Welcome back! This week, on our continued look at SPD, or CD, or whatever acronym you want to use it use (not that it will matter much, as the chances are that it is probably already being used for something else). First off, I apologize about making a false claim, or in modern parlance, fake news, in the last post, were I thought that there was a link on paragraph 4 of the article, that contained the link to see if your child has SPD/CD/etc. It’s not on paragraph 4, but actually on the one above that, paragraph 3. Also, the link does not work, as my publisher says. So...yeah, if you tried to use it, now you know my frustration when upon finding out that some of the links I used in the just-recent past, no longer work. Internets a wonderful thing eh?

I guess that makes me a member of the fake-news media now. Maybe I should change the name than, something Infowarsy. I know! Communication Conflict! Perfect.  

But where was I, oh yes. I was just beginning to read the part of the article that says why it’s bad to scapegoat stuff like poor behaviour on SPD/CD. Focusing to much on your childs SPD/CD would mean that you might miss-out on other issues he/she might have, like ASD, ADHD, or an LD (all of which have a D at the end of their acronym. If your child’s first or last name also ends with a D, and this goes for the parents to, you might be in trouble). Care.com than goes on to make the same claim that the last article did, that a lot of children (this one even has numbers with it, a 70-90% chance) have ASD along with SPD/CD, but not every child with ASD has SPD/CD. Confused yet?

What's the difference between a child with ASD and SPD, and one with just SPD? Why, the “social piece” (Sensory Processing Disorder: Signs and How to Cope) of the puzzle, of course. The child with ASD will have a hard time socializing, while the child with SPD won’t. Likewise, seeking occupational therapy to help solve your child's social problems will do wonders if he/she has ASD and SPD, not so much if they just have SPD.

And if that’s not confusing enough, SPD also shares some symptoms with ADHD: inattention? Check. Fidgetiness? Yep. Distractibility? You got it. But how do you really find out what's going on, if it’s really SPD/CD that’s causing so much grief with your child, or something else? Will, the article suggests that a good strategy to find out is “finding out what helps to mitigate the impact.” (Sensory Processing Disorder: Signs and How to Cope , Paragaph 8). If “stimulant medication” (Care.com), works, than that is what the child needed What is Stimulant medication? I dunno. If occupational therapy helped, than there are some sensory-based issues at hand.

However, as helpful as therapy and medications can be, they are not, in and of themselves, the cure. Societal acceptance (along with some cat and dog love) can really go the extra mile when it comes to making it easier to live with certain disorders like SPD/CD or ASD. If society does not accept you, for whatever made-up reason, than no amount of medication or therapy in the world will help you feel better in the long run. Sometimes, in cases like these, the worst effects are not internal, per say, but external.

WIll, that does it for this week's post. Next week we will learn more about SPD/CD, and probably find out about other acronyms currently being used for the disorder. Fortunately, ASD still means, in the english language anyways, Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome Disorder. For now anyways. Until next time, this continues to be, the Audacious Aspie.

Use it while you can! Because like SPD and CD, it might soon start to mean multiple different things!

Sources used:

https://www.care.com/c/stories/6647/sensory-processing-disorder-signs-and-how-to/

Welcome back! This week, we will continue our search into SPD (Witch, I just learned, is also the acronym for a political party, the SPD: Sozialdemokratische Partie Deutshlands, or Social Democratic party of Germany. So instead, for the sake of being clear, I’ll call it cognitive dissonance, C.D. Like Compact Disc...which is also C.D. Never mind, use whatever acronyme you like.) is from the viewpoint of Care.com. Care.com: because the hyperlinks Wecare.com, Icare.com and HowtospotSPDinchildren.com was already taken, while Whocares.com was not an option. Last time we left off, the article had a link to where you could evaluate your child to see if they have SPD (you can go to the Care.com article here, look for the third paragraph), followed by some lists of how it affects children in varying ages.

Much like running into dead ends in a labyrinth, finding an acronym that, while it could perfectly suit your intended purpose, could also already be in use, meaning something entirely different.

But you may be asking yourself, along with the article: How can you tell if your annoying little tike has SPD, or is just being an annoying little tike? Will lets see. That, as another interviewee form the article states, would depend. Is it a quirk, or a part of your child neurology? Let’s use an example from the article “it’s one thing if your kid only eats three types of food… But if you can’t take your child to a family thanksgiving dinner, that’s a whole other level” (Care.com, paragraph 6).

Then again, if the dinner is happening at your uncle and Auntie May’s house, I wouldn't be to disappointed at not being able to take your kids there, as no-one else would be going. You can only take so shouted phrases like “hashtag MAGA!” “SAD!” and “Lock her up!” before you surrender to the urge of putting on your pink, knitted pussy cat hat and white “Bad Hombre” T-shirt. Of which, of course, you carry around with you for both fashion and for this just such an occasion. Or at least the hat.  

It’s the kind of fashion thats screams “2 more years, just survive, 2 more years”.

Family dinners aside, the interviewee believes that that a consultation is needed if SPD is interfering with them doing the things they both want and need to do. Either socially, academically, or behaviorally. However, another interviewee of the article states that SPD is only one piece of the puzzle, as they say (pray that there is not 1,000 pieces, that there seems to be in every, other puzzle these days).

That ends it for this week's post. Next week we will move farther down the article, and see why it is a bad idea to blame SPD for every unfortunate thing that happens to, or because of, your child. Much easier to blame the father's side of the family, because after all: that's where your child's aunt and uncle May reside. Until next time, this continues to be, the Audacious Aspie.

