Many autistic children suffer with sensory problems as part of their autism spectrum disorder. These sensory problems can be divided into two main groups:-

1. Hyposensitivity – When a child is “under-sensitive” to stimuli and has trouble processing information through their senses.
2. Hypersensitivity – When a child’s sensory awareness is too acute.

Hypersensitivity

Hypersensitivity is very common in autism spectrum disorders and can be the basis or cause of many “problem” behaviors that autistic children exhibit. Let’s look at how hypersensitivity can affect autistic children:-

• Hypertaste and smell – When their olfactory senses (taste and smell) are heightened, a child may have real trouble eating and may follow a very rigid diet which consists of just a few bland foods that they can tolerate. At meal times, a child with hypertaste and smell may gag on foods, vomit if they are forced to eat and not be able to sit at the dinner table when certain foods are being eaten by members of their family. This “fussy” eating and behavior can be very frustrating for the parents but you need to put yourself into your child’s shoes – what if everything you ate or tasted had an incredibly strong smell and taste? Wouldn’t it effect your enjoyment of food and meals?
  Hypersmell can also be a problem in that a child may shy away from certain people who smell quite strong to them or dislike certain places, other people’s home and shops where they are bombarded with the smell of foods and products. They may also want to wear the same clothes all the time and not like the smell of washing detergent.
• Hypertactility – This is when the child’s sense of touch is heightened. It is often characterized by a child hating to be touched or hugged. Even the gentlest of touches can feel uncomfortable and even painful to a hypersensitive child and can result in a “melt down”. Obviously they react badly when they are hurt or injured because the pain is magnified and parents need to understand this when dealing with small scratches and abrasions. Simple tasks like bathing, trimming nails, going for a haircut and even changing clothes or trying on new clothes can lead to upset and tantrums. Can you imagine having to wear an item of clothing that is new and scratchy? No wonder children with this hypertactility want to wear their old comfortable clothes all of the time! Children with this heightened sense may also dislike hot and cold – either being hot or cold or touching things that are hot or cold.
• Hypersensitive hearing or “hyperhearing” – This is when every little noise sounds amplified and it can be very scary and uncomfortable for the child concerned. Children who suffer with hypersensitive hearing will find noisy public places hard to handle and will hate thunderstorms, surround sound systems in cinemas and will also tend to be light sleepers because sounds disturb them and wake them up. Sudden sounds will terrify them and they may make their own repetitive sounds, like humming, to try and block out the sounds around them. It is also often characterized by a child covering their ears frequently.
• Hypervision – Hypervision is when the sense of sight is more acute. This is characterized by a child being able to see things that other people don’t notice, by being disturbed by bright lights or sunlight, and by being frightened by sudden flashes of light.

Some parents, teachers, carers and family members may not realize that the child is hypersensitive and may become frustrated when the child throws tantrums or gets upset, but they need to look at the world through the child’s eyes. The child’s perception of the world is so different to the norm and their senses are being continually bombarded. It must be so difficult for them to make sense of the world and concentrate on tasks when their senses are so heightened. Taking a moment to see the world through the child’s eyes can help adults to cope with the behavior and to make changes to help the child.

Here are just a few simple tips for coping with hypersensitivity:-

• Allow the child to pick out their own clothes for the next day and lay them out ready
• Ensure that items of clothing are not too cold – warm them on a radiator before putting them on the child.
• Find out which fabrics are comfortable on your child’s skin and stick with clothing of that type of fabric.
• Avoid detergents, soaps and shampoos with strong fragrances.
• Let your child check the temperature of bath water before getting in.
• When washing hair, use an all in one shampoo and conditioner to cut down the time that the child is in the shower or bath.
• Buy mild flavored toothpastes and only use a pea-sized amount.
• Use soft bristled toothbrushes.
• Don’t mix different textured foods together, serve separately.
• Offer a variety of foods arranged separately on a plate but be patient and never force your child to eat or try something new.
• If traffic noise is a problem at bedtime, put on a CD of relaxing or classical music.
• Use sheets and blankets rather than a heavy duvet so that a child can have as many layers on as they want.
• Use natural light and natural light bulbs, rather than artificial or florescent lights.
• Be patient!

Those are just a few tips on how to help a hypersensitive child. Next week, I’ll be talking about hyposensitivity.