Problems with Sensory or over Sensitivity of Child with Autism

How do you know if your child is suffering from sensory problems or over sensitivity?

Normal children can tolerate sounds or various audio and visual stimuli. These same stimuli may, however, cause pain, confusion or fear in some autistic children. Sensory overload or over sensitivity in these children can vary from very slight to severe. For example:

1. If a child with autism frequently puts his hands over his ears, this is an indicator of sensitivity to noise.
2. Flicking his fingers in front of his eyes means that he is having visual sensitivity problems.
3. Autistic children who enjoy a trip to a large supermarket or a shopping mall usually have relatively mild sensory sensitivities.

You will notice that autistic children with severe sensory sensitivities will often have tantrums and other bad behavior in a shopping mall due to sensory overload. These children are the ones who will most likely need environmental modifications in the classroom.

Severe sensitivity overload more often occurs to older children and adults with autism. Children with visual or auditory sensitivity usually have normal vision and hearing as the actual problem is in the brain.