Can I ask the difference between....
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Can I ask the difference between....
| Wed, 12-20-2006 - 9:58pm |
Aspergers and Sensory Integration Disorder? I have researched both. They both sound like the same thing with the symptons being the same or over-lapping.
Now I'm more confused than ever LOL
Lainie

Most kids with Aspergers will have a sensory integration disorder as well, but not all kids with sensory integration disorder will have Aspergers. It is not neccessary for a kid to have sensory problems to be diagnosed with aspergers but it is extremely common for them to have sensory problems. However, kids with ADHD, LDs and emotional disturbance can also have sensory integration disorder.
What I will say is kids with autism spectrum disorders typically take sensory issues to a new extreme level. While a child with ED or ADHD is a bit tactile defensive, an autistic child may not be able to stand touch. The SID child may have trouble with sounds but an ASD child may be driven crazy by the sound of flourescant lights.
The main difference between SID and AS is social delays and social communication. In fact these are the main issues with AS the other stuff just goes with. Kids with autism and Aspergesr are likely very concrete and have a hard time with conversations. They may obsess on a particular topic or have a hard time understanding how to get freinds and keep them. They may have a hard time initiating conversations. THey may have a hard time with inuendo, figures of speech, understanding jokes (though them may be good at puns or plays on words).
They have an extremely hard time understanding another persons perspective to the extreme. THey can learn coping strategies and some cognitive skills to help in this area but it will not be natural for them. This can be to such an extreme that they will assume that you know what they are thinking or have experienced what they experienced even if you weren't there. For instance, today I found out that one of the aides in Cait's class has been in the hospital all year and had a stroke. Now she never told me because she assumed I knew regardless of the fact I had not been there and no one told me. Never dawned on her to mention it because it never dawned on her that I might not know. There are many examples of that. They have even made comments on the phone about something they assume I can see because they can. I have to remind them that I cannot see it and they have to explain it to me.
HTH you understand.
Renee
Most of the time aspy kids has SID too. Aspy kids also have other symptoms though. Aspy kids can get over-stimulated,sometime this results in hand flapping to burn off the stimuli. They also have problems socially in school. The tend to focus on one thing of interest and talk about or play with this interest all the time. They sometimes have poor gross and motor skill development. They sometimes prefer a routine and have to stick by that routine or it could cause a break down. Aspy kids IQ's are usually really really high. They also may not like their foods on their plate touching or they have to have the same colors.
Not all aspy kids have all of these syndromes. Some may just show a few. My son Gets over-stimulated easily and flaps his hands. He is socially delayed and his fine and gross motor skills are behind. (handwriting etc..) He has a very high IQ. He tends to want to talk about cars or play with cars constantly. He does not show signs of aggression or does he mind a change in routine. He does However have some sensory integration.
Sensory Integration is a syndrome in which the person/child senses are higher than the average person. They are sensitive to bright colors and often find them to stimulating. They prefer soft mellow colors. They sometime will not like the way some clothing feels and will ask you to remove it. They are very sensitive to touch. Loud sounds are very disturbing to them. They often will cover there ears. SID kids also may be delayed in some fine and motor skills. SID kids often can comprehend things really well but the signal coming from the brain gets kind of jumbled up and they have problems actually doing what they are needing to do.
Aspy and SID kids only show a few differences. Sense aspy kids usually have Sensory Integration Disorder, a psychiatrist usually has to look and see if there are any other things going on. SID kids stick to sensory only problems while aspy kids have other social, psychological
Ahhhh okay a lightbulb went on in my head. Thank you! For years when christopher gets in his (not talking times) I remember saying I can't read your mind. You never said this to me. How can I read your mind? I can't. Because he didn't express this to me.
Thank you, I was so confused with the two subjects. He gets humor, but mostly with a play on words. If my husband jokes around, he flips him off, which leaves us totally confused on why he did that. The other day we were snuggling on the couch, he playing with his game boy and I looking at newspaper ads. He all of a sudden pointed to the tv (which was on) and I turned and said "would you like to say something about the tv?", then he promptly slapped himself on the head, and then me on the head and wouldn't say a word, even with prompting with me. He just continued playing his game boy and it was over with. I couldn't get him to talk.
