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Sensory Processing Disorder
How and Why Children Misinterpret Ordinary Sensory Information By Sue Marquette Poremba
According to Christine Achenbach, fieldwork coordinator for Elizabethtown College Occupational Therapy Department, there are four types of SPD:
Sensory Modulation Disorders This is when the nervous system cannot monitor or regulate itself. This is often seen in children with autism, and is one reason why children with SPD are assumed to be autistic. (Please note many children with autism are diagnosed with SPD, but one diagnosis does not automatically mean the child has the other.) - Sensory Perception and Discrimination Here, the brain's ability to interpret sensory information is short-circuited. These are children who are often diagnosed with learning disabilities.
- Vestibular Disorders This affects balance, movement and gravity. Children with vestibular disorders often have trouble with equilibrium, muscle tone and distinguishing between left and right.
- Dyspraxia This is also known as "clumsy child syndrome." Children struggle with coordination and poor motor skills. They are unable to conceptualize, plan and execute many motor skills. Older children have poor handwriting skills.
These types show themselves in different ways. Some children are sensory cravers or seekers and need a lot of stimulation. These are the children who will touch a hot stove even after they are warned it is hot, because they have a high threshold of pain. Or they are children who will climb too high in trees or turn the television on at the highest levels.
Children who are sensory avoiders are the opposite. They are extremely sensitive to noise, fear taking any type of risk and cry out in pain with the slightest touch. Children who are sensory avoiders can be difficult to groom because brushing the hair or being cleaned with a washcloth is painful and traumatic.
As children get older, what are symptoms of SPD may be mistaken for bad behavior, like a child who acts out because the bright fluorescent lights at the grocery store are too bright and cause pain, or the child who plays too rough and hurts other children.
