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What are the signs of Sensory Processing Disorder?

Touch (Tactile) Sensory Processing:

• Avoids or becomes upset with unexpected touch input; pulls away from hugs and kisses
• Extreme over-reaction to having hair washed or cut, nails trimmed, getting dressed, changing diaper, etc.
• Overly sensitive to certain textures. For example, doesn’t like to get hands messy with playdough, fingerpaint, or sand
• Avoids or becomes upset about wearing certain clothing; for instance, only likes sweatpants and won’t wear jeans, or needs to have socks turned inside-out
• Seems to unaware of touch; is unaware of messiness on face or hands
• Shows little reaction to scrapes or bruises (unusually high pain tolerance)
• Is unaware what he/she is touching unless looking at it

Proprioception and Vestibular Processing:

• Uses too much or inappropriate force or pressure when playing with others or with toys
• Seems to have poor balance; trips or falls often
• Has poor body awareness; bumps into people or objects frequently
• Dislikes playground activities, such as swinging, sliding, or climbing
• Uncomfortable on elevators or escalators; anxious about heights or falling, even when no real danger exists
• Seek movement constantly; has trouble sitting still or staying in a seat
• Seeks spinning, twirling, and swinging for long periods of time; may appear to not get dizzy
• Seems to have a loose and “floppy” body; seems weaker and tires more easily than other children
• Tends to slump or lie down rather than sit upright; constantly props head with arm or hand, or puts head down on desk

Motor Planning and Coordination:

• Appears “clumsy” and has trouble learning new motor tasks; seems to have “two left feet”
• Difficulty using tools such as eating utensils, writing tools, scissors, combs, etc.
• Difficulty using feet and hands together, like to throw or catch a ball or to do jumping jacks
• Doesn’t have a hand preference after age 4 or 5; switches hands frequently during writing or drawing tasks; doesn’t seem to use either hand well

Auditory Processing:

• Has trouble discriminating between similar words and sounds even though you know his/her hearing is okay
• Trouble with following directions
• Trouble making conversation
• May become overly upset with loud or sudden noises
• Has trouble paying attention when there is background noise
• Is distracted by noises that go unnoticed by others; for example, a car driving by outside
• Is delayed with speech and language development

Visual and spatial processing:

• Has trouble with puzzles, shape sorters, or other activities requiring recognition of shapes and patterns
• Lags behind peers with learning to recognize and write letters and numbers; confusion of letters like b, p, and d, g and q, etc.
• Has trouble shifting gaze from one object to another, such as from a blackboard to her own paper; loses place easily when reading
• Has a poor sense of direction; confuses right/left, up/down, before/after, etc.

Oral Sensory:

• Unusually picky eater; limits self to certain tastes, textures, or temperatures
• Seems unaware of food in mouth; overstuffs mouth or spills food from mouth
• Gags or refuses to try new foods
• Messy eater; gets food all over hands and face and doesn’t seem to notice or care
• Gets upset if hands or face get messy with food; won’t even touch certain foods

Smell:

• Overly sensitive to smells; bothered by smells that go unnoticed by others
• Seems unaware of smells

Learning and Behavior:

• Has trouble sequencing, organizing, and carrying out the steps of a task
• Trouble with problem-solving and figuring out something new
• Easily frustrated
• Reluctant to try new things
• Low-self-esteem
• Difficulty making friends and relating to peers