Sensory Challenges

Sensory Processing is a term that refers to the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioral responses. Sensory processing challenges are common in neurodivergent people for example autism, ADHD, OCD but may also be present in children without a diagnosis.

Sensory challenges are usually identified in the toddler years, when it becomes apparent that a child has an unusual aversion to noise, light, tight fitting clothes that are irritating.

Sensory processing disorder (SPD) is a condition in which a person is unable to use the information gathered with the senses for easy functioning in everyday life because they find it difficult to process and act upon information received through the senses. The response to these these challenges can be mild to extreme

Muscle tone (frequently too low tone),
Fatigue,
Motor clumsiness,
Poor sight and movement coordination,
Walking on tip-toes,
Balance disorders,
Poor feeling of pain or temperature,
Challenges using cutlery or scissors,
Challenges with grip on pencils or pens,
Difficulty learning how to read or write,
Difficulty with concentration,
Withdrawal from social contacts,
Difficulty following instructions,
Challenges learning how to ride a bicycle,
Hypersensitivity to light,
Fascination with lights, fans and water,
Hypersensitivity to sounds,

Avoiding group play,
Remarkably high or low level of activity,
Self-harm or aggression towards others,
Low self-esteem, withdrawal attitude,
Avoiding physical contact with people
Avoiding messy play such as sand and paints,
Child may respond strongly to stimuli on their face, hands and feet,
Difficulties with tasting new foods,
Difficulties with new clothes
Sensativities to seems and tags in clothes.
Speech disorders,
Strong aversion to brushing teeth, washing face, combing, cutting nails or hair,
Child can refuse to wear certain clothes or insist on wearing long sleeves/trouser legs so that the skin would not be exposed to stimuli.

The senses consist not only of Touch, Hearing, Vision, Taste, Smell; but also the Vestibular and Proprioceptive Senses, which detect the pull of gravity and the movements of our body in relation to the earth and the space around us.

A Child with Tactile Dysfunction may:

avoid being touched
dislike being held
challenges with cutting hair and nails
dislike taking a shower and/or having hair washed
dislikes when touched even in a friendly way
may react aggressively when touched unexpectedly
dislike affection
avoid messy play
avoids barefoot
prefers body fully clothed even when hot.
excessively ticklish
withdraws from situations
avoids sitting close to other children

A Child with Vestibular Dysfunction may:

be very active (on the go)
needs to keep moving in order to function
difficulty paying attention
craves intense movement such as jumping on furniture
risk taking during play
be accident-prone
enjoy spinning for long periods of time
become anxious when feet leave the ground
have a great fear of climbing/falling
dislikes having head upside down
avoids jumping activities
cautious when using stairs
avoids to walk along uneven surfaces

A Child with Proprioceptive Dysfunction may:

have difficulty with body awareness
have difficulty planning new movements
have difficulty knowing where his body is in relation to others and objects
chew on un-edible objects (pica)
stamp feet on the floor when walking
deliberately crashes into objects
hold pencils too lightly or too hard
has difficulty with handwriting and drawing
uses a lot of force when playing with toys and may break them
difficulty lifting objects

A Child with Auditory Processing Dysfunction may:

have difficulty paying attention
be easily distracted with noise
cover ears to protect from sound
speak in a loud voice
may misunderstand verbal comunication
become upset in noisy places
difficult to understand when speaking
have difficulty looking and listening at the same time
have a poor vocabulary
difficulty with reading

A Child with Visual Processing Dysfunction may:

reverse letters and numbers
have difficulty with fine motor skills
struggle to stay within lines when colouring or writing
complain of seen double or blurred
have difficulty putting puzzles together
have difficulty copying from books
have hard time finding things
omits words when reading
may appear “disorientated”
may not understand concepts

A Child with Olfactory Dysfunction may:

dislike smells that others do not notice
refuse to eat some foods because of their smell
be a picky eater
be irritated by smell of perfumes and deoderants
not like smells in supermarkets and public places
refuse to touch objects because of the way they smell

A Child with Sensory Modulation challenges may exhibit some Social/ Emotional responses:

low self-esteem
low self-confidence
seem anxious
have strict routines and diffuculty tollirating change
have difficulty playing with other children
get upset easily
not persist with tasks/ gives up easily
be stubborn or uncooperative
have frequent meltdowns
have difficulty making friends
avoid expressing emotions
need adult reassurance/guidance to play
have difficulty interacting with other children
Flits from one activity to another

A Child with Gustatory Dysfunction may:

gag with food textures
avoid certain tastes
be a picky eater
crave certain foods
may mouth/lick/chew nonfood objects
have difficulty with sucking, chewing, and swallowing

Hyper means excess or exaggeration (oversensitivity). Hypersensitive children tend to avoid sensations.

Hypo means under or beneath (under sensitivity). Hyposensitive children can appear sensory seeking because their sensory systems require a lot of stimulation to register the feeling and process it.

Some children may adopt an array of coping statagies such as holding their ears where as some children may become overwhelled by the changes in the enviroment and melt down.