One of the kids seems to have what we always considered quirks.
Certain squeaky sounds driver her crazy, she repeats herself alot, talks louder than normal, and loves to sleep with heavy blankets.
A friend suggested we have her tested for sensory perception disorder. Anyone familiar with this?

I haven't heard of it, but I'd be wary of labeling or assuming a disorder without ample evidence. Today there seem to be scads of experts willing to define a new "disorder" daily. There are so many variations in personality and behavior that we forget that a lot of it is just a reflection of the uniqueness of individuals.

I've heard of SPD, but like Rational Guy I'm skeptical when it comes to these kinds of things. A lot of "disorders" come and go. Just yesterday it was announced Asperger's is being removed.

They can remove it from a book, but I don't think that much helps the many people I know who live with it.

They didn't remove it. They relabeled it as autism, with a scale to represent how sever the condition is.

I have misophonia. It is the part where certain sounds drive us crazy. I was in my 60s before it was labeled as one of those new daily disorders and I found I wasn't alone and I wasn't crazy.

It tends to appear with other odd neurological differences and is especially common in autistic kids, but anyone can have it.

Certain repetitive sounds cause what is almost pain for me. I think my brain is mis-wired in a way that means I can't screen sounds out. If a dog barks 10 times, most people stop hearing it. I don't have that luxury. By the 200th bark, I'm ready to kill the dog next door.

Different people have different triggers, but the most common is pain/anger/anxiety caused by the noise of people eating.

This is an really nasty thing because I'm not in charge of how I feel when there are trigger noises. I can't really ask everyone I see to chew their gum silently. I finally dropped out of grad school because I couldn't focus on the lectures since there was always at least one gum chewer in every class. If we tell people about the disorder, they often use it to torment us - even friends and family. People have no empathy whatsoever for it and find it amusing.

It's not fun for parents to have to watch, because there isn't currently a lot that can be done to protect your child. It tends to spread to different noises, and then even the sight of say, gum being chewed, will push over the edge. Earplugs, isolation and background noise are all that really help me. Silence is probably bad for us because our brains just look for something new in the background to work on.

There's a sound sensitivity group on yahoo:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Soundsensitivity/messages

squeaky sounds are irritating

if the people around you aren't irritated by squeaky sounds they also may not pay attention when you talk requiring you to repeat yourself (they desensitized themselves to even irritating squeaky noises how will they notice a svelt beautiful little voice like yours and pay attention to it every time)

hey maybe she's one of those family members without audio damage from turning the volumn of ipods up accidently causing industrial hearing loss is all; real differnt from her older brother or cousins no doubt.

all these people who can't hear irritating noises surround you (do they even have a startle reflex) you really have to belt it out to be heard over their computer stare, or movie stare, or whatever the heck they're staring at or was that an ipod plugged in hidden by all their hair-

or raised by a baby sitter using an ipod you'd really have to yell repeatedly to get noticed or a need met

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

blanket. hmmmmmmmmdont' get me started. zillions of metabolic reasons, preference, and comfort for differing taste in blankets.

I mean a diagnosable condition for noticing sounds? are you SURE?
what if she's not tone deaf- has great hearing, or perfect pitch?

this makes me appear very over reactive to sound that don't bother he doesn't even hear it

Try searching 'Processing' instead of perception. I've always heard it Sensory Processing Disorder or Dysfunction I have some family membees diagnosed with SPD. A couple are also Asbergers. SPD is not on the Autism spectrum on it's own, though. There are a few really great books on the subject.

The Out of Synch Child is a pretty popular book about this type of problem.

If you suspect a sensory problem, take her to an occupational therapist for an evaluation. Even if her issues aren't severe enough to qualify for therapy, they can give you some tips for a "sensory diet" to give her the input she needs.

Has her hearing been checked recently? Talking louder than normal may indicate a hearing problem.

Does she have any other communication issues, such as standing too close or too far away, difficulty making eye contact, difficulty starting or ending interactions? If anything seems off about her speech & language skills or social interactions, you could take her for an evaluation with a speech-language pathologist.

Some kids are just a little quirky but still within the 'normal' range, while others are a little farther out from the norm and need some help. There's really not enough information in your post to determine that.

Yeah, what is "normal"?

People thought one of my brothers had Asperger's, but he was later diagnosed as bi-polar, and Cluster B personality disorder, with anger-management issues. He behaved like a monster.
He used to beat and torment me and my siblings, with no reason, no provocation. He was extremely manipulative, and would cry and gain my parents' sympathy, so he went unpunished. My siblings and I were punished, instead, because we could be controlled, and the bi-polar could not. The whole family became dysfunctional, ruled by this tyrant.

Aspreger's/autistic people are not manipulative. They don't know how to get feedback from people, so how would they ever learn what to do and say to evoke a response from someone else?

A proper diagnosis is essential in helping family members know what they are dealing with. Yes, mental disorders are difficult for the one with the problems, but proper consideration needs to go to the surrounding siblings, parents, and family.

I can't stand the sound of things like welders, grinders, hammering, air compressors, and loud engines.

Sometimes I just want silence. No tv, no radios, nothing.

My husband is just the opposite. It can make it difficult for us to be in the same space sometimes.

He loves the sound and feel of his diesel truck. I can't stand it.