Does my son have sensory integration dysfunction?

Question

I have a little boy who will be 6 in December, he is in special-ed, all-day kindergarten.

His teacher complains that he licks things a LOT, doesn't want to sit still, and throws things a lot. He also likes to spin on a tire swing all the time (not that there's anything wrong with that), and he really enjoys swinging, and he jumps around like a little rabbit quite a bit.

He also has a speech delay. He's starting to pop out 4-word phrases now, has really come a long way in the past year.

His teacher agrees that he actively seeks sensory input. He has not been formally diagnosed as having SID. Do you think he has it, and where would I go to get him evaluated? He already has occupational therapy at school.

Answer 1

Go through his school.  Since he is in special ed now, surely he must have an IEP in place?  Request in writing, at his school that you want him evaluated and why, by a multidisciplinary team ASAP and they should by law, comply within like 60-90 days.  It costs you nothing and any further disabilities will most likely be observed and diagnosed.

Answer 2

In order to determine the presence of SID, an evaluation may be conducted by a qualified occupational or physical therapist. An evaluation normally consists of both standardized testing and structured observations of responses to sensory stimulation, posture, balance, coordination, and eye movements. The school OT should do this.

You may also want him to be evaluated by the school district's autism specialist. Some of the behaviors that you mentioned are also associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

You may be given an autism rating scale to fill out. If they don't volunteer this, ask for it. Both you and the teacher will fill one out. This won't diagnose autism, but it will give you the probability.

Once you have done this and it is scored, go to a pediatrician who specializes in childhood disorders and have him evaluated further. Only a physician can diagnose autism. You may also want to consider a neurologist if he scores a low probability of autism. He or she can tell you the areas of the brain that are affected and offer treatment suggestions.

At any rate, psychological testing should be done  before he is six years old. If they have not started this process already, demand that it be done. This evaluation is done by a school psychologist and will reveal his process deficits as well as his innate ability. This done at no cost to yourself.

You should know that even if he has ASD, the fact that he is developing language is a very good sign! He is obviously higher functioning than many ASD kids.

Answer 3

Have your ped refer you to a developmental pediatrician. With the speech delay he may acutally be on the autism spectrum with SID. Good luck

Answer 4

I have a 6 year old son with SID.  The spiining thing definitely sounds like a characteristic.  Ask your pediatrician to refer you to an occupational therapist who can evaluate him.

Also, if you want to do some research on your own get the book The Out of Sync Child.  It is all about SID, and is really informational!  There are also 2 companion books that have activities that you can do at home to help him.

Good luck!