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Sensory Integration and Your Child
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How many of these sensations were you aware of before you were asked to think about them? How many of them were being filtered out of your conscious awareness? Now imagine if you were aware of all of these sensations all the time. Imagine what would happen if the lights stayed green and let all of the information from all of your senses through all the time. Your brain would be flooded with sensations causing a traffic-jam and you would go into sensory overload. It would not take long before you would start actively trying to avoid receiving more sensations.
In order to truly understand how a person might feel in sensory overload, turn the TV and turn the volume up high, then turn the radio on with a hard rock station playing just as loud, run the dishwasher, and any other noise making device you can find, then have your child or spouse yell at you over the top of all this noise and see if you have difficulty blocking it all out and paying attention. How long will you be able to stand it before you want everything to be quiet?
For a sensory defensive child the sensations that are filtered out for most of us are a constant source of distraction and annoyance, much like the noise in the experiment just mentioned. They may seem quiet to most people but if they are not filtered out even more minor sensations like the buzz of fluorescent lights, the sound of a fan, a dog barking outside or the multitude of other audio, visual, and tactile sensations can cause a traffic jam on the mental highway just like the TV and other noises did. Our brains naturally tune out all those background noises and other sensory input that is minor or unimportant. But for those with sensory struggles, each input is given equal attention and none are diverted off of the mental highway.
A child who is in sensory overload or sensory defensive may become upset, be easily agitated, become aggressive and want to run away from the area. For some children there is an increased sensation to a sensory input. For example, they may say ouch or cry when their hair is brushed or nails trimmed. Music and other noises may seem much louder to them than they would for others. The sensation of walking on grass or sand may hurt their feet. They may try to take off their clothes because they don't like how they feel.
Sensory Seeking
A child who is sensory seeking is experiencing the opposite problem. In this case the on-ramp light stays red and little or no sensation gets through. They may be unresponsive to loud noises or calling their names. They may ignore touch or fail to notice people or objects around them. These children tend to always be moving in one way or another. They may make noises with their mouths, chew on clothes or objects, jump into or onto anything or anyone; some part of their body is always wiggling. They get into everything, hit things with hands or other parts of their body, or climb anything with no regard to their safety. Often these children seem to have a high pain tolerance and do not respond to pain sensations until they become extreme.
So which color is it?
Children within the autism spectrum tend to have troubles with sensory integration. They either need more sensory input (sensory input doesn't go on the neurological highway easily) or are easily overloaded. Often the same child will exhibit both sensory defensive and sensory seeking behaviors at different times. In order to help your child with sensory integration watch for the kinds of activities that he tends to engage in. He may be trying to regulate his sensory system on his own through other sensory means. For example, a child who is constantly seeking out water to play with may actually be using the water as a calming activity. Another child who is always crashing into things or jumping on the bed may need some "hard work" activities that get his muscles working. For a child that is sensory defensive there are activities such as the Wilbarger brushing protocol or exposure to a specific sensory input over time (such as playing in beans, lentils, rice or sand). Sometimes it just takes trial and error to discover what activities are helpful for a child and which are not. Some activities may cause a child to move into a higher sensory overload while others help the child to relax and calm down. Watch your child's reaction after a sensory activity over several occasions to see how that activity affects your child.
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