Sensory Overresponsiv ity (Sensory avoider – Oh No!)

Sensory Underresponsiv ity (Sensory disregarder – Ho Hum)

Sensory Craving (Sensory craver – More, more!)

Child is “Hypersensitive or Hyperactive” The Overresponsive child’s brain cannot inhibit sensations efficiently. The child is easily distracted because his brain is alert to all sensations, even those that are not useful. Over arousal and the inability to filter irrelevant from relevant information causes him to defend himself. His brain constantly says, “Uh oh, what’s that?”

“Hypo responsiveness, hypoactive” The Underresponsive child reacts less intensely to sensations than typically developing children. This child needs lots of stimulation to achieve alertness or simply get going. This child may appear to have his head in the clouds; his response to the world is “Ho hum”.

Child is in high need of sensory input The sensory craving child desires more stimulation that other children and never seems to get enough. This child is often a risk taker and may have poor impulse control. Others perceive this child as a troublemaker. His brain is telling him that he must act, however this is often in a disorganized way.

Common Characterist ics • Shows a fight, flight, freeze, or fright

response in extreme ways e.g. taking a long period of time to calm down after a scary situation.

• He may respond negatively to situations by lashing out.

• He may have an aversive response toward a sensation with an intense desire to avoid a situation e.g. running away, jumping back, hiding, and climbing on furniture, desperate to escape.

• He may withdraw passively by simply avoiding all people and objects that distress him. He will never get too close or will walk away. Avoids participation of activities his classmates may enjoy.

• He may freeze and be unable to move, speak or breathe.

• Will more often avoid touch and movement experiences.

• Get distressed by a change in routine, loud noises and crowded settings.

• Meltdowns are frequent, intense, emotional and loud.

Common Character ist ics • Child may be two types of

underresponsive. May appear withdrawn or be difficult to engage. Or may be highly gifted and creative and therefore does not take notice of sensory information because he is self-absorbed.

• Child may be passive, lack initiative, unable to get started.

• She may get easily tired and always sleep.

• Child will often be a big eater, tends to always want food.

• The child may miss visual/spatial cues e.g. bump into desks and people because he doesn’t perceive them in time to move aside.

• Child may hurt himself and not take notice of pain.

• Child may chew on inedible objects such as sleeves and toys.

• Misinterprets gestural communication and nonverbal cues. May not read other peoples facial expressions and body language.

Common Character ist ics • This child has a desire to touch

everything in sight. • He may be a bumper and a

crasher. • Likes to talk, burp, hum. • May chew on his fingers and

sleeves for extra sensory input. • Craves movement and seeks

vigorous experiences such as spinning for long periods of time.

• Will not feel dizzy. • Child may get into upside down

positions. • Will climb everything • Attracted to busy TV screens,

strobe lights, loud noises, crowds and places with plenty of action.

• Child may sniff food, people and objects.

• Child may crave spicy foods • May tackle other children or have a

desire to lie on them/lean on them. • May crave tight hugs or embraces.

The sensory jumbler – Huh?

The child with sensory discrimination disorder has difficulty differentiating among and between stimuli. The child’s Central Nervous System inaccurately processes sensations, so he is unable to use this information to respond in a purposeful way throughout the day. The child may not “get” sensory messages that others use to learn about their environment and to relate to other people.

Common character ist ics/dif f icult ies • The child often has difficulty with visual-spatial tasks e.g. unable to judge

where objects and people are in space. • The child may have auditory discrimination problems, which causes

confusion with word sounds and verbal instructions. • Poor body awareness, falling over frequently and having trouble

regaining balance. • The child uses inappropriate force when using pencils, manipulating

toys, and playing with other children e.g. breaks pencils, bumps into other children due to not paying attention.

• Child will often have dyspraxia too.

Postural Disorder (The sensory slumper – Don’t want to)

Dyspraxia (The sensory fumbler – I can’t do that)

Postural disorder causes the child to have poor posture. The child may have poor muscle tone; he may be loose and floppy. This issue may be due to the inefficient sensory processing of vestibular and proprioceptive sensations about where his body is in space and what it is doing. Postural disorder interferes with nature’s plan, which is to keep upright and ready to move into action using both sides of the body together or separately to perform different tasks. This child’s brain says “I don’t want to, it’s too hard”

Dyspraxia refers to disruption in sensory processing and motor planning in children who are still developing. These children may have normal intelligence and muscle function however the ‘bridge’ between them produces inaccurate information about touch, movement, and body position. In other words the bridge from brain to body is disrupted and the child therefore does not ‘get it’. This often causes emotional insecurity as the brain often tells the child “I can’t do that”.

Common character ist ics/dif f icult ies • He slumps over desks and tables • Has a problem with bilateral integration, the

processing of connecting sensations from both sides of the body.

• Poor bilateral coordination e.g. he may struggle to gallop, skip, or ride a bicycle.

• May have difficulty getting into different positions e.g. kneeling or stretching up on toes.

• Child will often have poor ocular (eye movement) control affecting his ability to use both eyes together as a team. This will affect depth perception, body movement and motor planning.

• Has a problem with crossing the mid-line e.g. using the eye, hand or foot of one side of the body in the space of the other. Will affect his ability to paint, write, or swing a baseball bat.

• Keeping up with other children is tiring. • Weak grasp on doorknobs, toys and other

objects. • May ‘W’ sit when on the floor (a position with

both legs displayed outwards) • Flexing and extending muscles as well as

shifting weight from one foot to the other, twisting, and other movements are daunting for this child.

Common character ist ics/dif f icult ies • She is clumsy and ineffective in her actions. • The child cannot organize her body to get

moving. • Often experiences an issue called ‘motor

overshoot’ by misjudging the distance of objects e.g. reaching for an object and missing.

• Moves awkwardly and seems unstable • Is emotionally insecure of her abilities to try

new tasks. • Often says “Oh no I can’t do this” or avoids

the situation all together e.g. may avoid movement activities because she perceives them as much too difficult.

• Lacks motivation to engage in sports or other movement activities.

• Is slow in her movements, even to complete everyday tasks like brushing teeth or getting dressed.

Based off information from Kranowitz, C. S. (2005). The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder. Penguin Group: New York Written By Emmaly Degan https://belongingbeingbecomingfuture.wordpress.com