Aspergers Kids & Sensory Sensitivities

Kids with Aspergers often have to deal with extreme sensitivities to everyday sights, sounds, smells and touch. This sensitivity is not one of their "official symptoms" as described in the Physician's Desk Reference doctors use for diagnoses. However, there are thousands of parent and therapist's anecdotes about this condition. Some experts believe that while sensitivity may cause Aspergers kids to tantrum and "act out" in the first place, after a while such behaviors become learned. Aspergers kids hold on to them because of the rigidity of their personalities. Nevertheless, certain studies indicate that between 42% and 88% of kids with Aspergers do experience such sensitivities.

Hearing problems are the most common. Some Aspergers kids seem to hear sounds others do not. They can be driven to distraction by noises everyone else filters out, such as the buzz of fluorescent lights or the brush of corduroy against a desk. The inability to filter out background noises makes it hard for many Aspergers kids to follow conversations or listen to their teachers' directions.

Some sounds seem actually painful to Aspergers kids. For example, a small child may scream at the sound of the vacuum cleaner; a teen covers his ears at the sound of a police siren. One little boy was so scared of the fire drill siren he sat in fear that it would go off. His mother had to home school him during Fire Safety Month.

Auditory sensitivity makes it hard for parents to take their Aspergers kids to noisy places like video arcades or restaurants with singing waiters, etc.

Taste and Smell. Many experts conclude that Aspergers kids rely more on their senses of smell and taste than sight and hearing. They have strong memories of smells; for example, they may be able to recognize kids by their unique body odors.

Certain smells like food, cleaning fluids, perfumes, shampoos and lotions can make them nauseous. This makes it hard for them to handle routine places like the school cafeteria or shopping mall cosmetic counter.

An Aspie's acute sense of smell and taste may also create eating problems. She may limit herself to certain foods, eat one food at a time, not allow foods to touch on her plate, and so forth.

Many Aspergers kids vomit easily. Everyday substances like toothpaste can make them sick to their stomachs.

Touch. Aspergers kids may be overly or under-sensitive to touch.

If overly sensitive, he may find tags on clothing very irritating. He may only wear certain fabrics or clothes that are old and soft from washings. He may refuse to work with certain textures like glue. He screams in the shower because he cannot stand the feel of water on his skin. One Aspie would hit anyone who touched him: a fact that his little brother used to get him in trouble all the time.

Hyposensitivity can cause Aspergers kids not to feel or report pain. They may not react to temperatures. One Aspie did not respond whenever his teacher tapped him to get his attention.

Visual problems are less common. Perhaps only one in five persons with Aspergers has them. However, some Aspergers kids get upset by certain pictures, colors or bright lights. Some experience colors as sounds. They often stand too close to others or stare at them inappropriately. They can search for an object and not notice that it is right in front of them. The majority of Aspergers kids have problems making eye contact with other kids.

Proprioceptive and Vestibular disorders. These are about orienting yourself in space, keeping your body in balance and maintaining good posture and movement. In normal kids, a complex network of nerves works together with the senses naturally. You can sit down without looking at your chair. You know where your feet are. You know how to straighten your shirt without looking into a mirror.

Aspergers kids have problems with such abilities that operate on the unconscious level for normal kids. This makes simple activities such as climbing stairs feats that must be learned. Activities that involve complex movements, changes in speed and hand-eye coordination such as handwriting or playing baseball become nightmares for many Aspergers kids.

There are many therapeutic techniques to help Aspergers kids with sensory integration and sensitivity. Early intervention is often crucial.

Working with Sensory Integration Disorders—

Kids with Aspergers often have problems processing, organizing and using information received their senses. This is called Sensory Integration Disorder.

When normal kids sit down to do a task, they filter out background noise. The vast array of sights and smells of a shopping mall do not distract them. They zero in and find the exact object they set out to buy.

However, Aspergers kids often over-attend to some stimuli and under-attend to others. This creates not only problems in the classroom, but also difficulties in completing routine tasks like sitting in a chair, getting dressed, and understanding the intentions of other kids.

Because of Sensory Integration Disorders, kids with Aspergers are often easily frustrated. They may shut down emotionally when they feel overwhelmed or throw tantrums. They can fail at school because little things like a student's sharpening a pencil distract them. This distractibility combined with hypersensitivity to noise, lights, touches and smells often means that they cannot process new material fast enough to produce a normal workload.

Kids with Aspergers will not outgrow Sensory Integration Disorder. Parents cannot cure it by telling their kids to ignore whatever is bothering them.

Therapists and teachers who work with kids with Aspergers use many techniques to help them cope with Sensory Integration Disorder. Some are as simple as playing background music or increasing the child's exercise time. Aromatherapy, art therapy, object manipulation and massage help some kids. Some kids benefit by working one-on-one with a personal coach.

Applied Behavioral Analysis is another key therapeutic technique used with all forms of autism and Attention Deficit Disorder. Its main principle is to break tasks into tiny steps and to reward correct responses with treats, stickers or small toys. For example, if a child manages to keep working despite a distraction placed near his desk, his therapist may give him a reward.

Applied Behavioral Analysts praise the child specifically. For example, they would say, "You did a good job answering the phone," not just "Good job."

Applied Behavioral Analysis also helps Aspergers kids who do not know how to break jobs into small steps. For example, if they need a book, it may never occur to such a child to ask his parent to take him to the library as a first step.

Another method is called Dialectical Behavior Technique, originally invented to help those with Borderline Personality Disorder. The therapist helps the child learn how to tolerate higher levels of frustration and to control his emotional responses to conflict or frustration.

Another technique involves the parents keeping diaries of their kid's tantrums and frustrations in terms of Sensory Integration Disorder. There are usually three columns in the diary. The first is a record of the incident. For example, a parent would write, "Threw tantrum getting dressed." The second column is the reason in terms of Sensory Integration Disorder: "Johnny cannot tolerate tags on clothes." The third column is the intervention: "Cut off tags."

Many kids with Aspergers go through occupational therapy. They learn through "hands-on" methods how to translate visual and auditory input into motor tasks like handwriting, tying shoes, opening a milk carton or sports activities. Therapists often use specialized equipment such as "Thera-putty," camping pillows, T-stools, inflatable discs and other objects to help kids better orient themselves in space.

Finally, many kids with Aspergers benefit from prescription drugs to reduce anxiety, increase concentration, or help them fall asleep.

The Parenting Aspergers Resource Guide: A Complete
Resource Guide For Parents Who Have Children Diagnosed
With Aspergers Syndrome.