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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