Sensory adventures...

Since mid-September last year, I have been working as an intern with a mobile therapist and behavioral specialist, focused on helping children and youth who have emotional/behavioral problems/disorders.  Since I'm a Master's level intern (and because my field instructor now knows me, after working with me for 3-4 days/week for the past 6 months), my field instructor encourages me to get involved with the clients and their families.

A lot of the clients we see have struggles with various sensory signals.  This is very common in children on the autism spectrum (which from here on out I am going to refer to as ASD -- autism spectrum disorder).  I'm also somewhat familiar with it on a personal level, because my husband has Asperger's (which I shall refer to as AS -- Asperger's Syndrome -- although technically it no longer exists as a separate diagnosis in the DSM-5).

But what does that mean? to "have struggles with various sensory signals"?

Kinda sounds like a lot of mumbo-jumbo, doesn't it?  But it really can be boiled down to something very simple to explain -- and very challenging and frustrating for parents and children to have to figure out.

The way we receive sensory signals helps us know how to react to the world around us.  If I trip and fall on a hard floor and skin my knee, it's going to hurt.  As an adult, I could react in any number of ways.  Sometimes when I accidentally get hurt, I'll mutter something under my breath (growl, grumble, or expletive).  Other times, if the pain is severe enough, I'll just stay in whatever position I may be in, allowing myself to catch my breath and hoping that the pain will ease before I have to move.  Children will react differently -- screaming, crying, etc.

But if the sensory signal of "floor meets knee" doesn't actually get to the brain, then the child will feel little to no pain.  He (or she) will just get up off the floor.  That doesn't mean that the injury caused no pain to the body -- but it does mean that the pain that s/he actually felt is much, much less than someone who receives the full sensory signal of "floor meets knee."  Obviously this can be a huge problem.  Children who feel no pain could easily hurt themselves a great deal (whether on purpose or by accident) and not even notice (e.g., to the point that broken bones can go unnoticed by the child).  Additionally, if a parent is trying to find out what is wrong with a child, if his or her behavior is off, it may be fruitless to ask the child, because s/he will have no sense of any pain in his/her body -- even if his/her actions say differently. (E.g., a child could have a very severe ear infection, but merely say "my head hurts a little" because that is the only pain s/he feels -- and then end up temporarily losing hearing in one or both ears because the infection is so bad.)

Another example of sensory signals being different is with clothing/fabric.  Most of us don't even think about getting dressed in the morning.  We just do it.  But for children (and adults) who have sensory struggles with clothing, the cotton t-shirts that I think are pretty comfortable can actually feel very scratchy and sometimes even painful to children/adults who are more sensitive to fabric/textures.  Because of this, children will often strip off all of their clothing (or just the offensive garment), which -- as can be imagined! -- leaves parents frustrated and embarrassed.

A third example of sensory signals differing between individuals is noise.  I love having music playing, and if it is absolutely silent for any length of time, I begin to get irritated and need to have some noise, whether it's my husband talking to me, a podcast playing, or music going.  As soon as there's music playing, I become less irritated/annoyed/grumpy.  Because of this, wherever I am -- especially if I'm alone -- I will have music on.  The radio in the car.  Spotify or YouTube or iTunes on my computer.  The radio in the bedroom.

But my husband has sensory difficulties that are opposite of mine -- he cannot stand too much noise.  Both of our computers are in the same room -- the den -- in our apartment, and the den is quite small.  Sometimes, if I've been sitting at my computer typing and listening to music for a time, he will have to take a "sensory break" because the noise I'm creating is too much for him (especially if he's been out and about all day, in classes, where students/professors are talking constantly). (Note: I don't play my music particularly loud, either.)  He will go to the bedroom (which is at the opposite end of the apartment from the den), turn off the radio, and read his textbooks for awhile -- or sometimes he will just lie there and enjoy the silence.

There are too many other examples of struggles with sensory difficulties for me to cover them all -- but really, anything that we perceive with any of our five senses can be a problem for kids and adults with ASD (or alternatively, sensory processing disorder -- SPD**).  Textures of food/drink, scents, anything you can touch (toys, fabric/clothing, carpet/tile, books), noises (sensitivity to noise is fairly common), etc., can all cause problems for kids/adults who don't process them in a "normal"* way.

I just got back from a random shopping trip, to pick up a few things to "help me survive" the last few weeks of grad school.  I'm going to post some pictures of what I got and how my purchases help me in a sensory way.

 In the first picture, there are four different sensory things pictured.  The first is the blanket on which the various toys are sitting.  It's extremely soft.  I love velvety soft blankets.  If I wrap myself in one (which I actually have done the entire time I've been writing this blog entry!), it's soothing.

 I really like Mikey.  I liked him in Monsters, Inc., and I like him now.  He's made of soft, pliable rubber, and is filled with tiny plastic beads.  It's fun to squish him -- I guess think of him as a specialized stress ball. (Specialized because first off, this is not something I would give a kid with sensory issues -- not just because the tiny beads inside might feel unpleasant, but because it looks like a toy... because it IS a toy!... and while it may help as a stress ball, it could easily become a distraction in a classroom setting (which is usually where I've seen kids be given a stress ball or, in the case of ADHD, something to fiddle with).

 Poor Mikey, getting his face squished.  But as you can see... nice and squishy.

 I've taken more than one picture of Mikey because he's got a lot to offer in terms of sensory.  Not only is he squishable (when you squeeze hard, various parts of the toy balloon out), but his legs (and arms) are stretchy and fun to fiddle with.

And this is Randall, also from Monsters Inc.  I apologize about this picture -- it's not really a very good one (I really just wanted him to smile at the camera... *grin*).  Randall is different from Mikey in that he's long and thin, and much, much stretchier.  I would've taken a photo of that if I had three hands (two to stretch him, one to use the camera!).  He's also a lot more squirmy -- the way he's shaped, he'll flop and twitch depending on how you turn him in your hands.  He is also filled with the same beads that Mikey is filled with, but he's much longer and thinner, so he's obviously not as squishy (but more stretchy!).

And I also neglected to say that in the first picture, the fourth sensory was the stuffed zebra, Stella.  She's soft, but in a different way than the blanket is, and she's squishable, but not like Mikey or Randall.  She's just your average stuffed animal, but there are some kids out there who would love her but not like the feel of the rubber used to create Mikey/Randall.  Alternatively, there are also kids out there who would hate how Stella feels, but would love Mikey and/or Randall.  And there are kids who wouldn't like any of them!

For me, having various sensory things to fiddle with helps me relax when I'm stressed and ground myself when I'm feeling spacey.  The blanket is soothing; Mikey and Randall are small and easy to carry with me, whether I'm working with kids or just want to have something squishy/stretchy to fiddle with; Stella is good for grounding and that is what I have used her for the most.

I hope this was at least a somewhat interesting look at various sensory things... doubtless in a few years, when I have more experience working with ASD, I will come back to this post and think to myself, "Geez, what a newbie I was back then."

Cheers!~

Addison.

* I hate the word "normal," because there really isn't such a thing as normal.  We are all human, we all have more similarities than differences... but there isn't this magical Leave It To Beaver normality for anyone.

** For some good info on SPD, here's a link to the SPD Foundation.