Have you heard the term Sensory Processing Disorder and are unsure what it means? Well then, this post is for you! Read on to find out what it is, about your senses, types, and some things you can do if your child has Sensory Processing Disorder or SPD.
What is Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)?
How many senses do you think you have? If you answered 5, you’re wrong! You have at least 8 senses. There are the traditional 5- sight (visual), sound (auditory), touch (tactile), taste, and smell. There are also 3 additional ones- proprioception, interoception, and vestibular.
Proprioception– this sense gives us body awareness. It’s how you can tell your arm is out to the side without looking at it.
Interoception– this sense is responsible for sensations in your body. It’s how you know when you are hungry or need to use the bathroom.
Vestibular– this sense tells you when your body is moving.
Sensory Processing Disorder is what happens when your brain misinterprets the signals being sent from the nerves about your senses. You can either be oversensitive to them or be under-responsive to them. Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) can be a stand-alone condition, but it is more common when it occurs with another disorder such as Autism or ADHD. Even though some doctors diagnose SPD, it is not recognized as a disorder by the DSM-5, which is the manual used by professionals to diagnose disorders.
What Types of Sensory Processing Disorder Are There?
There are generally three different categories of people with SPD- seekers, avoiders, and under-responsive. You can be any combination of the three- you may be a seeker in one sense, an avoider in a different sense, and under-responsive in another. For example, my daughter is a seeker of vision, proprioception, and vestibular. She is an avoider of sound, touch, smell, and taste. She is under-responsive to interception.
Seekers will search out sensations. They might stare at lights, run into people and things, or want to go to the swings every day. Avoiders are just what it sounds like- they try to avoid the sensation at all costs. They might have meltdowns when they have that sensation. My daughter has headphones we bring everywhere we go. Public restrooms are a nightmare. Under responsive means that the sense isn’t registering to them. With my daughter, she doesn’t register pain like a neurotypical child- she rips off her toenails constantly and even gave herself a staph infection once. She also has an aversion to hot stuff because it feels super hot to her. Food and bathwater are both lukewarm before she’ll use it.
So What Are Some Things You Can Do With Your Child With SPD?
There are many different things you can do for seekers and avoiders.
For avoiders, let them use sunglasses or headphones if needed. You can buy both on Amazon fairly cheaply. You can also make a quiet space for them to go and decompress when they are overwhelmed- we had a little tent for my daughter with a sparkly light on the ceiling where she could go and read or just be alone. It can be anything- a corner of their bedroom, a closet, a tent or canopy set up on their beds- anyplace where they can go to chill.
For seekers, there are a couple of things. Sensory bins are great for kids who seek touch. Sensory bins can have whatever you want in them- Pinterest is great for finding different kinds. We got a bigger tote when my daughter was younger and filled it with rice. She would get in and bury her legs in the rice while she played with the toys in it. We’ve done some smaller ones with sand and one with Cheerios. Slime or jello is good- my daughter loved playing in stuff, but hated getting her hands dirty for long. We used jello to gradually desensitize her to not freak out over dirty hands. There is something you can do called heavy work. This is where the child does some kind of work that involves weighted items. It’s great for proprioception. We would put some bigger books in a laundry basket and “race” to the other side of the room. She would help carry in some of the lighter shopping bags. Crash pads are great if your child is consistently crashing into you or furniture. They are big, softer pads that are a great way to redirect your child’s energy in a safe way. There is also a technique called joint compressions and brushing. You should have an occupational therapist show you how to do it properly so you don’t hurt your child accidentally. You have a brush with bristles and you will “brush” your child’s skin with it in certain orders. Then you will do joint compressions on the major joints like shoulders, elbows, knees, and ankles. Again, please seek out a professional before trying this because you don’t want to hurt your child.
What Does Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) Look Like For Us?
My daughter is a seeker in vision, vestibular, and proprioception. Hannah avoids sound, taste, smell, and touch. She is under-responsive for interoception. Hannah doesn’t seek out visual as much as she used to. She would watch fans spinning, spin car wheels in front of her eyes, and loves those things with water and different colors that you can flip to make them fall to the bottom. Hannah has to swing every single day- no matter the weather. She used to crash into us, so we just did the joint compression (not the brushing) and heavy work. She would rock while standing to watch TV. While her body was rocking back and forth, her head would be going from shoulder to shoulder as well. I tried it once and got super dizzy! While my daughter doesn’t like touch on her body, she is ok with touching things with her hands. She used to hate the feeling of wet clothes on her skin. One time, around age 3, we were at Walmart, and she got 2 drops of water from her sippy cup onto her sleeve. I couldn’t even see where her shirt was wet, but she began stripping in the middle of the aisle. We worked on that for years and she finally has overcome it. With sound, she hates public restrooms because of the toilets flushing and the hand dryers. She even covers her ears at home when flushing the toilet. Hannah will only eat certain foods and refuses to try anything new. She often smells things I can’t smell. With interoception, she is under-responsive. She doesn’t feel pain until it’s really bad. She came to us when she was younger saying “Ow foot”. Hannah had given herself a staph infection because she had ripped off toenails I was unaware of. She still does it to this day. The temperature always feels hotter to her than it is. Bath water and her food have to be lukewarm before she’ll touch it. I remind her to eat because she doesn’t realize she’s hungry.
Sensory Processing is something that affects every single person. Some people sometimes register their senses differently than what’s presented. It doesn’t make them wrong, or bad when they have a meltdown because they are overwhelmed. Remember, there are things you can do to help and be kind!
