SPD is not part of the autisitc spectrum

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Kids that have autism sometimes have sensory processing disorder, but the converse is not true. If you have sensory processing disorder, you are not necessarily autistic.

There is a big fallacy out there where most people either don't believe sensory processing doesn't exist or they believe that sensory processing can only be tied to ADHD or PDD. This is the biggest lie out there. There is such a thing as stand alone SPD. I know this because my child has stand alone SPD and I intend to write a book on this. My child has been tested as does not have any form of autism and does not have ADHD. Therefore proving that stand alone SPD exists. Many children are probably misdiagnosed as autistic and they actually have SPD. I believe this is the case of the Einstein Syndrome kids. By the way, Camarata and Thomas Sowell who I've written to by email doesn't believe the Einstein kids have autism or even SPD, they just believe they are high IQ.

The biggest problem is that the whole austism folks is they want to put everybody in the autism spectrum. Before you know it they will put every human being in the autism spectrum.

PDD is just a fake-out where they say it it does fit anything else then its PDD. That may true in some cases. But, its also true, if every symptom doesn't fit, then its SPD.

There really needs to be a education in this country about SPD.

Sensory processing disorder is usually called SID = sensory integration dysfunction in formal contexts. Because SPD is commonly understood to mean semantic pragmatic disorder.

Colloquially, SID is often refereed to as sensory processing disorder (among other things) but it gets confusing to ignore real SPD which is also often co-morbid with PDDs.

Something else: I find your comment about 'the whole autism folks' odd. Seeing how it's untrue that all those on or connected to the spectrum want to identify all others as autistic.

It's always good to debunk myths, but it's questionable to do it while enforcing stereotypes at the same time.

The bit about that SID doesn't equate to autism I agree with.

I also want to add that there are lots of 'sensory issues' in otherwise perfectly average people even that often are never identified or noticed by these people. SID is also commonly associated with a variety of other conditions besides autism.

It is called PDD-NOS for a reason. Not Otherwise Specified. The classification of the persistent developmental disorders together is purpose done as a result of neurological studies indicating that they share common characteristics regarding the structures of the brain. The PDD subsets share a physiological trait in common. Upon having a sensory organ stimulated and the specific areas of the brain responsible for particular processing do their job, in PDD brains there is a secondary area all the information passes through. In a Neurotypical brain this secondary area simply does not exist. If you are diagnosed according to the criteria as having any of the disorders classified as Persistent Developmental, the neurological assumption is that you have this secondary processing area. Sensory Integrative Disorder, Sensory Disintegration Disorder, Sensory Adaptability Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder or whatever form/forms end up being included in the next edition of the DSM, are still expected to fall under the overall heading of PDD. They will just now be Otherwise Specified rather than Not.

Persistent Development Disorders are also sometimes known as Autistic Spectrum Disorders or The Autistic Spectrum, stemming from the first recognized PDD being classical autism.

are coming out with the new DSM. The latest I heard was that the DSM would rewrite the Autism and Asperger's criteria to include those currently dx'ed with PDD-NOS.
Look, a person can get a dx of PDD-NOS because they are missing one out of all of the necessary criteria. Are you really going to suggest that a person not get services because of one symptom? One can be dx'ed with PDD-NOS because they meet ALL criteria for Asperger's but they didn't speak until age 4 or 5. Many disorders in the DSM have an NOS category because people aren't always that easy to categorize.
I for one do not see that ASD diagnoses are given out on a whim. I have met several people who only had a sensory-integration disorder but seemed ASD on the surface, as well as people with severe ADHD who were referred but not on the spectrum after all. And some people are just odd when judged by social norms. Many people may have lots of ASD characteristics but not enough to be diagnosed.

If you've only got sensory integration disorder, then no, you don't have a PDD. You have to have social impairment, language impairment, or something from the activities/interests category (you know, stimming, special interests, routines, stacking/lining up/patterning stuff etc.). PDDNOS is a category for autism that doesn't fit exactly into other categories; but it has to be definitely a PDD.

Now, if your sensory integration is causing you to avoid social contact and be unable to interpret or produce language, then yes, you have autism.

When people mention SPD here, they are usually mentioning Semantic-Pragmatic Disorder, not sensory processing disorder, which IS part of the autism spectrum. PDD-NOS is frequently semantic pragmatic disorder.

I think you might just be confused. So when you see SPD here, don't assume its sensory processing disorder, frequently its shorthand for Semantic Pragmatic Disorder.

The DSM IV-TR diagnostic criteria are based around psychiatric evaluations of behavioral disorders. We've come a long ways since Kanner and Asperger folks. One of the things that has happened since then is the significant advances in the use of neuroimaging technologies. Thanks to our friends the fMRI and the EEG, there has lately been a push to change the way PDD is regarded. AD/HD, Tourette's, Aspergers, Autism all have been demonstrated to result from a set of related differences in the brain, present from birth and believed to be largely genetic. There are also a few specific traits suspected to occur during gestation in the womb, specifically during the sexing or gendering stage, where testosterone is first introduced to the fetus.

Neurologists consider these related differences in the brain to all fall under the PDD heading. I was hoping we could avoid the issue of addressing just what the DSM is and is not, but I will reiterate, the DSM is diagnostic criteria for psychiatric evaluations of behavioral disorders. It doesn't even pretend to have any knowledge of the underlying physiological causes of these behavioral disorders. It groups them by diagnostic similarity, not whether or not they are actually medically related.

I'm not gonna agree or disagree with the main statement of this thread because that would take a lot more time and a considerable foray into the neurobiology of autism to make my point.

However, I would hesitate in assuming the criteria for these various conditions are perfect and 100% capable of identifying all cases of ASC, etc. They are far from perfect.

I'm not saying the OP's child IS autistic; however, the fact that a diagnostician doesn't think he fits the current DSM listings does not equate to "proof" he isn't autistic. Diagnosis is an art, not a science. And while diagnosis is based off of highly variable behavioral symptomatology and not a reliable biomarker, there is always considerable room for error.

I would advise the above future-author to take this into account when writing her book, so as not to be spreading false information.

If the OP is interested in an explanation of some of the neurobiological research upon which I base my opinion, feel free to PM me

Well, over selectivity of attention [to sensory input] is an old theory for Autism/Autistic Disorder which hasn't been disproven, and it does explain many things. There's a new one in the same vain going around too ("intense world syndrome" or something).

I'd agree that SID isn't always a core feature of AS (some mild problems are usually noted, but nothing as severe as what's seen in Autistic Disorder, especially in children), but I'd agree that it's a core area of AD, which equals AS in numbers, so it is a goodly portion of the "Spectrum".

Sensory Integration Disorder is not even recognized by the psychiatric profession. It does not appear in the diagnostic manual. It is a "diagnosis" given by an occupational therapist to justify certain therapies. That's why it can't be part of the spectrum.

SID often accompanies autism, but it can also accompany PPD-NOS, ADD and sometimes even bipolar, as bipolar people also become overwhelmed with sensory stimuli.

I have SID and was treated for 6 months by an occupational therapist, when I was 37. It was extremely valuable work and it helped me tolerate a lot of noises and touch.

I think its an OT diagnosis.
Semantic pragmatic language disorder seems to be kind of Speech pathology dx.
I think there is tremendous overlap.
And as another thread discusses, how many of these are real things?

--des