Have you heard about sensory processing disorder (SPD)? Neither had I until I read this article in the most recent issue of Time Magazine. It’s no wonder… In PsycINFO, the psychological research database, only 29 citations were noted for this disorder, while MEDLINE found 8 articles for “sensory integration dysfunction” (another common term to reference this concern). Not all of the citations were studies (some were book chapters, book reviews, dissertations and foreign-language journal articles).
One of the studies in PsycINFO was a review paper published in the Journal of Optometric Vision Development, suggesting that “delayed vestibular maturation correlates significantly with sensory integration dysfunctions” (Solan, 2007). So there may be at least a small number of cases where such problems are medically related or caused. It doesn’t appear that this is a common consideration amongst many occupational therapists who see and treat this concern (according to the article). Others may consider this an autism spectrum disorder, something that is already pretty well-captured in the world of autism and related research.
The other issue is that typically you’d be looking at a new diagnostic category to have a hundred or more research studies, at least a few of which would be in the “rigorous” category, before something is considered for inclusion as an official diagnosis. So while I find this article fascinating as a look into one of those rare childhood concerns (notwithstanding the 1 in 20 number quoted in the article, which was pulled from a single study that sent surveys to parents asking them about their child at a single point in time), I won’t be too worried that practitioners will see a new epidemic of these disorders like they did with ADHD in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
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University Update - ADHD - The Next ADHD? Sensory Processing Disorder (12/3/2007)
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“The Next ADHD? Sensory Processing Disorder”
This isn’t a newly coined diagnosis. My son has sensory integration dysfunction (as well as ADD and depression), and in 2001 when he started kindergarten the school psychologist at our tiny rural school was already familiar with sensory integration dysfunction and its commonly accompanying conditions.
Treatment has been worthwhile. My son had weekly OT sessions at a special clinic in Denver for kids with sensory integration dysfunction when he was in preschool, but the most helpful intervention has been vision therapy (prescribed by a family eye doctor after to his third grade teacher noticed visual tracking problems when he read aloud). But the vision therapy did much more than help with reading. After a few months of vision therapy my klutzy boy could suddenly hit a baseball!
I think that the vision therapy stimulates the development of brain connections that don’t just happen automatically in some kids. It’s a real time commitment on the part of parents and child, but so worth it.
This really isn’t new. Both my brother and I were diagnosed with this when we were pretty young. We did OT for awhile when we were younger and now He’s 18 I’m 20. Still sensory wierdness for both of us still but nothing that really matters (He’s really particular about socks he wears and I don’t drink soda because the carbonation hurts)
My son was diagnosed by an OT with SPD when he was two years old. My view “from the trenches” (that is, as a mom looking for answers rather than as an academic) is that SPD is better known in early childhood intervention programs than in medical or psychiatric clinicians. It seems most research has been done by OTs and is somewhat insular to their field. I would be interested to see more academic studies published, including some longitudinal studies.
Before assuming SPD will become an epidemic you should meet a parent with a child who has it. I knew for a couple of years that something was off with my son. I could not get his pediatrician to listen. Finally he sent me to an OT and for the first time in my son’s life he is able to cope with alot of issues. I have learned that through his sensory diet that he can acheive things he could not before. Frankly the best thing about this disorder is that there are a lot of nonbelievers. The last thing these kids need is for drug companies to come up with a dangerous drug like they did for ADD and ADHD.
Sensory Processing Disorder is a fairly new diagnosis, but sensory processing issues have been studied for decades now. See Dr. Jane Ayres for instance. The real work being done on SPD is at the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation. They work with a variety of well known institutions like MIT and Yale- studying this disorder and sensory processing issues in general.
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 3 Dec 2007
