Does my child have sensory sensitivities?

With Special Guest Laura Petix from The OT Butterfly @theotbutterfly

Tonight at our Curious Neuron Family Meeting we chatted with Laura from The OT Butterfly. She is a paediatric occupational therapist. You can visit her Instagram page here and her website here.

We discussed sensory sensitivities or sensory issues in children. This is when a child has “difficulty receiving and responding to information from their senses” (Healthline.com).

Even adults get overstimulated!

Laura teaches us that both adults and children can have sensory sensitivities. As a mom of 3 young children, there are days where any sound at the end of the day can trigger me or makes me feel overwhelmed. With 3 children, there are very few moments where a child isn’t in my arms or sitting on me. At the end of the day, there are moments where I feel that my sense of touch is overwhelmed. As Laura explains, our “cup” for sensory overload is much larger than a child’s. So they might need 2-3 loud events in a day to loose control and have a meltdown, whereas we might need 10.

What does a sensory sensitivity look like in my child?

Children can seek stimulation of any of their 8 senses or avoid stimulation. A child, for instance, might avoid loud noises, crunchy foods, socks with a tight elastic band, quick flashes of a TV show etc. Or they might seek stimulation by spinning around a lot, yelling a lot, always wanting messy play etc. They can also be a mix of sensory seeking and avoiding.

Speak to your doctor if…

If you feel that your child is struggling with their daily life and tasks and that it may be impacting their development, please speak to your doctor. Also, sensory sensitiviites can result is more meltdowns. If your child is having frequent and very intense emotional meltdowns, speak to their doctor about this.

Laura has a Facebook Group called Parents of Sensory Sensitive Children. Click HERE to join this group.

Have a listen to the video below to learn more!