Is stimming behavior common in SPD?

by LUCY
(CALIFORNIA)


Hello, I have an almost 3 year old daughter being evaluated by the early intervention program for developmental delays. They found that she's about 9 months delay on speech and only a few months behind in fine and gross motor skills. The case manager and speech pathologist did not seem very concerned about my daughter's stims, they said that her behavior is not something they consider to be in the classic autistic spectrum, the stims she does are as follows:




She looks at her hands constantly
She plays with fingers and moves them quickly, she does not spend a lot of time doing this but she seems to do it frequently throughout the day
Sometimes she places her hand in front of her face and laughs
She jumps when excited or upset
She hums when bored

I have read that all these are considered stereotypical behaviors commonly seen in ASD, however, my daughter has great eye contact, she interacts with us and family, she has some speech delay but she can say 2 to 6 word phrases and up to 150 words, she's not a picky eater, she does not display ritualistic behaviors and loves playing with kids her age and older.

She does well at the stores but she can get overly stimulated and jump and run.

She hates having a crowded house, if we have more than 5 guests she becomes clingy wants me to hold her and displays anxiety, if it's a birthday party, she freaks out when people sing happy birthday, it's a very scary song for her when sang by a big crowd, she may sing it to me but she will not tolerate a crowd singing it.

She loves the swings at the park, she goes to the big slides, and she also shares smiles and makes eye contact with other kids. At home she's always looking for something to climb on, she doesn't tolerate blankets at night, she wakes up at least 3 times at night, she gets really difficult when tired and it's hard to get her to go to fall asleep.

According to the early intervention team, she might be displaying some signs of sensory processing disorder, they will have an OT evaluate her as well in the next couple of weeks but I was wondering if her stimming behaviors can be caused by SPD or if these are exclusive to the autistic spectrum.

Do your SPD diagnosed kids stim?



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Sep 12, 2023
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Stimming common in SPD
by: Anonymous

I have a 16-year-old and can now have conversations with her about how she feels and what is going on. When she was young she would spin for hours, her underwear felt "funky," hated her face and hands to be dirty, would squeeze her hands, hummed while eating, and did not like shoes. She had almost no other symptoms. Showed love, made eye contact, and hit all her marks developmentally.

The tricky thing about SPD is that the science is so new there is no clear answer. The symptoms often overlap with other disorders. I learned a lot from the book "Out Of Sync Child" if you haven't already read it. I found no child is the same but can show both sensory seeking and avoiding behaviors. Good luck, I can tell you it gets easier as they grow and can communicate more.

Good luck.

Jul 21, 2023
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by: Anonymous

Hi there! I was wondering if your daughter ever received either an ASD diagnosis or SPD diagnosis. I displayed all these traits in childhood and am curious.

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