Source used:

https://www.care.com/c/stories/6647/sensory-processing-disorder-signs-and-how-to/

Welcome back! This week, we will continue our search into SPD in general from our favorite psychology site, Psychology Today! Or we would, if the site link I have still worked, which it does not. So since Psychology has quite literally left the building, please welcome our next guest, Care, Inc  and their post, Sensory Processing Disorder: Signs and How to Cope!

Much like the mist here is blocking our sight of the ocean, so has Psychology Today disappeared. Here one week, gone the next.

So, just what are the signs of SPD? Will, according to an interviewee on the site, it can be described best as this “ Imagine driving a car that isn't working well. When you step on the gas the car lurches forward or doesn’t respond. The horn sounds blaring. The brakes sometimes slow, but not always...You are engaged in a constant struggle to keep the car on the road, and it is difficult to concentrate on anything else .” (Sensory Processing Disorder: Signs and How to Cope). It has also been described as a neurological traffic jam.

Car troubles aside, it is very much a real, and constant, problem for, approximately, 5 percent of the children and families who are affected by it. And, according to the article, it affects everyone who has it differently, ranging from: bumping into class mates because he/she can’t process messages to joints and muscles. Getting distracted by clothing that feels like sandpaper, or looking for some stimuli to feel calm (if this is what I think the article is trying to say it is, there is another name for it: stiming: you pick up an object and just sorta play with it with your fingers, a distraction of sorts. Remember the fidget spinners that were popular some years back? They are, quite possibly, the epitome, of stiming).

I mean sure, you could use it for its intended purpose, which is to spin it around all day everyday like it’s going out of style, or you could just try to eat it like this cat. That's stimulating to, I guess.

The fallouts, though, of SPD (Though whether the fallout is due to having SPD, or not performing actions like stimulating, or why the article chooses to use the same word one would use when describing the effects after a nuclear power plant goes boom, the article does not say) are quite serious. Tantrums, withdrawal, battered self-esteem, poor academics are the most common types. To find out if your child has SPD, the article has a link to a site that lists some criteria, along with heavily suggesting that you get them evaluated if “more than a few symptoms for their child” (Paragraph 3).

Will, that does it for this weeks post, next week we will continue to look at SPD from the Care.coms perspective, unless it, to, disappears like the last one did, then I’ll just have to try again. 3rd times the charm right? Until next time, this continues to be, the Audacious Aspie.               

Source used:

https://www.care.com/c/stories/6647/sensory-processing-disorder-signs-and-how-to/

Welcome back to the Audacious Aspie! This week, we switch gears from taking a look at masks, maskquerades and powerpuff girls, to a new topic at hand: SPD. To those who have not heard of the acronym before, no, it is not the initials of a police department (This is the SPD open up! It’ll really help you navigate your feelings and get help rather than lock it all inside!) rather, it is stands for Sensory Processing Disorder. Please welcome our guest this week, Psychology Today!

Imagine if that was what the police meant when they said “open up”? Or if your councillor was a retired police man/woman, and they started every session with “I am your councillor! Open up! Release your feelings and concerns!”.

In this article, P.T. (Psychology Today) attempts to explain what SPD is and how it affects those who have it. SPD, the article claims, is a neurological disorder (hey! Another post about another topic of neurology! If there are any people studying, or whose work revolves around, neurology, your welcome) that affects all our five senses: sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing (poor hearing, the first four have a partner who shares the same first letter, but hearing has no one).  At least it does not affect or sixth sense: our minds eye! Wait, hold on, I’m being told that since A: the mind's eye is, in fact, an eye, and therefore vision. B: since the mind's eye resides in our mind, which is our brain, which is, will our neurology, it would be affected, perhaps the most. Never mind (get it? Never mind? Ha ha, sigh).

Not only that, but it also affects our sense of movement, or what they call the vestibular system, along with/out our positional sense, or in science jargon, our proprioception (no, you cannot say “I must have SPD” every time you have too much to drink at the bar and can’t stand straight, or at all. Not even Brett kavanaugh can say it, though that may not stop him from trying). What does it mean? Will, you’ll still be able to taste, touch, smell and so on, but rather, the information coming in will be scrambled and thrown about. To quote the article “sensory information is sensed, but perceived abnormally” (Psychology Today, paragraph 2).

Such an unorthodox way of receiving information can cause the two D’s and the C: Distress, Discomfort and Confusion. How is all of this related to ASD, you might be asking? Will the author, in writing a book some years back, admits that while SPD is not a “qualifying characteristic for a diagnosis of autism” (Psychology Today, paragraph 3), she claims to have not met even one person, who has ASD, with some kind of problem in those areas. Of course I, myself, would like to see what kind of evidence she has to support that claim, as the only time I ever feel time I ever feel like my senses are mixed up, or problems standing and finding my way across town, is when I’m about to have a panic attack, got knocked on the head, or went for a drive without a GPS or a map.

It’s times like those were thank the heavenly lord for putting GPS on our phones, and helps me appreciate my phone all that much more (until it autocorrects a message right after I sent it, destroying whatever my original intention was).

But that does it for this weeks post. Next week, we will continue to look into SPD, and all that it entails. Or at least parts that it entails. What to do you think? Should SPD be a qualifying characteristic for ASD? Have you yourself experienced, or know anyone who has, symptoms of SPD? While you go and argue about that everywhere on social media, I will leave like a polite, troublesome host before things get any worse. This has been, and continues to be, the Audacious Aspie.  

And while you are in a flame war, here’s a video to help calm you down before you jump back in         

Sources used:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-autism-advocate/201003/what-is-sensory-processing-disorder-and-how-is-it-related-autism