Cope With Sensory Integration Disorder

Little is known about Sensory Integration Disorder (aka Sensory Integration Dysfunction). It is often found in people with other disorders, especially autism and Asperger's Syndrome, but also including multiple sclerosis, dyslexia, and Tourette's Syndrome. If you have it, you may well not realise that your aversions to certain stimuli are anything but normal. In fact, many people with Sensory Integration Disorder wonder how other people can stand doing the things that they cannot!

There are different degrees of Sensory Integration Disorder. It can be so mild as to hardly be noticeable, or it can be all but completely incapacitating. There are also different types, which often overlap. Some people are hyposensitive, or not sensitive enough or at all, to certain stimuli, while others are hypersensitive, or too sensitive. In many cases, the same individual will be hypersensitive to certain stimuli and hyposensitive to others. Some people are hypo/hyper-sensitive to pain, movement, tactile sensations (textures and feelings of objects), lights, sound, or touch.

Steps

 * 1)  If you have a child with Sensory Integration Disorder, realize that they will likely not be able to list everything that's different between his- or herself and others. How would you list every sensation that you find pleasurable off the top of your head?
 * 2)  Find out what your child likes. This will take trial and error, time, and a lot of frustration, but there's nothing else to be done for it. Maybe you already know what the child can't stand.
 * 3)  Once you know, avoid that stimulus if at all possible. Some children can't tolerate lumps in their food. If this is the case, puree their soups and make sure mashes potatoes are completely mashed, to begin with. Some children can't tolerate certain fabrics. If they don't know how to express this intolerance, which is likely no matter what the age of the child, this may result in violent temper tantrums if they are dressed in the fabric or made to sleep with a blanket of the fabric.
 * 4)  Always, always, always remember that the person with Sensory Integration Disorder cannot help it! In all but the very most mild cases, the person actually cannot tolerate the sensation. It's not a preference, it's not just that they don't feel like it, they can't stand it.
 * 5)  If you're living with Sensory Integration Disorder, realise that you're not alone. You're not crazy.
 * 6)  Figure out your own stimuli. Since you're the one dealing with them, this should be reasonably simple. Make a list. If, and only if, you feel comfortable doing so, share it with people with whom you come into day-to-day contact with. If possible, carry the list with you. Every time you realise there's something missing, write it down!
 * 7)  Casually ask people if you're not certain if your perception of something is normal. For example: "Does this sweater feel scratchy to you?", "Do you hear that buzzing sound (of those fluorescent lights)?", etc.
 * 8)  As you write down your sensitivities, try to figure out ways to avoid them. Feel free to jot down ideas on the same list!

Tips

 * Look for patterns! Especially if the person with Sensory Integration Disorder cannot explain what bothers them for whatever reason, pay attention. Do temper tantrums always occur when your son goes to the arcade? Does your daughter always freak out when you go through the toy aisle of the store? If you put that sweater on your little girl, is a tantrum inevitable? These are all common manifestations of Sensory Integration Disorder.
 * If you go shopping with friends who don't know about Sensory Integration Disorder (as few people do), you may be laughed at for recoiling from certain tactile sensations. Don't get angry. First, imagine how amusing it might be to you if somebody recoiled violently from your favourite sensation. Next, calmly explain what caused your reaction. A good way to explain to a layman is that your brain is miswired in such a way as to misinterpret harmless sensations as attacks, thus triggering the fight or flight adrenal reaction in your body. Perhaps compare it to a phobia, in which an innocuous object such as a button or cotton ball can trigger the same panic response.

Warnings

 * People with Sensory Integration Disorder may be or seem insensitive to pain. They may giggle when given an injection. More worryingly, some can receive second degree burns without even blinking.
 * If you yell at a person for being unable to tolerate a sensation, expect tantrums, confusion, or possibly even violence. Same goes for forcing them to tolerate something they cannot.

Related Tips and Steps

 * How to Learn to Cope With the Autistic Child
 * How to Recognize Signs of Autistic Children
 * How to Enhance Learning for an Autistic Child
 * How to Cope With Having Autism or Asperger Syndrome