Tag Archives: hyposensitivity
Hyposensitivity and Autism
As I explained last week, sensory problems are very common in autistic children and so are something we really need to get to grips with and try hard to understand.
Hyposensitivity is when a child is “under-sensitive” to stimuli and has trouble processing information through their senses. This type of sensory problem can lead to common autistic symptoms like stimming, when a child repeats movements like rocking or waving their hands around to try and stimulate their “underactive” senses. But stimming is not the only behavior or symptom linked to hyposensitivity, this type of sensory problem can affect children in many ways:-
- Hypotactility – Hypotactility or “hypotouch” means that a child’s sense of touch is diminished and they will not be able to feel light touches or even pain and temperature extremes. A child with hypotactility may look for opportunities to experience “touch” by banging their head against the wall, biting themselves, playing roughly with other children or toys, hugging tightly and wearing tight clothes. They may also love having lots of blankets on their bed, to give them a feeling of weight, and also love chewing or sucking on things. Parents and carers will need to be aware that such a child may hurt themselves, even breaking a bone, without feeling it.
- Hypovision – This is when a child’s vision can be affected to such an extent that they can only see outlines of objects. Symptoms and behaviour of this type of sensory problem include a child repeatedly moving their hands over objects, exploring everything in an unfamiliar place by touching it, repeatedly moving their hands and toys in front of their eyes, a love for bright lights, sunlight, bright colors and reflections, and an inability or difficulty to control their eye movements and to track moving objects.
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Hypersensitivity and Autism
Many autistic children suffer with sensory problems as part of their autism spectrum disorder. These sensory problems can be divided into two main groups:-
- Hyposensitivity – When a child is “under-sensitive” to stimuli and has trouble processing information through their senses.
- 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
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