Help Me Understand Sensory Input

You see your child.

Naturally your hand goes to stroke her hair.
You probably give her gentle hugs.
You hold her hands when doing activities together.
Natural instincts. Very natural gestures.

But this child hits your hand away.
She squirms and stiffens up when you hug her.
She jerks your hand away from hers.
What is wrong?

I asked myself this questions so many times with Lauren. Especially being my first child, and being a first time mother, all that anxiousness of wanting your child to respond positively to your cuddles, hugging and display of affection. What she did seemed so much like rejection. It was really difficult on some days to tell myself that it was not rejection.

Some adults with autism have described these seemingly normal touches as extremely uncomfortable. Like sandpaper scratching their skin, like needles poking them.

This kind of responses are unusual to typical people. They may be due to Lauren's inability to integrate incoming sensory input. If she cannot make sense of it, she is better off without it, so she will push away these gestures.

Gooey starchy and FUN therapy. Lauren at 5 year old, 2007

When Lauren was about 5 years old, I used to make bowls of colourful starch. Once or twice a week. We had a spacious balcony in our home where we would place our little stools. Lauren would strip down to her underwear and I would ask her what pictures she wanted me to draw on her body.

We would spend the next half and hour drawing Ariel the mermaid princess, Beauty, Cinderella, sometimes even Pooh Bear and his friends on her legs, and arms, face, torso, thighs. It wasn't uncomfortable for her. It was fun! It was therapeutic for her senses.

Today I can stroke Lauren's hair and she enjoys it. I can stroke her hand and give her hugs. She loves them. And I love that I can do it.

We did other activities with Lauren. We wrapped her smaller joints like knuckles and fingers with plasticine. Some parents brush their children's skin. All with the purpose of helping them to integrate sensory input and make sense of the incoming sensory.

Some parents never get to hug their children because the sensory processing disorder is much more severe. While it is really tough on our emotions, it is extremely challenging for the child too. Each child also responds different to therapy. What works for one, may not work as well for another child.

Then comes the perseverance to try different methods until one works. We must persist in the therapy that is working. This can take weeks and months before we see improvement. And one day when you see your child responding to your hug, with her own hug....my...how precious.


A river cuts through a rock not because of its power, but its PERSISTENCE.