Sensory Overload within Children and Adults
Our bodies react in a responsive manner whenever we feel that there is too much going on in our surroundings such as extreme loudness, lots of people in a crowd, and much more. For autistic children and adults on the other hand, their perception of sensory is a bit more susceptible as they get sensory overload easily and need to adapt quickly to ease their tension in an overwhelming environment.
Children and adults with sensory processing difficulties have an tendency of putting things in their mouth when they are overloaded by their surroundings. Sensory overload occurs when a child or adult experiences too much sensory input from their environment that it makes their body feel tensed or exasperated by their surrounding. To ease with a sensory overload, an example of the most responsive action would be chewing or gnawing on a chewing toy that the child or adults has with them that soothes their tension and makes them feel comfortable by their method of calming themselves down. The list below shows examples of sensory toys that are suitable for children in particular to have in helping them in developing their sensory needs like stimulation and senses.
- Chewable Toys
- Sensory Matts
- Sand, Slime & Putty Sets
- Pin Art
- Rainmaker Toys
- FIdget Spinners
- Electric Dog Pet
- Reflective Balls
- Cause and Effect Toys
- and much more!
Parents and Tips for how Sensory Toys can help their Child
How to observe and provide tips in how to take care of your child in managing themselves with sensory overloads
Teachers and Tips for how Sensory Toys can help their Students
How to observe and provide quality support in how to take care of your student in managing themselves with sensory overloads
The tips below are ways in determining which sensory toy can help your child with autism to assist with their sensory needs.
Q: How can I determine what kinds of sensory toys are appropriate for my child?
A: Based on what skills your child needs development on with their sensory, behavioral, or physical skills, these are the toys that target a specific skill.
Sensory Matts: Sensory skills; Feeling and touching different textures either through their hands or feet and can have them close their eyes and you ask them to describe the type of texture they’re touching.
Fidget Spinners:Attention skills; Help keep child focused by having something occupying their hands due to the spinner’s smooth and fast rotation
Pin Art:Art skills; Features steel pins that allow a child to make and look at imprints in the pin, where the unique feeling of the pins when touching the pin artboard makes it suitable for texture and sensory skills
The tips below are ways in determining which sensory toy can help your student with autism with their sensory needs.
Q: How can teachers aid students to provide them with sensory toys by determining what’s appropriate?
A: Based on information that you have of your student(s) who have autism, you can observe their behavior and manners to see what sensory toys can help them be engaged in class. These toys are more suitable for their personal use as they can have them with them all the time.
Fidget Spinners: Attention skills; Help keep child focused by having something occupying their hands due to the spinner’s smooth and fast rotation
Chewable Toys:Biting and Chewing skills; As these toys are hand-held or jewelry-like pieces made out of non-toxic silicone material, they come in a variety of materials that provide sensory stimulation suitable for biting and chewable purposes.
Sand, Slime & Putty Sets:Fine motor skills, Allow play and interaction of the material, plus provide appeal to their visual senses as they’re usually brightly colored.