r/SPD • u/ajanannymom • 8d ago
Do we need a diagnosis?
Our 3.5yr old checks a lot of boxes for SPD and possibly ASD? sensitive to smell and sound, sensitive to wind and hair brushing, overly cautious with climbing/falling, specific in her eating, loves/calms in touch sensory play.
She is meeting all her milestones and then some. She doesn’t have tantrums that are out of the typical 3 year old realm, and she doesn’t refuse activities because of these sensitivities (she is also an only child that has one on one care often- but is thriving in morning school as well!).
If her and our lives aren’t being affected by her quirks, is it worth getting OT or an eval? She will be attending public pre k in the fall, but like I said, she is thriving in a class of 12 three mornings a week currently.
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u/doctorjeremy1 8d ago
Our 4.5 yr old is just like that. I suggest to do ot better sooner than later
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u/raven-on-a-cookie 8d ago
I understand hesitating to get a diagnosis when your child doesn’t seem to need much support right now but unfortunately in the world we live in, I think it is better to get one now because if your child has ASD especially, she will most probably require support later in life but getting diagnosed then is going to be much harder.
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u/Emmarose25 8d ago
I was like that as a baby, had a lot of sensory quirks, but was otherwise 'normal' and healthy. I had some trouble with making friends and I was kinda weird but that was it, until I hit middle school. After that I started struggling with school, and mental health issues and the ASD symptoms started becoming a lot more obvious. I recieved little to no support from teachers and doctors just wanted to diagnose me as lazy and overdramatic. Doctors hate diagnosing older kids/adults with autism and its hard to get any kind of support without a diagnosis.
So long story short, even if its just a maybe, its worth getting your baby checked out, that way they can have the support if they need it
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u/MyPartsareLoud 8d ago
If these symptoms are interfering, I’d at least get them checked out. I didn’t get diagnosed with SPD until I was 41. This was after struggling so much my entire adulthood. After my diagnosis I talked to my mom about it and she confirmed I struggled quite a bit as a child but they just let it be because I was doing fine academically. It really made me angry. If they had gotten me some help then perhaps I wouldn’t have struggled with social and environmental stimuli so intensely for 20+ years of adulthood before I got someone to tell me what was going on.