Autism meltdown6/5/2023 ![]() Giving your child plenty of time to recover from their sensory overload.If your child is experiencing a meltdown we recommend: Sensory overload can occur just about anywhere, but especially in newer environments where your child is most sensitive to the sensory information they’re receiving. Meltdowns can come in the form of physical flailing, withdrawing from spaces and events where their peers are present, yelling, crying, kicking and more. The main difference is that a meltdown is less related to behavior issues and is more of a form of communication that for many children on the spectrum, is involuntary or the only way for them to express their feelings of being overwhelmed. Meltdowns are challenging because they tend to result in your child losing control of their behaviors and can seem similar to a tantrum. A meltdown is an intense response to overwhelming situations, usually as a result of one or several environmental factors. Understanding the challenge of a sensory processing disorder and those symptoms shared with children on the spectrum can shed light on some of the behavioral issues you may find yourself grappling with. Often, this can cause behaviors known as “meltdowns” in children on the spectrum especially. These are all related to the challenge of processing sensory input differently. Peculiar or abnormal reactions to outside stimuli or an unwillingness to break from routine and visit new environments.Anti-social behavior like withdrawing from social situations or away from peers.Extreme sensitivity to lights, sounds and other sensory information at levels others may deem “normal”.For examples both individuals with SPD and those on the spectrum can demonstrate: Instead, the relationship lies more within the challenges individuals on the spectrum and those with SPD face. The main difference was where the disconnection occurred, meaning those with SPD had more disconnect in those parts of the brain related to sensory perception whereas children on the spectrum could experience it in connections essential to memory and facial recognition. One of the most striking points of this revelation was that children with SPD demonstrated greater brain disconnection than those with a full autism diagnosis. In other words, though it is possible to have both, a child with SPD is not necessarily a child on the autism spectrum and vice versa. This research suggested fundamental differences in children with SPD versus children with autism. For many years, SPD was even considered a symptom of autism until groundbreaking research revealed it to be a neurological disorder of its own. Sensory Processing Disorder has been associated with autism for a very long time. Understanding this relationship can help us understand certain behaviors that are the result of sensory processing challenges like tantrums and meltdowns. Although having a sensory processing disorder is not what determines whether someone is on the autism spectrum, many individuals with autism tend to face sensory processing challenges, making the two closely related. This abnormal interpretation tends to cause distress, confusion and discomfort which in turn can contribute to sensory overload or meltdowns. Those with SPD still feel and receive sensory information but the way they perceive it is abnormal. It can also affect information from the sense of movement. ![]() SPD is a neurological disorder that can cause challenges with processing information from the five senses. One of those is Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). As the parent or caretaker of a child on the spectrum you may hear plenty of terminology and verbiage to describe a lot of complex concepts and symptoms. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |