SENSORY PROCESSING ASSESSMENT

Sensory Processing (SP), sometimes called sensory integration (SI), is a concept that refers to the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioral responses. All the things we do, from riding a skateboard, to eating pizza, to doing homework, requires processing sensation or sensory integration.

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) is a neurological condition that exists when sensory signals don’t get organized into appropriate responses. People with SPD are able to receive sensory information. However, since that information is processed differently in the brain they respond differently than typically expected, which makes things more difficult to do.

Sensory Processing Disorder can affect people in only one sense–for example, just touch or just sight or just movement–or in multiple senses. Sensations can be experienced as too much or too little for someone with SPD. For example, one person with SPD may over-respond to sensation and find clothing, physical contact, light, sound, food, or other sensory input to be unbearable. Another might under-respond, and show little or no reaction to stimulation, even pain or extreme hot and cold. If sensory processing of the muscles and joints are impaired, posture and motor skills can be affected. Some children may exhibit an appetite for sensation that is in perpetual overdrive. It is these kids that can sometimes be misdiagnosed as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER AND ADHD

When you examine their symptoms side by side, there are some striking similarities between ADHD and SPD as well as several differences. The two conditions don’t necessarily go hand in hand, but they often do. Children with ADHD and SPD display some of the following issues and behaviors: hyperactivity, lack of focus, fidgeting, and impulsivity. A hyperactive child with either ADHD or SPD might run and skip through the halls on the way from one class to another. A child struggling to focus on a reading assignment might have ADHD or SPD. Excessive fidgeting by repeatedly touching a toy or moving about in one’s seat reflects both SPD and ADHD. The effects of SPD and ADHD cause learning difficulties, create challenges with peer relationships and reduce a child or adult’s ability to comply and complete activities.

For some children with SPD, sensory input can often feel like an assault coming from all directions. A child might have difficulty listening in class because they are disturbed by the tag in the back of their shirt, can’t sit still because of the line in their sock, and are distracted from the noise of kids in the hallway.

For others, outside stimuli are dulled, as if a shade has been pulled over the environment, muting sights, sounds, and touch. These children seek extra stimulation to arouse themselves, much like one might need a cold shower to wake-up after a sleepless night. These are the kids who love to spin and swing upside down. Most children with SPD display elements of both extremes, suffering from sensory overload at some times, seeking stimulation at others. It’s not difficult to see how these symptoms, distractibility, fidgeting, the need for intense activity, and problems with social interactions, could seem like ADHD.

Because Sensory Processing Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder overlap, parents, teachers and medical professionals may mistake one condition for the other. In cases when ADHD and SPD do coexist, it is important to distinguish one from the other because their treatments are different.

This is why the ADHD Center for Success recognizes the importance of evaluating Sensory Processing in the context of an ADHD evaluation.

In addition to our comprehensive ADHD evaluation, the ADHD Center for Success utilizes the internationally recognized Sensory Profile developed by Winnie Dunn in 1999. The Sensory Profile has several forms. In children, the assessment is done by parent report, and in Adolescents/Adults, through self-report. It is a measure of the person’s responses to sensory events in daily life, and is used to assess a person’s sensory related difficulties, and better understand the complexities of their sensory processing. The Sensory Profile gathers critical information relating to home, school, or work that can assist in designing strategies for managing daily life. Individuals can choose whether to include the Sensory Profile as part of their assessment.