Is is ADHD, or is it SPD?
How easy is it to tell the difference between ADHD and sensory processing disorder (SPD)?
Not at all.
Both make kids bouncy and inattentive. Both can cause learning disabilities.
Up to 50 conditions mimic ADHD, and SPD is one of them. Time magazine is calling SPD the new ADHD—missing the point that maybe it's the old ADHD!
The problem with ADHD is that diagnosis is by observation, not by tests. So the diagnosis someone' interpretation.
A kid with a grab-bag of behavior and attentional issues is more likely to get an ADHD diagnosis than anything else. The diagnosing practitioner is usually very, very insistent.
Will a trial of stimulants "prove" it's ADHD?
Unlikely. Stimulants work for everyone. Ritalin is a more popular drug than opioids on college campuses, because it helps with all-nighters and long reports.
For anybody.
Ritalin isn't "proof" of anything.
Also, stimulants have significant side effects, some of them long-term. Kids with SPD have heightened sensory responses and anxiety, so they can end up developing tic disorders and paranoia.
Meds are not a route to take unless you know for sure that your kid has ADHD -- and nothing else has worked.
What's the difference between ADHD and SPD?
There is no short answer. But here are some points to consider:
- SPD is still controversial. I don't know why, but it is. Many psychologists don't "believe" in it. But most believe in ADHD. Hence the high rate of ADHD diagnosis.
- Occupational therapists who specialize in sensory problems are the best at diagnosing SPD. In fact, they're the only ones who really know what SPD is. So see the psychologist, then see the OT, then decide who's right.
- Just to make it more complicated, a kid can have both ADHD and SPD. Or SPD and LD (learning disability) which can look like ADHD. So having one doesn't cross out the other.
- Was your kid grouchy as a baby? Did the colic never end? This suggests a possible sensory problem?
- Is your kid left-handed, or no-handed? Big clue. SPD kids often have handedness issues.
- If your kid does not have a learning disability, then lean toward SPD. ADHD is classed as a learning disability condition. It's probably not ADHD if school grades are good and attention for things he/she likes is fine, even if he/she has the behavior of a gerbil and a mind perched permanently in a different galaxy.
Consider sensory processing therapy, regardless of the diagnosis.
It's extremely helpful to ADHD kids, even if they aren't classic SPD.