Sensory Seeking vs. Sensory Avoiding in Children

July 30, 2024

Unravel sensory seeking vs. sensory avoiding in children, and learn strategies to support their unique needs.

Understanding Sensory Processing

Sensory processing refers to how individuals perceive and respond to sensory stimuli. It plays a critical role in a child's learning and development. Understanding sensory behavior is crucial, especially when considering conditions like autism and other disorders. In this context, two common types of sensory behaviors are sensory seeking and sensory avoiding.

Sensory Seeking Behavior Overview

"Sensory seeking" is a term used to describe individuals who actively seek out sensory experiences to fulfill their sensory needs. This behavior is often observed in very active children who explore the world around them through movement and sensory exploration, seeking sensory information as they learn.

Sensory seeking behavior can manifest in various ways, such as seeking tactile stimulation, engaging in repetitive movements, or craving deep pressure. This behavior can also be observed as seeking sensory input excessively, such as through activities like crawling through a tunnel, animal walks, finger painting, jumping, and balloon tapping. These activities provide sensory input that is calming, organizing, and stimulating for children.

Sensory Avoiding Behavior Overview

On the other end of the spectrum are sensory avoiders. These individuals are oversensitive to sensory input and experience it more intensely than the average person. This overstimulation can be overwhelming, leading them to avoid certain sensory stimuli [3].

Sensory avoiding behavior involves individuals actively avoiding or withdrawing from sensory stimuli that they find uncomfortable or overwhelming, such as loud noises, certain textures, or crowded places [2]. Sensory avoiders may seem timid, have specific preferences about the types of food they eat, or be particular about the clothes they wear.

Understanding the differences between sensory seeking and sensory avoiding behaviors can provide valuable insights into a child's sensory needs and preferences. As a parent or caregiver, recognizing these behaviors can help you better support your child and develop strategies to manage sensory processing challenges.

Characteristics of Sensory Seekers

Understanding sensory seeking behavior is crucial in providing appropriate support and interventions for children who display such characteristics. Here, we delve into the signs and challenges associated with sensory seeking behavior.

Sensory Seeking Signs

Sensory seekers, as defined by Understood, are often undersensitive to sensory input. This can manifest in a variety of behaviors where children actively seek out sensory experiences to fulfill their needs. These behaviors can include:

Standing too close when talking to others
Having an unusual tolerance for pain
Walking with loud, heavy steps
Enjoying rough play
Frequently touching people and objects
Seeking out or making loud noises
Jumping, hopping, and bumping into things and people, sometimes to the point of being unsafe

These behaviors can often be misinterpreted as "behavior issues" or clumsiness, but they are actually attempts by the child to regulate their sensory input.

Sensory Seeking Challenges

As with any other sensory processing characteristics, sensory seekers face some unique challenges. Due to their decreased awareness of sensory input, they often appear clumsy and uncoordinated, and may have poor balance.

Sensory seekers may also struggle with transitions, sitting still in a classroom, safely moving through their environment, sitting to eat a meal, or other routine tasks due to their constant quest for sensory stimulation.

Understanding these challenges is the first step towards supporting children with sensory needs. It is important to remember that every child is unique, and so are their sensory needs. In the context of autism and other disorders, it's important to understand how these sensory seeking behaviors may manifest differently.

Characteristics of Sensory Avoiders

Understanding sensory avoiding behaviors can guide parents and caregivers in providing suitable environments and experiences for children who display these tendencies. Sensory avoiders are typically oversensitive to sensory input, experiencing it more intensely than their peers. This heightened sensitivity can make certain stimuli overwhelming, leading to avoidance behaviors.

Sensory Avoiding Signs

Children who are sensory avoiders may display various signs indicating their discomfort with certain sensory stimuli. These signs can include appearing timid, being particular about the types of clothes they wear, or even being labeled as "picky eaters". They may avoid situations or environments where they feel overwhelmed by sensory input, such as loud playgrounds or bustling shopping centers.

Other common indicators of sensory avoiding behaviors include:

Startling easily at unexpected sounds or bright lights
Hearing background noises that others can't detect
Uncomfortable with physical contact, like being hugged or kissed
Refusing to wear clothes that they find uncomfortable
Being wary of playground equipment that provides intense sensory input, like swings or roundabouts

Understanding these signs can help parents, caregivers, and teachers better support children with sensory avoiding behaviors in both home and school environments.

Sensory Avoiding Challenges

Children with sensory avoiding behaviors can face various challenges in their daily lives. These challenges are often linked to their heightened sensitivity to sensory stimuli. For instance, they may struggle with certain clothing materials, making getting dressed in the morning a difficult task. Similarly, meal times can become stressful if they are sensitive to the textures, tastes, or smells of certain foods [3].

Sensory processing issues can also impact a child's performance in school. These children may have trouble handling the sensory information they encounter in a typical classroom environment, like the hum of fluorescent lighting or the feel of certain craft materials. They may also struggle with body awareness or balance and coordination, which can affect their participation in physical activities.

It's important to note that sensory avoiding behaviors can sometimes be confused with symptoms of other conditions, such as ADHD. For example, a child who is avoiding sensory input might appear to have trouble sitting still or seem "hyperactive".

Understanding the challenges faced by sensory avoiders can help in developing appropriate strategies and accommodations to support these children in their daily activities. For more information on other conditions that can display similar behaviors, you can check our articles on autism vs. ADHD, autism vs. Asperger's, and autism vs. other disorders.

Sensory Seeking vs. Sensory Avoiding

Identifying and understanding the differences and overlaps in sensory seeking and sensory avoiding behaviors in children can be quite helpful for parents and caregivers. It can guide them in providing the most appropriate support and accommodations for their child's unique sensory needs.

