Tell me how you feel

A lot of our kiddo's on the spectrum have issues with their sensory processing. Some children are highly sensitive or “Hypersensitive.” Some characteristics and symptoms of Hypersensitivity are sensitivity to light, noise and touch. On the other hand some kids are Hyposensitive which is the opposite. They can’t feel the same way you or I do and are unaware of some pain, loudness ect… Julie is considered Hyposensitive. I remember one time Julie was on a stool in the kitchen with her dinosaurs and fell off to the tile floor. I ran as fast as I could to her aid to see if she was hurt and to comfort her. When I got there Julie just got right back up climbed the chair and kept on playing. There was barely an acknowledgement of the fall at all. Had that been one of my other children there would have been tears, hugs and a treat to make everything better but Julie didn’t seem to mind the fall at all. This became common place and my son began calling her Superman and would say she was as tough as steel. Another thing she would do when walking down the hall was to purposely bump into the walls. She looked like a 3 year old drunken sailor. I was later told this was her way of finding her place in space. It was like she was checking in with her body by bumping the wall. Also she really responded to deep heavy hugs, big tickles and being wrapped tightly in a blanket. I first heard the word Hyposensitivity from another mom with kids on the spectrum. It was a bit confusing at first to grasp. I didn’t understand why it was happening and what was causing it. I was later told by an Occupational therapist that Julie’s inner ear wasn’t working properly which was the reason for the imbalance. The good news was there are things that can be done to help. We took Julie to a place where there were trained Occupational Therapists who did a complete evaluation on Julie and identified all of her issues and we began work. The place we went to was a lot of fun for Julie. They had swings, beans, slides activities and more all designed to strengthen her body and help out her sensory system. Unfortunately our insurance would only provide us with 11 visits to this place (that is another topic) but I was able to recreate a lot of what they did at home. If you don’t have a location you can go to in your area I would recommend using your state resources to find an Occupational Therapist to help you. After our insurance was up we relied on an angel from our County ESD who has provided us with so much help and encouragement. Bottom line if you feel like your child is having issues in this area there is help. Julie is not cured from all of her symptoms of Hyposensitivity but she has made incredible progress.