Adult diagnosed with SPD

by Steven
(Florence Oregon)

Yes it is real, and the other co morbid conditions muddy the waters, but it exists. Experts found I was prone to stimulus overload on all of my senses in test results over 30 years ago and didn't know what label to give me. Some said ADD, others said, learning disabilities, I score high on Autism tests. I thought I was developing mild MS over the last few years or Chronic inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy.

My MD recently diagnosed me with SPD. Reading the symptoms listed here is a little shocking as I have had so many of them and continue to have them. Sluggish cognitive tempo is another cutting edge condition being researched and I believe runs with SPD. Do extreme gifts in music and the arts run with SPD as they do with SCT? I have them. This site seems to mention children, but children grow up and these conditions will have profound impacts on their lives if nothing is done to help them. In an every man for him self, predatory capitalist, winner take all society such as the USA, those with invisible neurological disabilities are treated like they have character flaws by many. Hopefully, research and education will continue to enlighten the general population. These disabilities can lead to a lifetime of struggle and poverty with out the proper intervention. The USA needs to establish better safety nets for those with invisible disabilities. "invisible to the untrained eye that is"

Next time you are in a sports bar with foot ball games playing on multiple TVs and someone yells out "YEAH" when his team scores, let the reader understand. The pain and neurological shock someone with SPD experiences at that moment, is unbearable. It literally shuts the person down neurologically. They temporarily experience functional loss and will have to leave the building. Do NOT make your child with SPD ride in a noisy crowded school bus if they show signs of stimulus overload or confusion, inability to carry on a conversation with other kids etc, in these situations. Don't take them to football games or other similar events.

Here is what it is like. Every thing around you is becomes confusing, you become disoriented, you can't understand what the person next to you is saying. If you understand, it will be after a delay. You loose your balance. Like being in an earth quake. You feel like you are receding into a tunnel. You don't know what is going on around you because your ability to process all the information coming at you has shut down. You may start to cry from the emotional pain you are experiencing, and some other children will begin to tease you. Bullies will see your vulnerability and they will try to get you to fight. They may hit you, but you can't defend yourself. You physically lose your strength because you can't control your muscles. It's a part of the neurological overload to your processing. You may not be able to follow directions or remember a list of things someone tells you to do if you experience overload in that way. Your boss will fire you for this. You will not be able to maintain gainful employment with out accommodations. "Good luck with that"

As you get older you become hypersensitive and develop powerful intuitive abilities to keep you out of situations. Eventually it gets easier to process things and the symptoms won't be so bad, but you will live with some of these symptoms for the rest of your life. Follow your gifts. Self employment will allow you to have some control of your environment. captcha boxes may be difficult for you to process.