Sensory Integration Disorders
Sensory Integration Disorders are quite common in kids with Aspergers Syndrome where they overexcited with day-to-day sensory stimuli – such as noisy sounds, smell, touch, or visuals. Some cannot comprehend the sensory stimuli altogether and so, behave erratically.
Experts however point out some observations regarding the sensory integration disorders. They opine that although initially, the Aspie kids react through tantrums, they seem to show this trait as something that has been “learned” later on and not a feature that could be termed as a genuine symptom. As they are headstrong they don’t seem to get rid of this behavior of “acting out”. The other school of thoughts says that there are profound cases where people or kids with Aspergers Syndromes suffer from sensory sensitivity.
Hearing Stimuli
Noisy sounds and cacophony can be a cause of immense distress for people with Aspergers disorder as they are not able to filter out the background noise or useless sounds and concentrate on the conversation, lecture in a class, or directions given by a teacher. Sometimes noise can be nerve-wrecking:
- Noise of a vacuum cleaner, pressure cooker whistle
- Buzz of police siren, shouts
- Busy crowd in a restaurant, video parlor
Smelling or Tasting Stimuli
People with Aspergers have a keen sense of smell and taste. In fact, they can relate a lot of activities related to smell. For instance:
- Relate memories to a particular smell
- Identify people they have met through body odor
- Sensitive to aroma of perfumes, shampoos or lotions
- Feel nauseated near cosmetic counter or coffee shop where there is a particular whiff in the air
Some Aspies are fanatic about the taste of the eatables. They may not eat a food with a particular taste they don’t like. It is easy for them to throw up when they feel uneasy about a particular taste.
Touching Stimuli
Aspies react with tactile stimuli in many ways. For instance, some are very sensitive towards physical stimuli or external objects. Typical reactions would be:
- Irritation when coming across sticky objects, tags in clothing, or friendly touch.
- Getting nervy when taking a bath in a shower as water droplets have a queer feeling on the body.
- Exasperation with some texture of clothing.
There are some Apergers Syndrome people who are less sensitive to tactile stimuli. In fact, they may not feel the pain as compared to a normal person. They would not react to high or low temperatures.
Eye Contact
Most common visual problem is eye-to-eye contact. Aspies don’t generally like making an eye contact with the other person. Other irritations to visual stimuli are less common. Some kids with Aspergers may find…
- A particular color or light annoying. The irritation is just like that of a noise.
- Few others may stare at a picture unbecomingly.
- Sometimes Aspies search for an item but fail to notice it even when it is right in front of them.
Proprioceptive and Vestibular Anomalies
This sensory integration disorder deals with balance, judgment of space, and orientation of the body. People with such disorders are found more with those having Aspergers Syndrome. Common problems would be:
- Keeping body balanced while standing or sitting
- Orienting the body with objects near it
- Identifying what position is best suitable at a particular moment
- Climbing up or down the staircase
- Writing on a paper with a pen
- Playing cricket, baseball, or handball
There are ways to solve problems that are generated from sensory integration disorder. However, the first part to resolve the issue is to identify the same and the stimuli that cause it. The faster it is identified and diagnosed for cure, the better it would be to cure the disorder altogether.