He tested 25 points below normal for Visual Processing Speed the other day. Could this be more of a sign of AS or SID or more of a Learning Disablility? I have thought for the last 3 years he had Dysgraphia only, never took into account his strange behavior because I chalked it up to him being different, and I like different people. The only thing that really bothered me was his violent trantrums (and my 7 yr olds too) when major things change in their life.
Anyway thanks renee :)
Well, the 25 points below may point to something or not. What were the rest of his scores? What eval was that from?
I have an interest in testing and test scores. My dd has a very interesting brain and when she was younger I did alot of studying on the whole eval topic and have some understanding of it.
A visual processing deficit is not typically indicative of AS in particular, however, it can be common in kids with neurological differences (like LD, SID and AS). So while it doesn't point to ONE particular diagnosis over another for him, what it does do is tell you a little more of what HE in particular is struggling with an avenues to take to help him.
For vision processing you can do a number of exercises and many of them are sensory based. Brain gym is great but even simpler try some of these things.
1) dribbling a basketball. Have him do so many with his right hand and then with his left hand then back and forth. Often with vision processing there is also a problem with things like bilateral coordination or using both sides of the brain or body together. There for bilateral activities really help develop this area. Dribbling is a good one for this as is swimming.
2) Cross crawls (brain gym thing) Have him march while touching his hand to opposite knee. So right hand to left knee, then left hand to right knee. It is harder than it sounds. If he can't do it then put colored stickers on his hand and knee for him to match.
3) visual puzzles such as mazes and word finds. You can get tons online. Regular puzzles are often good as well.
Renee
Thank you both for your comments. Renee, he is still testing and has more tests to do with a NP. This is what the NP said so far but wants to continue testing before he gives a final dx. I have always seen problems with his writing etc, but the school said nothing was wrong in 2nd grade (with his only IEP)
I was just wondering about it all, and constantly search terms I don't know about. So thank you both :)
The only thing I notice is that he is not clumsy, he has good gross motor skills but problems with fine. He also was amberdextrius (sp) as an infant and still shows sighns of it. I got him into bowling last summer (he is normally right handed) but bowled better with his left hand and seemed to of preferred that.
When he gets mad with us, he gets violent, hits scratches etc. Have to hold the door shut for him to only destroy his room. He calmed down with that last year (but had a great teacher that really worked with him). This year its been bad with this teacher. I take him to Mervyns, he gets obsessed with a toy he wants me to buy for him. I say no... christmas is in 3 weeks etc. He gets madder and madder, talking constantly about the price and how I can figure out a way to get it for him, then (after I still say no) he will get rigid and start bumping me with his body, over and over. I have to just hug him (people are staring), be as calm as possible and remind him that we are going back to the front of the store after we exchange these pants and will look at the massage chair we saw at the front of the store. Guess what he wants for Christmas? A massage chair, that he talked for days about after using (don't think so, its 200 bucks and I already spent what I was planning on spending for christmas...)
Anyway, sorry guys If I repeat myself with his behaviors either here or in chat..... Its just so hard to wait while he's being tested.
For the most part Mike has decent motor skills too. His gross are fine but he has some trouble with sensory issues that do affect some skills.
For instance he runs oddly, almost this sideways thing or he is running more straight now but he picks up his feet abnormally high and it looks odd. He just cant sense the world around him well. He also is not good with ball skills. He can't focus on alot of things at one time or have his brain tell his body to do lots at one time. So to dribble, jump and shoot all together doesn't work. He has to do each movement separately making basketball for him very challenging. You should see the kid practice layups but at least he is persistent! He hated swings as a tot because of the movement and still cannot do skateboards, etc because of that.
However, in the grand scheme of Aspie's Mike is quite coordinated. (Another reason he seems autie and not aspie. Supposidly auties are often more coordinated gross motor wise) He wasn't delayed in riding his bike, etc. Walked ontime or even a bit early. Moves in a fluid, coordinated manner even if a bit odd. He is also a fabulous swimmer. All my other kids run with their arms straight kind of thing, trip over stuff, have the darndest time coordinating thier bodies to swim so although they can swim, it isn't pretty, lol.
Renee