Autism and sensory processing disorder (SPD)

There seems to be a general confusion around how sensory processing disorder (SPD) and autism relate to one another (understandably, it's all quite confusing), so I'm going to try and clear things up a bit…

Autism essentially boils down to the following (according to the most current diagnostic criteria outlined in the DSM)...

1. Differences in social communication and social interaction

2. Restricted repetitive patterns of behavior including...

  - Repetitive physical movements/speech

  - Insistence on sameness/inflexible routines

  - Intense interests

  - Hyper/hypo sensitivity to sensory inputs

That last category, when NOT a subset of autism, would be categorized as SPD. (Though the two are not mutually exclusive... someone with an autism diagnosis can also have an SPD diagnosis.)

This is important, because sensory integration issues are not always tied to autism. They often coexist with other neurodevelopmental/neurological conditions but not as PART of the condition like with autism.

For example, some research has found that up to 60% of people with ADHD also have SPD. (The stats on this vary)

Though, SPD can also exist on its own. In other words, it is possible for someone to have SPD and nothing else.

However, since research on autism has consistently found that upwards of 80% of autistic people also have sensory integration challenges, it is considered one of the main criteria for an autism diagnosis today.