Sensory Diets For Autism

Table of Contents

A sensory diets for autism means a specific plan of physical activities and accommodations for a particular individual to fulfill sensory requirements.

Meanings of “sensory diets”

Seonsory Diets — Overweight teenage child eating vegetarian cranberry mousse in a cafe related to sensory diets.

Before we go deep into the sensory diets, Let us explain first the meaning of Sensory. Sensory means sensation or to sense something that you feel with your physical senses.

What are Sensory diets for autism or Sensory diets for ADHD?

More specifically the sensory diet for autism or ADHD is an individually tailored childcare program of sensory and physical both motor and muscle-based activities. It is required to manage a child’s sensory diet needs and to reduce the impact such as dysfunction upon the child’s attention and activity levels, behavior, learning, and skill development.

This treatment helps to stay focused and organized throughout the day. The major objective of sensory diets for autism is to prevent sensory and emotional overload by meeting the nervous system’s sensory needs.

Proper management of a child’s sensory profile and activities can really help when a child feels overwhelmed and out of control.

Usually, the sensory diet is designed by An occupational therapist (OT) and the Parents and caregivers can implement it at home

The importance of sensory diets for autism

As we try to eat a balanced food diet, mixing fruit and vegetables to keep ourselves fit and healthy, the same applies to a child with autism. Just like we all also need a balanced amount of sensory diets to allow them to work well. A “sensory diets” provides regular opportunities for a child to ‘keep in balance the activity they are lacking, seeking, or avoiding. When we talk about autistic children they require more than a normal child. Due to a mental disorder, an autistic child faces more issues such as concentration, attention, food diet imbalances, self-regulation, and much more. The sensory overload autism.

The symptoms of sensory difficulties

Infant/child may exhibit the following:

self-stimulation, self-injury
Hyperactivity
hypervigilant
sleep problems
upset by being touched
ritualistic behaviors
avoidance of eye contact
colic
irritability (very difficult to comfort)
easily upset when changed positions (vertical or horizontal)
oral defensiveness (breath, suck, swallow pattern disrupted)
recurring digestive problems
avoidance of eye contact
does not demonstrate exploratory behavior
struggles/difficulties during the morning routine
insistence on unusual routines or strategies associated with play or ADLs
overly reactive with a fight, flight, or freeze-b
excessive rough play

Later manifestation may be seen as:

obsessive to routine or sequence
Easily and unwanted explosive
compulsive
unhappy and unrelaxed
Don’t socialize or rarely do
Limited or narrow interests
poor class of personal care
perseveration
easily explosive
addictive behaviors
poor modulation of emotions
Take unexpected time to regroup after an outburst

The signs of sensory activities can vary based on age and ability. Here are some suggestions for things to do on sensory diets.

Sensory diet activities for autism

We are sharing some sensory diet activities here that are also helpful to autistic individuals. You will also find your answer for the sensory processing disorder diet.

How to deal with Sensory diet Difficulties and activities in autism

Here are the specific ways to deal with Sensory Difficulties and activities in autism.

1. Proprioception:

Proprioception describes your body’s ability to sense any movement, action, and activity location that is present in every muscle. It can be achieved through lifting, pushing, and pulling heavy objects.

Under Proprioception, a child might face:

Look clumsy
May hang onto anyone, walk into you
Presses hard when writing or coloring
Chews on shirts

You can take the help of the below-mentioned activities for this particular difficulty.

Play catch with a big ball or pillow
swimming
pushing a stroller or cart
pulling a wagon filled with objects
carrying a backpack
Provide activities for pouring materials such as beans, rice, etc.
playing hopscotch
push-ups against the wall
Give the child lots of bear hugs
lifting weights
wearing a weighted vest
vacuuming

2. Vestibular:

The vestibular system is part of the inner ear and brain that processes sensory information and controls balance and eye movements. A sensory processing disorder diet affects autism a lot.

Under Vestibular movement, a child might face:

Fear of being picked up or tipped back
Be very sedentary
Don’t like to climb or swim
Swing and swing and never stop
Be moving and rocking all the time
Gets carsick from movement
Avoid quick movements or sudden changes in position

Here are the specific ways to deal with this sensory difficulty:

Allow your child to stand at the table while working
It is good to provide lots of opportunities for movement
swinging on a swing
lying in a hammock
Try spinning on a Sit n’ Spin or disc
Rolling
Give recess
jumping jacks
dancing

3. Auditory:

Auditory input describes our hearing and how we listen.

