Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional hypersensitivities

Oh, and see, wiggling/shifting and normal (reasonably quiet) fidgeting isn't a thing at all for me. I can totally tune it out as background noise. It's very definitely certain types of noise that get to me.

His last school had no walls (or very few walls), so there were 100+ kids in one area with multiple classes basically separated by whiteboards or bookshelves. That didn't seem to bother him. He was spaced out, but he looked like he was daydreaming and not paying attention to anything going on around him. I asked him about his "issue" today and he said he's trying to deal with it but has more "steps"...no idea what that means!
He also said he discovered one kid was chewing starbursts and not gum so then it became more tolerable. I don't get it.

I am with HK, I find it much eaiser to cope by adding masking noises than by wearing earphones or ear plugs. I can cope with multiple people chewing or drinking far more easily than just one person near me doing so, which I think is because there is less other ambient noise to cover it up but also because there is absolutely no masking of what the sound IS, the sound is in complete focus. Also, it's much worse if I am trying to focus elsewhere. Someone chewing near me while I am working will lead to complete meltdown on a bad day.

blackcat - is it definitely the noise, or the potential noise, or is it the texture he's thinking of - can he not bear certain textures orally? He might be transferring this to horror of others being able to - and enjoying it. Just asking as it seems he is ok with the chewing if it's not gum? Starbursts might have a different texture, so may not freak him so much? If it is a texture thing then OT can definitely help for desensitizing.
Does he hate loud noises? Just trying to work out why only gum - maybe it's more that he's afraid someone may blow a bubble and he gets a fright when they pop?

If it's noise, maybe a listening program of some kind? Tomatis, The Listening Program, etc. This definitely helped us!

Sensory kids can have both hyper and hypo sensitivities, for e.g. DS8 is hypo to visual input, it takes a lot to full up his "visual stimulation" bucket, but auditory and touch? those buckets are the size of thimbles!

I'm totally with your DS on this. I find gum unbearably gross, and anything that makes me aware of it is a problem, whether it's the noise, the sight, or whatever.

The source of this aversion is heterogeneous. It's having seen (and creepily, accidentally touched) old gum stuck under school desks and movie seats. It's the chewed shape that gum takes on, when it's spit out or when it's visible in someone's mouth. It's the sound. It's the absent-minded way that people use it as a way to fidget, but with their mouths. It's the fact that it keeps being in their mouth, all spit-covered and being rolled around. It's the fact that the way it's going to leave the person's mouth eventually is by being spit out. It's the way a person will tuck their gum between their teeth on one side while they're talking to you, so you see it bobbing in and out of view.

So anything that makes me aware that someone is chewing gum triggers this whole sensory complex of awareness-of-gum-chewing. Maybe your DS has something similar going on?

Ok, it sounds like it's not as abnormal as it seems, since people seem to understand where he is coming from. I can too, to a certain extent. If I'm trying to read something complicated and Dh is sitting next to me making loud chewing noises, it's really annoying. However, DS seems a bit over the top. I've seen him actually pry DD's mouth open and inspect inside, like the "gum police" to make sure that what she was chewing was not gum.

We did a trial of meds (ritalin) the first few weeks of school and apparently he was having problems with gagging at lunch or saying he was going to throw up and wanting to go to the nurse all the time, which we haven't seen at home. I'm thinking it's a side effect of the meds, or it could be annoyance at the "chewing" going on at the table. We stopped his meds over a week ago and DS says he's not having that issue anymore. The complaining about gum (at school) didn't happen til after we stopped the trial of meds. So maybe when he is not medicated he is over-distracted by certain sounds/images. I think we're going to have to put him on meds again (but try a lower dose), so it should be interesting to see if the gum issue goes away. HIs IEP manager emailed me a long list of abnormal behavior that he's been having since we took him off, that didn't exist before: running down hallways, excessive silliness, lack of focus, perseverating (whatever that is), sticking his tongue out while writing (overflow), etc. etc. etc. Ugh.