I have not been diagnosed with SPD, but I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and the counselor who diagnosed me suggested I may also have SPD. Looking into it, I found a study that showed 40% of people diagnosed with ADHD also have SPD. The more I read, the more SPD makes sense for me and the less weird and different I feel. My dr had never heard of SPD before, so she and I are struggling to find where to start to get a diagnosis.
(12-22-2010, 12:36 PM)Sila Wrote: [ -> ]Have your doctor help you find an Occupational Therapist who specializes in sensory integration therapy, and who currently (and successfully) treats people with sensory issues.
From there, you can work on getting an evaluation and then therapy itself :3
http://spdlife.org/soft/start.html
http://www.spdfoundation.net/directory/index.html
That's what we are working on now. She doesn't understand how OT would help, but everything we have read says to find an OT. I am going to continue to push until I find one. It's so frustrating to try and get help for something my dr has never heard of.
Occupational therapy helps in several ways for SPD.
First, it identifies what your sensory needs are. More tactile, more vestibular, less vestibular, etc.
It'll help you identify whether you're body is "too high" or "too low", and what you need to do to get it "just right" again. Self regulating.
It'll help you create a 'sensory diet' for yourself, consisting of things you need to keep your body at the "just right" level.
A lot of sensory problems stem from a "malfunctioning" vestibular system. You may seek a lot of spinning, or on the other hand you may get sick and uneasy from a simple twirl. OT will work on your vestibular and proprioceptive systems, engaging you in a lot of crashing activities and swinging/spinning, to try and help keep your body feeling good afterwards, less sensitive etc.
There's a lot that OT can do, that's only a little bit that I've remembered.
I'm relatively new here too.
I probably have SPD but haven't been diagnosed. My older son (9 1/2 years) was diagnosed when he was 6.
It seems like all the help I can find is geared for kids. The OT place I took my son to was only kids. I really need to call them to see if they know where adults can go. I feel like it's interfering more and more in my life. Struggling, as you said.
I've read that SPD is often misdiagnosed at ADD/ADHD. They can have similar symptoms. I know my son sometimes can't sit still, or he'll tip his chair and only sit on half of it while he eats, he loses focus very quickly, forgets what he's supposed to be doing. He was allowed motor breaks at school (2-3 times a day) and also could chew gum to help him concentrate better.
Good luck!!
Gum is wonderful. It helped me focus through many years of school. I tended to "fall asleep" or paralyze when sensory overloaded instead of becoming hyperactive. The gum helped to keep me conscious. It was a constant effort to stay awake in school and in meetings. I ran into a problem in the work force when I realized that NOTHING could keep me "conscious" during a meeting. I tried several types of stimulants, but none of them helped me past the first 5 minutes.
The more monitone the speaker the faster I was unconscious. Sadly many Engineers (my profession) use monitones when explaining technical details.
I did eventually find a food diet (no milk and low carbs) and a medicine (Potassium) that kept me awake during meetings. A bit late in my professional career to have lowered the negative impact of all those years of sleeping in meetings.
This inability to stay awake I believe to be a combination of my Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis and SPD.
oh wow, that actually made a lot of sense there beck! I used to fall asleep in class constantly, but I never knew why I just couldn't stay awake. I'd get a full night's sleep, 9 p.m - 6 a.m, but I'd still be falling asleep in class.
Looking back, that only happened in my busiest of classes, and after lunch- times where I'd most likely be overloaded and nearing meltdown mode. I find myself falling asleep instead of hitting meltdown sometimes. I don't know which is worse >_>