Key Differences

Sensory seekers and sensory avoiders exhibit contrasting behaviors due to their different sensory thresholds.

Sensory seekers are generally undersensitive to sensory input. They may appear clumsy, loud, or exhibit behaviors that can be misunderstood as being disruptive. They often seek more sensory stimulation to counteract their feelings of sluggishness. Such children may enjoy activities like jumping, hopping, or bumping into things and people, sometimes to the point of being unsafe [3].

On the other hand, sensory avoiders are typically oversensitive to sensory input and experience it more intensely than the average person. This intensity can lead to a sense of being overwhelmed, prompting them to avoid such stimuli. These children may appear timid, be labeled as "picky eaters," or be particular about the types of clothes they wear.

Behavior	Sensory Seekers	Sensory Avoiders
Reaction to sensory input	Undersensitive	Oversensitive
Tendency	Seek more sensory stimulation	Avoid sensory stimulation
Typical behaviors	May appear clumsy or loud, enjoy rough play	May appear timid, particular about food and clothing

Overlapping Behaviors

Despite these differences, it's crucial to note that sensory seeking and sensory avoiding behaviors can coexist within individuals. This complex interplay can see individuals seeking some types of sensory input while avoiding others, creating a tug-of-war within their sensory system.

This overlap can sometimes make it challenging to categorize a child strictly as a sensory seeker or avoider, as they may exhibit behaviors from both categories. Understanding this overlap can provide a more holistic view of a child's sensory needs and help tailor more effective strategies for managing their sensory processing challenges.

Recognizing the signs of sensory seeking and sensory avoiding is an essential first step towards understanding and supporting children with sensory needs. For more information on autism and other disorders, consider exploring our articles on autism vs. ADHD, autism vs. Aspergers, and autism in boys vs. girls.

Managing Sensory Processing Challenges

Managing sensory processing challenges involves understanding the child's sensory preferences and adapting the environment to meet their sensory needs. This includes creating a sensory-friendly environment and implementing sensory integration techniques.

Creating a Sensory-Friendly Environment

Creating a sensory-friendly environment involves modifying the physical space to match the sensory needs of the child. This can be achieved by controlling the sensory stimulation in the environment to either minimize distractions for sensory avoiders or provide additional stimuli for sensory seekers.

For example, classroom accommodations for sensory processing challenges can include providing a quiet workspace, seating the student away from distractions like doors and windows, and offering alternative seating options like exercise ball chairs or stand-up desks. Providing sensory tools like stress balls or fidget spinners, earplugs or noise-muffling headphones, and allowing the child to chew gum or use chewable items while working can also be beneficial [7].

Additionally, it's important to create a proactive behavior plan for handling sensory triggers, warn the child about loud noises in advance, and allow them to ask for breaks to promote self-regulation. Techniques like reducing the need for handwriting, providing extra time for writing tasks, using speech-to-text software, and offering colored overlays for reading to reduce visual distraction can also be useful.

Implementing Sensory Integration Techniques

Sensory integration techniques are designed to help the child respond appropriately to sensory stimulation. This involves introducing a 'sensory diet', a set of personalized activities that provide the sensory input the child needs.

These activities can be tailored to the child's sensory preferences and can include a mixture of calming activities (like deep pressure or slow rocking), alerting activities (like jumping or spinning), and organizing activities (like pushing or pulling objects).

To implement sensory integration techniques, it is often beneficial to work with professionals specializing in sensory processing disorders. They can provide guidance and strategies to help manage sensory seeking and sensory avoiding behaviors in children.

Remember, managing sensory needs is a crucial part of supporting children with sensory processing challenges. By understanding the unique sensory needs of the child, parents and caregivers can create an environment that supports their wellbeing and promotes their development. For more information on autism and related disorders, explore our articles on autism and other disorders.

Supporting Children with Sensory Needs

Understanding the needs of children with sensory processing differences, whether they are sensory seeking or sensory avoiding, is crucial in creating an environment conducive for their learning and growth. There are several strategies and accommodations that can assist in managing sensory challenges.

Occupational Therapy Strategies

Occupational therapy plays a significant role in managing sensory needs in children. Therapy strategies often include creating a sensory-friendly environment, implementing a sensory diet, and sensory integration techniques. These strategies offer a structured, scheduled series of physical activities tailored to each child's needs [2].

Occupational therapists can provide hands-on strategies and exercises designed to improve the child's ability to respond appropriately to sensory input. These strategies may include managing sensory overload or helping the child develop coping mechanisms for sensory triggers.

Professional help and support from experts specializing in sensory processing disorders can be critical in guiding parents and teachers to better support the child's sensory needs.

Classroom Accommodations

Classroom accommodations are instrumental in supporting students with sensory processing challenges. These may include providing a quiet workspace, seating the student away from distractions like doors or windows, and offering alternative seating options like exercise ball chairs or stand-up desks. Such accommodations help in creating a more focused and less distracting environment.

Accommodation	Description
Sensory Tools	Using stress balls, fidget spinners, or other similar items can help students stay focused.
Noise Control	Providing earplugs or noise-muffling headphones can help manage noise sensitivity.
Oral Input	Allowing the student to chew gum or use chewable items can help improve focus.
Writing Assistance	Reducing the need for handwriting, providing extra time for writing tasks, or using speech-to-text software can help students with fine motor challenges.
Reading Assistance	Offering colored overlays for reading can reduce visual distraction and improve focus.

All these accommodations aim to create an environment that understands and meets the needs of students with sensory processing challenges. This involves balancing their sensory input, managing triggers, and promoting self-regulation.

Supporting children with sensory needs can be complex, especially when these needs coexist with other conditions such as autism, ADHD, or OCD. However, with the right strategies and accommodations, it is possible to create a supportive environment that caters to their unique needs, allowing them to thrive in their own special way.