Thank you for making me feel I'm not nuts! I really appreciate it. I thought it was just me who keeps wavering between diagnoses. You gave me hope for the future.

As a 2 yr old my son would have probably been diagnosed as on the spectrum. He had a lot of ASD behaviors, like he never pointed anything of interest out to me, he walked on his tiptoes, lined up toys, etc. The OT evaluator insisted that these were SPD behaviors from being overwhelmed with his surroundings. When I asked her if she thought there might be a chance that he is really on the spectrum, she looked shocked that I'd consider that- like I said he is very high-functioning and you can't tell from meeting him once or twice- but she told me what you said, go with your gut and don't stop searching until you're satisfied.

The weird thing is- and I meant to write this in my first post also but it was getting too long- when he was a toddler, his SPD behaviors were almost polar opposites of the SPD behaviors he has now. Then, when he hit his knee and was gushing blood, he kept on playing and didn't even notice. Now, at the slightest risk of getting hurt, he screams like he's dying. There are a few more things he does that were the opposite extreme when he was younger. He never used to like getting his hands or clothing dirty, now it's the opposite. Etc etc.

So I ran this all by his OT when she first gave me a questionnaire to fill out and she said she's never heard of that before- SPD behaviors changing to the opposite extreme. So I wanted to ask if any other parents have heard of or had experience with this kind of thing. Either the OT I have isn't that experienced and I need to find a better one, or my son really is just a mystery. The OT also never heard of someone being SPD in their home but the perfect angel in school and in front of others. I understand it perfectly- my son has a very strong fear element (also typical of ASD) and his fear controls him while he's out of the house. Once he comes home, the fear leaves him, and he's completely compulsive and hyper.

I know I should count my blessings: 1) My son does well in a mainstream classroom. 2) He has friends. 3) He is very high-functioning- I even send him to the grocery store when I'm out of something and I'm in the middle of cooking (yes, he can even count change). I just want to help him further so that he can overcome his difficulties, which can ruin his life as an adult if he doesn't learn what he needs to.