I mentioned in a previous post that my younger daughter has been going to occupational therapy, and that has been part of what led us to overwhelm. To get a little more specific, she had some fine motor delays which the therapists thought were related to sensory issues.
Say what?
A friend of mine who is an OT came to the house to informally observe and play with Charlotte as a favor to me, and she was the first person to suggest sensory as an issue. Now, I'm not an occupational therapist, but I am a crazy Internet researcher and reader and so I decided to dig deep, and suddenly so many things made more sense. This is why she walks into walls, hangs upside down, hums to herself when she walks. Everything fell into place.
I want to be really clear here, sensory processing issues are not an officially diagnosable condition, and to be honest, I'm not sure I would say my little girl has a disorder. But she does have some preferences that make some things harder for her and needs that we need to find ways to meet if we want her to be successful. But guess what? So do we all.
Sensory preferences
We all have sensory preferences. It occurs on a spectrum or to degrees, and for most of us it doesn't get in the way of our functioning because we find ways to meet our needs. The three main preferences that our therapist talked about are:
Sensory avoiding - We get stressed out by a lot of input, either sound, light, pressure, or touch. My little girl doesn't have this preference, but I sure do, and it very clearly explains why I need quiet where I am not being touched every day. For people who have this to a more extreme degree, or kids who haven't found ways of coping, this can start to cause trouble with functioning if it makes us avoid situations. These are the kids who cry when there are noises, who melt down in public places because they just seem overwhelmed, who find the bright lights of the mall terrifying.
Sensory seeking - Seekers need a lot of input, and they get it however they can. My little girl says she hums because walking is boring, but what it really is is that she feels understimulated and so she finds ways to meet her needs for sounds. These are kids who like to crash into things, who hang upside down or spin, who make noises. Some adults with seeking preferences NEED to run 5 miles every morning or else they feel crummy all day. This is an example of finding an adaptive way to meet your needs, and it's what we want to teach our seeking kids.
Sensory low-registration - This is a smaller category of people, but it's actually also one my little girl fits into. People with low registration tend to miss input. Just like seekers, they have what Alisha from Your Kid's Table calls a "big cup" for sensory input. They have a high threshhold. But instead of trying to fill the cup through constant motion or stimulation, people who primarily fit in the low registration category just don't register the input that they're getting. They often seem tired or even lazy, they miss instructions given verbally, and - like my sweet girl - they fall down a lot or hold onto walls because they are missing the input from their bodies that help them stay vertical.
Okay, friends, this was a lot, and you're probably starting to see yourself and your kids in these categories. Remember, we ALL have sensory preferences, and it's only a problem if it's interfering with functioning.
DISCLAIMER: Again, I'm not an occupational therapy, just a crazy mama researcher. It's worth it to see someone who is an actual professional. I'm always a big advocate of getting help.
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