ASSIGNMENT : Sensory Processing Disorders in Children

There will be a variety of conditions like pediatric sensory processing disorder, pertaining to neurologic and mental health conditions. You are expected to present your initial topic including, but not limited to, the following items:

Pathophysiology
Epidemiology
Physical exam findings
Differential diagnoses and rationale
Management plan to include diagnostic testing, medications if applicable, follow-up plans and referrals if needed

Please include the doi numbers in any journal reference and references must be current from 2013- 2017.

SAMPLE SOLUTION

Introduction

              Sensory processing disorders (SPD) are more common in infants compared to other diseases such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or autism, although the disorder receives less attention primarily because it has never been recognized as a unique disease (Mitchell et al., 2014). An individual suffering from SPD has problem in receiving and processing information from various senses such as olfactory, taste, proprioception, vision, audition, tactile, and vestibular system.

Pathophysiology

              Children with Sensory processing disorders struggle with processing stimulation, a problem that cause various symptoms including sight and touch, easy distractibility, hypersensitivity to sound, and poor motor skills. When a child is hypersensitive, there is usually a bigger response to a stimulus such as sudden fear and loud noise such as flushing of the toilet. The child might express fear to surprise touch and often such child avoids hugs, cuddling or even standing close to other people. Lack of balance is also one of the main symptoms of sensory processing disorders among children. A child might fall quite often.

              The child can be hypo-sensitive. Characteristics associated with hyposensitivity include uncoordinated movements, misunderstanding of personal strength, high tolerance to pain and inability to define personal space.  When school-age children have this condition, they tend to have poor handwriting, find difficulties in organizing their work and thoughts on paper, overreacting even to small situations and have difficulties in following directions.

Epidemiology of Pediatric Sensory Processing Disorder             Research indicates that 1 in 20 children suffer from SPD. In addition, 75% – 100% of autism spectrum disorder patients have Sensory processing…