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Which health care professional "diagnoses" sensory issues?


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Thanks. That's what I thought, but when I tried to make an appointment with the OT clinic associated with the local hospital, they told me that they don't diagnose and require a referral and diagnosis from a primary care physician. I guess I'll be trying other places. 

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My insurance doesn't require a referral, it's a requirement for the center. It's the local place with OT, psych, social skills groups, speech, etc all in one place. They require a diagnosis and a referral for each department. I guess they don't do evals, only treatment? I'm in the US. 

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We got DD's referral through a neurologist. She already had a previous diagnosis of autism but the neurologist added hypotonia and made the referrals to OT and PT based on that. SPD isn't recognized as an "official" diagnosis by the medical establishment.

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The website  sensory-processing-disorder.com has a database of qualified occupational therapists as well as a very helpful step-by-step guide for helping your child who potentially has sensory processing issues get the help they need. It is a very helpful, although somewhat overwhelming, website with a lot of useful information. 

 

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My insurance doesn't require a referral, it's a requirement for the center. It's the local place with OT, psych, social skills groups, speech, etc all in one place. They require a diagnosis and a referral for each department. I guess they don't do evals, only treatment? I'm in the US. 

 

A couple of years ago, I wanted to have my DS evaluated for SPD. I called the OT clinic and got the same spiel. So we went to the Pediatrician, and she gave us a "referral" (different from a referral that some insurance plans require) and she wrote on it "Possible Sensory Processing Disorder". She faxed it over to the OT place, and they put us on a waiting list. Once we had the first appointment, they DID do an evaluation.

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A couple of years ago, I wanted to have my DS evaluated for SPD. I called the OT clinic and got the same spiel. So we went to the Pediatrician, and she gave us a "referral" (different from a referral that some insurance plans require) and she wrote on it "Possible Sensory Processing Disorder". She faxed it over to the OT place, and they put us on a waiting list. Once we had the first appointment, they DID do an evaluation.

 

We had a similar process.  We were referred to ours by our speech pathologist.  She recommended a place as well as an OT who did the evaluation after we had that referral.

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