Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) affects 5% to 13% of all children without a disability. However, the rate for children with autism runs much higher: 42% to 88%. Since the initial appearance of SPD generally surfaces before an autism diagnosis, understanding sensory processing helps to interpret autism behaviors and characteristics correctly.
Sensory dysfunction can negatively affect development, as well as an individual’s abilities in cognitive, emotional, and motor functioning. These deficits produce a wide spectrum of challenges. From self-regulation difficulties to severe behavior problems, sensory deficits affect everyday activities, situations, and life skills. Many parents, teachers, and others misinterpret these dysfunctions, judging behaviors as defective parenting, defiance, indifference, aggression, or attention-seeking manipulation.
Raising awareness for sensory processing disorders will remove these misconceptions and improve the lives of everyone affected by autism and sensory issues.
What is Sensory Processing Disorder?
Sensory systems begin to form in the womb, and grow rapidly during early childhood. Refinement of these systems occurs through typical childhood activities and play. The first three years of life lay the foundation for the brain and spinal cord – collectively known as the central nervous system. The nervous system perceives, organizes, and interprets incoming sensory data. Behavior occurs automatically, depending on how the nervous system processes the experience.
This process is called sensory integration. If the nervous system doesn’t detect or react to stimuli appropriately, this integration process malfunctions, and inappropriate, confusing, or a non-responsive behavior results. Sensory Processing Disorder (also known as Sensory Integration Dysfunction) represents the breakdown and inappropriate handling of sensory information in any of the following stages:
- Recognition: Body perceives that something happened, consciously or unconsciously, from one or more sensory signals. For example, a person feels he was touched.
- Orientation: Person discerns where or to what part of his body the feeling occurred.
- Interpretation: Event is understood as a threat or danger, painful or pleasant, of no significance, or something enjoyed.
- Organization: Brain determines an immediate course of action, depending upon interpretation.
- Response: The behavior or reaction that results.
In addition, sensory integration also includes the strength of the sensory encounter, the sensory system used, the number of currently activated senses, how long the experience lasted, and where it occurred.
Effect of Sensory Issues on Children with Autism
Sensory processing enables learning, but the discomfort, anxiety, and fear of sensual experience can significantly disrupt day-to-day life at school, in the community, or at home. With sensory intensity changing from day to day, or hour to hour, and processing problems able to jump between sensory systems, overcoming emotional and social difficulties becomes mostly a matter of adaption. Sensory processing disorders are not outgrown, but persist into adulthood where individuals sometimes need to learn new forms of behavior and adapting.
To correct behaviors, a parent, teacher, or therapist must understand why they occur. While a reason always exists, children with autism often cannot share that information as sensory processing takes place at the unconscious level. Upon analyzing an observation program, however, parents, teachers, occupational therapists, and behavior specialists can make educated guesses at the initial sensory input. They can see what the child or adult does to cope, and use behavior modification techniques to alter those reactions. But motivation isn’t always clear.
Impairment in sensory functions decreases social skills, the ability to engage in play (and, therefore, proper brain development), and results in diminished fine- and gross-motor skills. It seriously erodes self-confidence and self-esteem. For many, sensations feel uncomfortable, painful, and overwhelming. For others, they seem seriously lacking or nonexistent. Even so, sensory processing disorders represent a spectrum where no two individuals look alike.
Seek Help from Professionals Experienced with Autism
Dysfunction can occur in any of the seven sensory systems, as well as within each processing step. In addition, individuals can experience hyposensitivity (not enough stimulation), hypersensitivity (too much sensory data), or anything in between – for each sensory system. This makes dysfunction problems quite complex to diagnose and treat. For most autistic children and adults, the help of an occupational therapist, play therapist, or behavior specialist can provide excellent intervention. They will also teach parents how to implement behavior modification techniques at home. However, many professionals have no training in the complexities of autism.
When dysfunction interferes with a child’s ability to learn, or their pre-school or school performance, occupational therapists and behavior specialists employed by U.S. public school districts can teach the child with autism more appropriate behavior responses and skills. But if the sensory problems fall outside a school’s curriculum, parents will need to seek out a private therapist or specialist. For the best results, always look for professional help among those well experienced with autism.
The Seven Sensory Systems That Can Malfunction
The following list of sensory systems can help parents and teachers pinpoint which system may be malfunctioning. Links go to articles that provide additional information on each sense.
Visual Processing: Visual discrimination helps make sense of what a person sees. It affects depth perception, right and left awareness, and discernment between differences and likeness. It often looks like a learning disorder. Individuals may squint at bright lights or look away. Also, they tend to use visual stims like flapping their hands in front of their face.
Smell Sensitivity: Smell plays a large role in eating, so children may resemble picky eaters. They won’t eat what smells funny. They may react badly to perfumed products. If hyposensitive, they might want to smell everything, and have strange food preferences like sucking on lemons or eating hot peppers. They will also surround themselves with smells they like.
Taste Sensitivity: These children may completely shun spicy foods, or crave foods with extra flavor. Taste issues can actually be smell sensitivity, auditory processing (food too noisy when chewed), or texture issues (will gag or spit foods out). Most have a very limited menu.
Auditory Processing: Often mistaken for deafness, laziness, or indifference, those with auditory issues withdraw socially due to a lack of communication skills, and an inability to interpret certain sounds. May use stimming to drown out sounds they dislike or find painful. Processing errors can also manifest as a reaction delay. Echolalia is a common sign, or the person may watch a speaker’s mouth when spoken to.
Tactile Issues (Touch): Symptoms vary widely. May participate in head banging, refuse to wear shoes, resist clothing with seams and tags, or refuse hugs. Often they don’t like their hair brushed or their skin touched. They may react negatively to the way grass or sand feels. These individuals need very soft clothing. Those with hyposensitivity often touch everything, including people.
Vestibular System: Provides information about movement, balance, space, and gravity. It deals with coordination, and alerts an individual when something around him moves. Hypersensitivity manifests as intolerance to movement. Those with hyposensitivity can’t keep still.
Proprioceptive: Difficulties can look like vestibular problems, but this system senses body position and motion. It enables the brain to make corrections when picking things up. It discerns the speed of moving a hand or leg. Accidents and dropping things is common. May chew on everything, constantly crash into objects, trip and fall, or have problems dressing and eating.
Sources:
American Journal of Occupational Therapy. Roianne R. Ahn, Lucy Jane Miller, Sharon Milberger, and Daniel N. McIntosh. “Prevalence of Parents’ Perceptions of Sensory Processing Disorders Among Kindergarten Children.” (2004) 58:3, 287-293.
American Journal of Occupational Therapy. Scott D. Tomchek and Winnie Dunn. “Sensory Processing in Children With and Without Autism: A Comparative Study Using the Short Sensory Profile.” (2007) 61:2, 190-200.
Anderson, Liz McKindry and Polly Godwin Emmons. Understanding Sensory Dysfunction: Learning, Development and Sensory Dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorders, ADHD, Learning Disabilities and Bipolar Disorder. Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2005.
Delaney, Tara. The Sensory Processing Disorder Answer Book: Practical Answers to the Top 250 Questions Parents Ask. Sourcebooks, Inc., 2008.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her health should contact a licensed medical professional for advice.
Vickie Ewell - Vickie has worked with autistic individuals for 9 years. She has celiac disease and specializes in gfcf living.
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