Sensory Over-responsive

Your child may be sensory over-responsive. This means that he or she may have trouble filtering out excess sensations, and the amount of stimulus usually needed to activate a certain response may be perceived by your child as too much. Some people call this type of sensory processing "sensation avoidant" because many times kids learn to avoid sensations in order to control the negative responses that come with too much sensation. A child can be over-responsive in one sense and display a different pattern in another sense. A child can also be over-responsive one day and display a different pattern in the same sense another day. For over-responders, Calming Tactile, Proprioception, and Calming Vestibular activities can be very helpful. Follow the links below for more regulating activities to try with your child.

Visual

If your child appears...

averse to harsh lighting; distracted by visual stimuli; overwhelmed by colors or visual textures; picky about appearance; to enjoy dark
to see things others don’t or to require less time to locate objects visually
to frequently rub eyes, yawn, cover or close eyes, gag at the sight of certain objects, or look away

Try Calming Visual; Calming Auditory; Calming Vestibular activities

Auditory

If your child appears...

intolerant of echoing or ambient noises; easily distracted or overwhelmed by environmental noises; averse to or startled by sudden or loud noises
to express feeling afraid of, sickened by, or angered by the sounds made by others
unable to filter out noises
to vocalize to drown out disturbing sounds

Try Calming Auditory; Calming Tactile; Proprioception; Calming Vestibular activities

Olfactory

If your child appears...

averse to scented soaps, shampoos, or lotions; intolerant of certain odors; to notice smells others don’t
to frequently gag around certain smells; adamant about not going to certain rooms, stores, homes, or public places
to avoid specific individuals with specific scents; to be distracted by smells or "shut down"

Try Calming Olfactory; Alerting Gustatory activities

Gustatory

If your child appears...

show a strong preference for specific tastes (bland, sweet, salty, meaty); to frequently gag on certain foods
to have difficulty with oral hygiene or to complain about the taste of mouthwash, toothpaste, or floss
to have difficulty taking medicine orally

Try Calming Gustatory; Calming Tactile; Proprioception activities

Tactile

If your child appears...

unable to tolerate or averse to certain fabrics or textures; very sensitive to temperature
to have an overactive gag reflex or to have difficulty manipulating certain foods in the mouth; to have difficulty touching or interacting with objects of specific textures or temperatures inside the mouth
to avoid being tickled or touched

Try Calming Tactile; Proprioception; Calming Vestibular

Proprioception

If your child appears...

to resist moving or stretching muscles; to have rigid or robotic movements; to need to close eyes during movements; to be averse to others moving his or her body passively
to have difficulty swallowing, tire easily when chewing, or chew excessively
to not expend enough energy during the day; to prefer sedentary activities

Try Calming Tactile; Calming Vestibular activities

Vestibular

If your child appears...

to demonstrate a fear of heights or gravitational insecurity; to resist movement, especially spinning, dropping, or inversion
to experience nausea, dizziness, or headache with sudden or prolonged movement of the head or vibration

Try Calming Vestibular; Calming Tactile; Proprioception activities

Interoception

If your child appears...

to feel urgency when needing to use the bathroom
to demonstrate decreased appetite or intense hunger or thirst

Try Calming Vestibular; Proprioception activities

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