Hi Christina, SPD isn't well understood and because it isn't in the DSM yet few doctors or psychologists have heard of it.

It is a real disability that has a major impact on your life, but you will get little support for it in the main stream medical profession. In fact, if you mention any of your sensory problems be preparred to be labled as crazy. I was shocked when I got the crazy label for the "freaky" sensory problems that suddenly went off the charts (like my light sensitivity).

My light sensitivity can't be meassured by any traditional method, so according to doctors it isn't real. Yet if I try to walk without my Irlen Lenses the chances I will paralyze within 10 minutes is 100%. With Irlen Lenses the chances I will paralyze within 10 minutes drops to 20% and then it is usually caused by the light hitting my eyes through the sides of my glasses.

One of the Neuroptomologist tests I went through caused me a lot of pain and upset (checker board that changed the black and white squares continuously), but the end result was that my eyes and nerves were healthy. To me that simple test causing me pain and upset was a sign of something seriously wrong with me, but to that specialist, because my problem didn't fall into his specialty there was nothing wrong.

So you have to be careful who you tell about your SPD. I usually limit to those I need accommodations from in order to function like a "normal" person.

As far as being "slower" than others, do you have difficulties reading? One problem with light sensitivity is that the words in books seem to move around on you or blur, even though your Optomologist assures you that you have the right glasses prescription for you. This was another problem that the Irlen Lenses fixed for me. It stopped the words from running all over the page and I didn't tire myself out reading as much.

Another thing that can make SPD folk appear "slower" is difficulties in filtering out background noise in conversations. The more important something is, the more I require it in writing. Otherwise, I will "lose" the information.