Under auditory stimulation, a child might face:

React Strongly to fire alarms, Announcements, a noise outside the classroom, toilet flushing, the noise of the classroom
Difficulty distinguishing what the teacher is saying from outside noise.

Here are the specific ways to deal with auditory stimulation sensory difficulty:

Use short, simple directions
Warn the child before a loud noise
Place the child in the quiet area of the classroom
listening to sounds in nature
use noise-canceling headphones to dampen sound
playing a musical instrument
listening to running water

4. Visual:

visual stimulation is related to vision sensors and is used for sight.

Your Child with visual stimulation might:

Have difficulty with figure-ground activities
Close eyes or cover eyes frequently
Squint
Avoid coloring, puzzles, stacking blocks
May not recognize shapes or colors

To reduce visual stimulation, Here are the specific ways to deal with auditory stimulation sensory difficulty:

keeps areas organized and clutter-free
store items in bins or boxes
Minimize the number of distractions
avoid using fluorescent lighting
use neutral paint colors
Create a quiet area of the room where a child can go when overwhelmed
Avoid bright lights
Put toys on the blank tabletop or white paper to increase contrast
Use brightly colored materials

5. Smell:

Smell is one of the five senses. and that sense (olfaction) by which scents or odors are perceived is called smell. Smelling specific odors can calm, stimulate, or send anyone into sensory overload.

Here are the specific ways to deal with this sensory difficulty.

exploring alerting scents like peppermint or citrus
sniffing different herbs and spices

6. Taste:

Taste input is perceived by the tongue but how it’s analyzed or experienced is affected by the sense of smell. Oral sensory processing involves taste, tactile, and proprioception.

Strong tastes can stimulate the undersensitive child.
Involving your child while preparing the food will increase their likelihood of trying new foods.
Offer crunchy foods to your kid.
Give something to chew.

7. Tactile:

Perceptible touch is related to the sense of touch. The tactile sense detects pain, deep pressure, texture, temperature, light touch, vibration, and pain.

Children with tactile stimulation might:

React strongly to the unexpected touch and the light touch
Be picky in eating, eat selective or few foods.
Usually, Play roughly
Be picky about clothes or resist being dressed.
Be a messy eater, spread food all over the face, or overload their mouth with food.

Here are the specific ways to deal with tactile stimulation sensory difficulty:

Hand massage
Tell your child before touching
Sit with your child to avoid other children’s clash with him
Before tooth brushing, apply deep pressure around the mouth with a washcloth
Brush teeth before the meal (to relax the child’s sensitivity)
Use cotton clothing if possible, don’t wear new clothes before washing them several times, and use seamless socks.
play with squeeze balls.
crocheting, knitting, or sewing
messy play with shaving cream or foamy soap
Brush teeth before the meal (to pep up the child’s oral sensitivities)
Provide immense opportunities for sensory play such as finger painting.

8. Olfactory /Gustatory:

The gustatory system is a sensory system. It is responsible for the perception of taste and flavor in humans. The gustatory system is formed of taste cells in the mouth, several cranial nerves, and the gustatory cortex.

Children with olfactory or gustatory stimulation might:

Strong reaction to smells, perfumes, and air fresheners
Decreased ability to taste or recognize different smells
Difficulty with articulation

Here are some tips for managing gustatory stimulation sensory difficulty:

Avoid certain types of food or certain textures
Try to reduce conflicting smells.
Introduce new experiences of strong smells to your child and tastes(sour, bitter, spicy) and cold temperatures.

Closing Lines:

These are just a few of the optional activities that can be used to create a sensory diet. Work with an experienced OT who can create a sensory diet. And assist with visual support and scheduling of the activities throughout the day.

References:

Miller LJ, et al. (2007). Lessons learned: A pilot study on occupational therapy effectiveness for children with sensory modulation disorder. DOI:
10.5014/ajot.61.2.161
McIntosh DN, et al. (1999). Sensory-modulation disruption, electrodermal responses, and functional behaviors.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1469-8749.1999.tb00664.x
The diet treatment

Sensory diets for autism