ASD vs processing disorder vs. sensory dysfunction/help??

November 8, 2005

hi all

Trying to help a friend, please read and give me your thoughts!?

i have a friend with and 11 year old daughter who has always had

massive sensory issues. These get worse as she gets older. She

craves deep pressure, dressing is a war (socks with a hem, no blue

jeans becuase of how they feel) There are nightly rituals after

bath that involve asking 3 questions that must be answered with a

yes (i.e did i get all the soap off...) she has had a diagnosis of

central auditory processing disorder for nearly 2 years and uses the

listening device for this at home and school. She has an

approximate 2 year lanugage delay and i dont know if you would say

she has social deficits or it is all part of a larger self esteem

issue.

The school district stated there was nothing wrong and mom pulled

her and placed in catholic school. She is going downhill as mom put

it with academics/behaviors. Things like mixing up addition and

subtraction on a consistent basis, taking over 30 minutes to look up

3 vocab words in the dictionary..she would try to look up a word and

could not get how to find it other than by the first letter or two

of the word. (so if the word was behavior, she could find B-E but

could not find the word because she could not match up the rest of

the letters in the word) She seems to also take everything literally

and for example if you cough in another room away from her she would

come in and ask if you coughed on her.

She has a lot of meltdowns revolving around homework and sensory

issues. She is very verbal and communicates wants and needs well.

she does not have any obsessions that we can see such as a fanatical

interest in a certain subject. Her mom is in the process of

discussing whether or not this child fits on the spectrum and should

have evals for autism spectrum. For years the childs docs have been

saying that she is inmature for the intelligence she has and this is

why these behaviors are seen.

So, based on all of this I would appreciate any ideas or thoughts on

diagnosis but for now mostly mom is trying to figure out how to help

her child from an educational standpoint. She has much work ahead

given that without diagnosis and if the private school does not get

federal funds section 504 is out so we are trying to help with what

we can for now.

I had thought she could consult a behavior analyst in home or have

someone to look at a video. this mom is confused as to what things

she sees are true behaviors or are issues/symptoms associated with

the diagnosis she has or may have. i have told her to join this

list so am helping until she does this.

Thanks

you may email me off list at

mainecollier@...

leighanne

November 9, 2005