Dec 27 2008
Yet Another Facet of Sensory Integration Disorder
With Sensory Integration Disorder, there is typically either an oversensitivity to an environmental stimulus like noise, texture, smells, etc. But there can also be an undersensitivity to stimulus as well, which we see when an individual with Sensory Integration Disorder is seeking sensory input, for example, crashing into things.
I’ve written about Gus’s oversensitivity to certain things, but today he reminded us of one of his undersensitivities - high tolerance for certain physical sensations. He took a bit of a spill on a treadmill today and hit his back leaving a nasty bruise. Now if I had done that to myself, I’d probably still be in tears. When I asked him about it though, his response was a very impatient, “It will heal!” If we hadn’t asked about the bruise at bath time, he never would have even mentioned it.
It’s pretty amazing, like his noise sensitivity only seems to pertain to certain noises, his pain threshold only seems relevant to certain types of pain. He can’t have his toenails cut without howling that it hurts, but today’s event was completely ignored.
The boy fascinates me to no end!
Thank you for sharing the info about SID with others. My son has this, and it was always difficult to explain to others since most have never heard of it.
You are right, children with sensory processing disorder may not only be sensory defensive but may have sensory registration problems as well. thank you for sharing.