence). Eventually you'll be able to spot the clues in differentiating between the two.
For example, my son has ADHD. Everytime the big buddies (grade 6 class) join his kindergarten class, he gets all riley (climbs on tables; runs around the room; jumps on the buddies; defiant..) Antecedents? Big Buddies entering the room (noise factor a good possiblity); Behaviour (hyperactive); Consequences: Remove from environment. It usually takes him roughly 5 minutes to calm himself down once he's been removed to a quiter room with his big-buddy. Then he's set to focus.
Again, you'd have to know your child and their triggers, as well as know the symptoms of both ADHD/SID.
If this didn't start until the meds were upped, I'd suspect the meds. However, you may want to see a NeuroPsych as Sensory Integrations Disorder is a big sign of higher functioning autism and you would probably be smart to have him intensively testsed. A NeuroPsych can rule in or out ADHD, but it is not limited to only that. SID rarely stands alone..IMac38946.7133796296Well it could be an example of both SID and ADHD but in this situation, it was due to SID (Auditory Dysfunction/sensitivity). It could also be a multi-sensory issue as well. He's the kid you'll find covering his ears a lot, saying it's too loud..IMac38946.7136921296Again, rather than guessing, I'd take him to a NeuroPsych. Nothing slows the diagnostic process down more (and I know, since I was guilty of this once) of trying to read sites and diagnose on your own. As parents we just aren't qualified to put symptoms together and diagnose, thus resulting in help especially in school. I do think NeuroPsychs are the best as they are qualified to intensively test in many areas.ADHD combined with SID can be symptoms of other disorders. Alone, you won't get much in the way of school supports. Been there/done that, at least in the US. Take care.What kind of report?