Sensory Processing Disorder Can Mimic Asperger's

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EzraS
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12 Sep 2015, 3:20 am

I have a forum friend with SPD and we seem to be a lot alike when it comes to symptoms of SPD. I think a big difference between us when my autism comes into it, is my total lack of real life social ability.

Jetcat
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13 Sep 2015, 8:09 am

I really think autism is part of a wider (unrecognised and unnamed) pervasive sensory syndrome per se. It comes too often with too many sensory-based comorbidities to be otherwise imo.

Edenthiel
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14 Sep 2015, 1:10 pm

EzraS wrote:

Thought exercise:

How would someone appear if they had SPD, OCD *and* NVLD in varying degrees? What if some had language development issues as well, and again on a spectrum?

I'm starting to wonder if Autism is like one of those Science Fiction creations that visually appears to be a recognizable but somewhat amorphous creature that turns out to be a swarm. But is it more than the sum of it's parts? In human social context, it might be so. If someone has one or two quirks in their social interactions they are considered mildly different & maybe even celebrated. Cross some threshold, though and it becomes a recognizable social deficiency. Not to mention the added dimension or complication of being able to learn "correct" social interaction behaviors in the first place with SPD/OCD/NVLD/language deficiencies.

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starkid
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14 Sep 2015, 1:21 pm

Edenthiel wrote:

I don't think SPD (except auditory processing issues) or OCD cause problems with picking up on social interaction. I think the main thing that sets autism apart from these other conditions is the mind's inner-directedness from birth. People with OCD don't have this issue from birth; people with SPD might be missing things due to distraction by sensory sensitivities, but with an NT or more extroverted sort of mental inclination, they will still be looking for them. NVLD social issues are probably closer to those of autism, but are due to a neurological preference for literal verbal information, without the "self-absorption" of autism.

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14 Sep 2015, 4:14 pm

starkid wrote:

Edenthiel wrote:

So that sort of begs the question(s):

Considering the diagnostic criteria, can someone be autistic and yet have none of the other things that often go along with it?

Are there autistic extroverts, that is people who get "recharged" by interacting with people (at their own speed/flavor) and have none of the other neural-atypical attributes mentioned?

I'm not sure why you indicate that SPD's, OCD and the rest don't have an influence on learning or even being aware of social rules?

"The cause of OCD is not known. Research indicates that OCD is a neurological brain disorder. Evidence suggests that people with OCD have a deficiency of a chemical in the brain called serotonin. OCD tends to run in families, suggesting a genetic component. However, OCD may also develop without a family history of OCD."
http://www.uhhospitals.org/services/neu ... e-disorder (seemed typical, I've not yet tracked down the actual citations, my apologies)

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starkid
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14 Sep 2015, 4:43 pm

Edenthiel wrote:

So that sort of begs the question(s):

Considering the diagnostic criteria, can someone be autistic and yet have none of the other things that often go along with it?

I don't know what other things you mean.

Quote:

Are there autistic extroverts, that is people who get "recharged" by interacting with people (at their own speed/flavor) and have none of the other neural-atypical attributes mentioned?

Probably. I don't know. I don't know what you mean by the other neural-atypical attributes mentioned...mentioned in the diagnostic criteria?

Quote:

I'm not sure why you indicate that SPD's, OCD and the rest don't have an influence on learning or even being aware of social rules?

I didn't. I said that SPD might cause problems with social learning due to sensory distraction and not picking up on the verbal aspect of socializing, and NVLD can cause problems with it due to a verbal learning orientation (most social learning occurs non-verbally).

OCD doesn't cause problems with social learning in the way the others can because it is not present from birth (at least, as far as I know), and does not, according to its diagnostic criteria, involve any difficulties that directly impact social learning, such as specific cognitive functions like non-verbal learning. I suppose that if someone developed OCD early enough in life (when the majority of social learning takes place), it could interfere, but the same could be said of any seriously distracting difficulties.

Ganondox
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15 Sep 2015, 5:23 am

Some professionals consider SPD as part of the AS, and I agree with them. I think saying SPD mimic's aspergers is just a misunderstanding of the nature of autism, they are both just arbitrary divisions in the spectrum. Really I think the vast majority of the mysteries about autism (eg. the gender ratio, increased diagnosis) are the just result of artificially restricting the scope of autism when people don't work that way, and then discovering that people don't in fact work that way.

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Adamantium
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15 Sep 2015, 8:49 am

Ganondox wrote:

I agree, especially in light of DSM 5 ASD criterion B, example 4:

DSM 5 wrote:

Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment (e.g. apparent indifference to pain/temperature, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, visual fascination with lights or movement).

They put this under "restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities" but the hypo/hyper sensitivity is obviously related to some kind of processing problem. It really doesn't make sense to consider these symptoms as an alternative to ASD. For many, they are a part of the diagnosis.

Another way of looking at this is the "intense world" theory.

starkid
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15 Sep 2015, 2:40 pm

Ganondox wrote:

Some professionals consider SPD as part of the AS, and I agree with them. I think saying SPD mimic's aspergers is just a misunderstanding of the nature of autism

What aspect of autism suggests that SPD does not mimic it and/or is a part of it?

Ganondox
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17 Sep 2015, 9:13 am

starkid wrote:

Ganondox wrote:

Some professionals consider SPD as part of the AS, and I agree with them. I think saying SPD mimic's aspergers is just a misunderstanding of the nature of autism

What aspect of autism suggests that SPD does not mimic it and/or is a part of it?

None, reread the first sentence.

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starkid
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17 Sep 2015, 12:10 pm

Ganondox wrote:

starkid wrote:

Ganondox wrote:

Some professionals consider SPD as part of the AS, and I agree with them. I think saying SPD mimic's aspergers is just a misunderstanding of the nature of autism

What aspect of autism suggests that SPD does not mimic it and/or is a part of it?

None, reread the first sentence.

I was asking why you think SPD does not mimic Asperger's and why you think SPD is part of Asperger's.

Ganondox
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18 Sep 2015, 12:41 am

starkid wrote:

Ganondox wrote:

starkid wrote:

Ganondox wrote:

Some professionals consider SPD as part of the AS, and I agree with them. I think saying SPD mimic's aspergers is just a misunderstanding of the nature of autism

What aspect of autism suggests that SPD does not mimic it and/or is a part of it?

None, reread the first sentence.

I was asking why you think SPD does not mimic Asperger's and why you think SPD is part of Asperger's.

Autism Spectrum, not Aspergers Syndrome. Notice the "the" before AS.

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