SPD Support Forum

My daughter was diagnosed rather young with SPD, about 1.5 years old; she had plenty of signs/"quirks".
As a baby:
- Impervious to pain
- Refused to ever lay flat had to be in a sitting or standing position.
- Had to be swaddled in a knit blanket at all times regardless of the temperature. (She was born in August so this caused much overheating.)
- For bedtime she had to be swaddled and placed in a boppy for extra snugness and to maintain and sitting up position.
- Refused to crawl normally. Used tiptoes and hands to move around.
- She cried to be tossed and rocked vigorously.
- No babbling at all.

As a toddler:
- Walked early but would only walk on her toes.
- Would only eat soft foods (i.e.. yogurt, noodles, soggy cereal)
- Food needed to be covered in ketchup.
- Before eating she would rub her food all over her.
- Stuffed her mouth until the point of gagging.
- Unable to use silverware.
- Pulled hair out in chunks whenever in the car.
- Constant running around, running into things purposely, and standing on her head.
- No talking beyond unintelligible sounds for Mama and juice.
- Needs random and plentiful "cuddle time" breaks throughout the day.
- Refused to be touched by children her age.
- If going into public wants to be covered completely to avoid touch.
- Uses favorite knit blanket to hide throughout the day or to avoid being touched by others.
- Hand flapping.
- Constant diarrhea.

She was placed in OT/ST by Early Intervention and made great strides in speech and eating and was released from both. Now, she is turning 3 and doesn't exhibit nearly as many problems and those that she does show I'm uncertain to whether or not they pertain to SPD. My daughter never has meltdowns like those I read about from other parents. She has bad days where she does a lot of crying and has general miserableness with a need to cuddle all day but cuddling usually makes it all better and we just spend the day lazing about together. She does still:
- Hate to be near large groups of people. When we are insist on being held.
- Insistis on being covered when in public.
- Fearful of being touched by children her age.
- Needs random "cuddle breaks" throughout the day.
- Drools a lot.
- Still has a hard time being understood when speaking.
- Spends a lot of time hidden under her knit blanket.
- Tired all the time.
- Always thirsty
- Asks to go outside then wants to go inside almost immediately.
- Under responsive to pain.
- Doesn't eat much and when she does eat it takes long periods of time with many breaks between bites.
- Diarrhea
- Lack of sweating which leads to overheating.
- Mouths many inedible objects.
- Constantly rubs lips.
- Curls toes when walking/standing.
- Holds hands/arms weirdly (like t-rex) when walking.

Is it possible she overcame some of her previous sensory issues through early therapy but still struggles with SPD or is it more likely she is just a eccentric preschooler? We don't have issues with dressing or bedtime, she is no longer an obvious sensory seeker in the way she had been, and she has always been pretty ahead of the curve with her motor skills. Any help/input would be appreciated. I'm just trying to understand my daughter as best as possible.

Wow. You and your daughter both have a lot to deal with. She's more than just eccentric.

I agree that what you present doesn't seem like SPD. Has she been evaluated by a neurologist and a developmental pediatrician?

No, her normal pediatrician referred us to Early Intervention when she was younger because of the speech delay. Early Intervention assigned her to a speech therapist, occupational therapist, and someone to help her with her socialization. All three agreed she had SPD and when I did the checklist she had many of the markers and reading about it was like an "ah-ha" moment and it fit her. But, now she seems to have strayed from the path and confuses me.

Regular Diarrhea is a sign of a problem separate from SPD. At least for me, when my Food Allergies cause Diarrhea my SPD becomes much more unbearable. My skin especially becomes untouchable (even touches I would normally like hurt real bad).

Getting my Diarrhea under control was vital to getting my SPD under control. Diarrhea drains several critical electrolytes from your body in large amounts. The more often it happens the more damage that is done to your body and the longer it takes to recover from it. One of the reasons I think my SPD is so bad is I had undiagnosed food allergies for the first 26 years of my life and daily Diarrhea. I had no idea that shit was supposed to be solid until I was an adult and saw an episode of South Park (sadly seriously).

There are several different conditions that can cause Diarrhea and you will probably need to do some investigation work with a Gastroentrologist, Food Allergist, and Nephrologist.

The following problems you mentioned are probably linked to the Diarrhea and if you fix that problem you will fix them.
- Tired all the time.
- Always thirsty
- Lack of sweating which leads to overheating.

We've been to several doctors from all over the range of specialties and she remains negative to everything that could cause diarrhea and anhidrosis (inability to sweat).

I had read on the SPD checklist here: http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.c...klist.html that Interoceptive Sense can effect the internal regulation. It had spots to check for constant diarrhea and/or constipation and a spot for becoming too hot or too cold sooner than others in the same environments; may not appear to ever get cold/hot, may not be able to maintain body temperature effectively.

That sounds like my daughter but at the same time I haven't read any other stories of parents with that aspect which made me question if she had other issues. I guess I'm just looking to see if this is normal for SPD or not so that I can figure out whether to continue with the test/blood drawls or to leave it be!

I get the impression from most of the online information and stardard books about SPD that the earlier it's caught and the child is put on a sensory diet, the more likely the central nervous system will adapt and symptoms will dissipate. I seem to remember an early chapter in Sensational Kids that talked about that.