20 month old with SPD

by amanda
(indiana)

My 20 month old has recently been diagnosed with sensory processing disorder as well as an anxiety disorder. She also has a language delay. We noticed early on that something was not right with her but her family doctor kept brushing it off. She has been in speech therapy and developmental therapy for around 8 months and has made very minimal progress. She still struggles with language and does not really interact with the other children at daycare.

About a month before her her appointment with the specialist, we had asked her family doc if it could be SPD and was told absolutely not. Things we noticed were not liking the palms of her hands touched, making it difficult to learn hand over hand sign, sensitivities to certain textures of food, loud noises and just constantly moving from the time she gets up until she goes to bed. She constantly drools, runs in circles, eats dirt and anything else non food related she can get in her mouth. She does not like sand, bubbles,shaving cream, finger paint, pudding, bananas and other textures. She is very resistant to change.

I have read a lot about asperger's syndrome and autism. When we went to the specialist, he said there is absolutely no way she could be autistic because she is to smart. However he said she does show characteristics of an autistic child but he believes they are behaviors.Her speech therapist still thinks she could be on the spectrum for austim or even asperger's and says if we do not get the help she needs then she could be one of those children who slips through the cracks. Her speech therapist was at daycare the day she ate cat poop and does not believe any of the things my child is doing is a behavior or for attention. The specialist believes the autistic behaviors we have experienced are just behaviors.. nothing more due to spd and referred us to a behaviorist and child psychologist for the anxiety issues.

Could there be something this specialist is missing? How can we help her to make progress during speech and developmental therapy? What can we do to help her adapt to the the sensory issues that are giving her problems?