curious question about autism

[ProudGrandma]

I have been thinking about this lately and was hoping that someone here could answer this question for me...Does autism spectrum symptoms and sensory disorder symtpoms go hand in hand...or can one happen without the other? And why is it that it seems like so very many autism kids have sensory issues as well? Thanks for shedding some light on this.

 

Kathy

[LittleHouseHomeschool]

I have been thinking about this lately and was hoping that someone here could answer this question for me...Does autism spectrum symptoms and sensory disorder symtpoms go hand in hand...or can one happen without the other? And why is it that it seems like so very many autism kids have sensory issues as well? Thanks for shedding some light on this.

 

Kathy

 

I have no answers, but my son was seen by a pediatric neurologist when he was about nine. He told us that my son's sensory integration issues "put," him on the autism spectrum. He described the spectrum as a continuum of one extreme (mild symptoms) to the other (extreme symptoms). On that continuum you will find all sorts of people with a mix of interesting symptoms.

[ProudGrandma]

Do you knkow what causes sensory issues? My son is mildly affected and I would like to know where that stemmed from???

[Renee in NC]

I have 3 with sensory issues (probably another, but she is young.) None of them show any signs of autism. I don't know where they come from, but they have always shown the symptoms.

 

My 7yo is sensory-seeking.

My 9yo is hyposensitive.

My 12yo is hypersensitive.

 

Out of the 3, I think my 12yo has the hardest time living with it.

[dsmith]

In my extended family there are a few with sensory issues, myself included, but only my ds is on the autism spectrum. Some in my family come close though. Some family members with sensory issues are ADHD.

[microcarter]

Basically, almost all children on the the autistic spectrum have sensory issues but not all children with sensory processing disorder are on the spectrum.

 

My nephew is autistic & struggles with sensory issues as well but my daughter has sensory processing disorder and shows NO signs of being on the autistic spectrum at all.

 

My dd's sensory issues appear to be inherited on my husband's side of the family.

 

As to why most autistic children struggle with sensory issues as well, I'm afraid I can only guess. However, it is worthwhile to note that both are neurological conditions and have to do with "wiring" in the brain.

 

Neurological conditions in general tend to have comorbities. For instance, it has been noted that dyslexia and ADHD often go hand in hand. Yet you can have one without the other. Basically we tend to be talking about two things, severity and what part of the brain is affected or more precisely what messages are getting through to different areas of the brain.

 

There are a wide range of abilities & symptoms between kids with SPD and kids with autism and other neurological disorders because there is a limitless number of ways that the messages can be messed up due to inappropriate "wiring" or messed up "filters" - however you want to view it. In any of these cases you can have symptoms ranging from mild, to moderate, to severe, to profound.

 

Angie

[SproutMamaK]

To EXTREMELY oversimplify things (and I know I'm missing a ton of umbrella things here, don't kill me), autism has three main problems/symptoms, AKA The Three Ss. (S's? Ses? :confused:)

 

1. Speech Problems

2. Sensory Problems

3. Social Problems

 

If a child has all 3, they are generally diagnosed as autistic. If they have 2 and 3, they'll generally receive a diagnosis of Asperger's. If they have 1 and 3 or 1 and 2, they're generally diagnosed as PDD-NOS.

 

SPD is ONLY #2. It is a component of autism, but can certainly appear on it's own. Autism kids generally have sensory issues as well because both disorders are related to how the brain receives & transmits information. Ie, both a child with autism and a child with SPD wear a knit shirt and feel like their skin is on fire, and it's not because there's something wrong with the shirt or that their skin is oversensitive - it's that the part of the brain that receives those signals either isn't receiving them properly, or isn't responding to them properly. The difference between SPD and ASD is that ASD children often have similar neurological problems with social information, and with pairing hearing/speech/sight information to delineate speech patterns. Their brains just don't process the info right.

 

It's quite common for children with SPD & PDD-NOS or aspergers to be misdiagnosed, because while they both have sensory issues, the social issues are quite subjective. One person may think they're diagnosing a child with SPD who happens to be quite shy or a little quirky, where another person might diagnose that same child as having asperger's. Some children (and/or their parents) may vacillate between different diagnosis because of this.

[microcarter]

Kathryn, :iagree:

 

Oversimplified or not, I think that was a pretty good, concise explanation - very clear & understandable.

[Mom2J112903]

To EXTREMELY oversimplify things (and I know I'm missing a ton of umbrella things here, don't kill me), autism has three main problems/symptoms, AKA The Three Ss. (S's? Ses? :confused:)

 

1. Speech Problems

2. Sensory Problems

3. Social Problems

 

If a child has all 3, they are generally diagnosed as autistic. If they have 2 and 3, they'll generally receive a diagnosis of Asperger's. If they have 1 and 3 or 1 and 2, they're generally diagnosed as PDD-NOS.

 

SPD is ONLY #2. It is a component of autism, but can certainly appear on it's own. Autism kids generally have sensory issues as well because both disorders are related to how the brain receives & transmits information. Ie, both a child with autism and a child with SPD wear a knit shirt and feel like their skin is on fire, and it's not because there's something wrong with the shirt or that their skin is oversensitive - it's that the part of the brain that receives those signals either isn't receiving them properly, or isn't responding to them properly. The difference between SPD and ASD is that ASD children often have similar neurological problems with social information, and with pairing hearing/speech/sight information to delineate speech patterns. Their brains just don't process the info right.

 

It's quite common for children with SPD & PDD-NOS or aspergers to be misdiagnosed, because while they both have sensory issues, the social issues are quite subjective. One person may think they're diagnosing a child with SPD who happens to be quite shy or a little quirky, where another person might diagnose that same child as having asperger's. Some children (and/or their parents) may vacillate between different diagnosis because of this.

 

:iagree: The bolded part is where we stand with J. Ask one person, you get a HFA dx with SPD, ask another person you get *only* a SPD dx.

[FairProspects]

To EXTREMELY oversimplify things (and I know I'm missing a ton of umbrella things here, don't kill me), autism has three main problems/symptoms, AKA The Three Ss. (S's? Ses? :confused:)

 

1. Speech Problems

2. Sensory Problems

3. Social Problems

 

If a child has all 3, they are generally diagnosed as autistic. If they have 2 and 3, they'll generally receive a diagnosis of Asperger's. If they have 1 and 3 or 1 and 2, they're generally diagnosed as PDD-NOS.

 

SPD is ONLY #2. It is a component of autism, but can certainly appear on it's own. Autism kids generally have sensory issues as well because both disorders are related to how the brain receives & transmits information. Ie, both a child with autism and a child with SPD wear a knit shirt and feel like their skin is on fire, and it's not because there's something wrong with the shirt or that their skin is oversensitive - it's that the part of the brain that receives those signals either isn't receiving them properly, or isn't responding to them properly. The difference between SPD and ASD is that ASD children often have similar neurological problems with social information, and with pairing hearing/speech/sight information to delineate speech patterns. Their brains just don't process the info right.

 

It's quite common for children with SPD & PDD-NOS or aspergers to be misdiagnosed, because while they both have sensory issues, the social issues are quite subjective. One person may think they're diagnosing a child with SPD who happens to be quite shy or a little quirky, where another person might diagnose that same child as having asperger's. Some children (and/or their parents) may vacillate between different diagnosis because of this.

 

Great post! This makes a lot of sense to me because we thought ds was Asperger's since he is not as social as some of his peers, but the Neuropsych felt we had overblown it at diagnosed him as SPD only due to the sensory issues.