Children with Autism will experience the classic 5 senses (sight, sound, taste, touch & hearing) in an entirely different way to which typically developing children do. Because of this fact, as a parent or educator of ASD children it is vital that the activities that you provide for these children are appropriate and monitored.
Why?
To ensure you can pick up on if your Autistic child has a ‘Sensory Overload.’
Now, you may know what a sensory overload is or you may not. Well, I certainly didn’t when I first starting working with Autistic children so just in case, I’ll explain…
Autistic children can have highly sensitive senses, so a sensory overload is when a
child’s senses are over stimulated in an activity they enjoy and they cannot cope.
Ever heard the phrase “Too much of a good thing”? Well it’s exactly that!
Here are some of the signs of over stimulation for you to get to know;
- Sweating
- Anger
- Panic and crying
- Lashing out
- Biting
- Loss of balance
- Child’s face can go pale
- Child shouting “Stop!”
- Child repeats an irrelevant phrase over and over again
- Nausea
So if you detect any of these 10 signs of over stimulation in your child, ensure to stop the activity immediately so that you have a better chance of preventing your child from experiencing a ‘meltdown’ in the future.
Speak with you soon, until then
Live every moment, Love beyond words and make a difference today!
Emma Ottaway
The Autism Support Specialist
