Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Dealing with Sensory Issues

My 2 year and 9 month old has recently developed sensory issues. He runs anytime there is a loud noise. Freaks out crying if he sees any display of negative expression, even seeing a sad face emoticon makes him run down the hall crying saying "I don't like that". This is making it hard for him to watch tv or read books with me. He frequently jumps up at the site of anything that might indicate someone is unhappy. He also has an issue with tags in his shirt now. I have had to go around cutting all of his tags out. Is this going to be a permanent thing due to him being gifted?

Maybe... maybe not. I'm curious to see how others weigh in on this.

My DS8 has outgrown some of his. He had aversion issues with sound like your son, but this has faded. His are mostly tactile seeking, vestibular and proprioceptive. He's still very active (driven, driven!!) but not nearly as likely to seek tactile feedback as he used to be.

His sensitivities now are mostly emotional (just like my DD9).

Actually, I just thought of one: his scalp is SO SENSITIVE. Brushing his hair is an ORDEAL. He's also THE most ticklish person on the planet (actually so am I - I can't be tickled without panicking and becoming defensively aggressive). Neither one of us have ever had an issue with clothing tags.

It's interesting because I'm also gifted and also have sensory issues... hmmm... I don't recall being a seeker, other than light. I neeeeeed light I can't think straight if there's too much sound, and I have HUGE troubles with vestibular (can't stand heights, even something as simple as being on a horse, i.e. my feet off the ground, makes me queasy and panicky). If I ride an elevator to a high floor (20, 30), I can't step out of it onto the floor hallway without feeling like I'm going to fall down. It's as if my brain perceives the slightest shift in the floor levelness. I've never met anyone else who experiences this. Recently we were at a hotel that had wrap around balconies on the outside and the kids and I were on the balcony for the 9th floor - it was awful, lol. I felt like I was going to somehow fall off if I wasn't pressed up against the wall, as far from the railing as I could get. There's lots more... but anyway... you get the idea.

My son, meanwhile, can't pass the intro level of gymnastics (repeated many times) because he can't be upside down on the rings. WON'T do it. He's also having trouble passing his first level of swimming because he can't complete the skills required that involve his face in the water. "Can't" is a strong word... but... he just can't. Not yet.

All three of us (DS8, DD9 and myself) are really prone to car sickness. A friend of mine has a gifted son (17) who is the same. She said out of the blue one day "I bet that's a gifted thing. Gifted people get car sick."

Warning - a bit of humor about to happen, not intended to make fun CCN, but I can't resist Anyway, here goes: I used to have a beagle that got car sick. We couldn't take her anywhere in the car. She was a smart beagle but I'm fairly certain she wasn't gifted

I just stuck that in there for a reason - my EG ds gets car sick easily. My not-quite-as-high IQ kids can ride through anything, in anything, drop from any height roller coaster whatever and not get sick. I doubt *any* of it is related to level of giftedness - I suspect people who aren't gifted get carsick in equal proportions. Same with sensory issues - they do show up in gifted kids, but they also show up in non-gifted kids.

All of which is not relevant to this post, except to say that whether or not a child is gifted, when you're looking at things like sensory issues you need to focus on the issue, not assume that it's a gifted quirk and will never change/outgrow/whatever.

Sensory issues are a bit tricky because sensory dysfunction can exist all on it's own or it can be a symptom of other things. My dd10 is an extremely sensory child and when she was little with an undiagnosed vision challenge her sensory challenges were huge. OT was a *huge* help in lessening the impact of it, and it did get better (significantly) as she became older.

DS12 (EG) has some sensory issues but they are related to Developmental Coordination Disorder. They aren't as out-there-obvious as our dds were, but they have been longer lasting and I suspect some of them will be with him his entire life - but, he's also getting rather adept at coming up with his own workarounds for them as he grows.

I'm also a lot like CCN describes - I need light, can't think straight in the midst of twoo much sound, and can't stand heights. I have never thought of myself having sensory issues, but I have wondered if I didn't have DCD (like my ds) once he was diagnosed and I learned a bit about it.

Sooo.... fwiw, I wouldn't worry that it will be a life-long challenge at this point, but if my ds was still very young as yours is, I would take him for an OT/sensory eval. It really did make a huge difference for our dd, and most of the "work" is really fun for young kids.

Best wishes,

polarbear

ps - the other thing I meant to include was, sometimes 2 year olds (and 3 year olds and 4 year olds) do just go through phases of things like this - so it might be that's all this is.

LOL

Easy rule: if clothes tags and sock seams become a daily battle (or you can't wait until summer when you don't have to deal with socks or even shoes), it's time for an OT eval. I see it all the time with kids in my practice. Most parents are blown away with how common the "this tag is KILLING me" or "my socks hurt!" really is.

I dunno.... the more I think about it... my sweet beagle *was* smart - what if she *was* PG and I never recognized it? Would she have learned to come quicker if I'd taken her to a highly gifted magnet training school instead of just trying to reward her with little tiny hot dog treats while we pranced around the ring at the average-every-day-ordinary dog school? Should I have home-schooled her instead? Was I insensitive to her car sickness and possibly other sensory needs? Oh oh oh oh.... the parental guilt... it just never ends!

*TOTALLY KIDDING HERE* lol!

polarbear

Hmmm... You know, you may be on to something. My dog has sound sensory issues... he's terrified of wind and thunder... and he's pretty darn smart

Hey, we could start a HG magnet school for sensory dogs!! heh heh

My 14 year old son had the problems with tags and socks. He always had a lot of empathy and could sense anxiety and sadness in other people. He would try to make them feel better by making them laugh. He had trouble with certain sounds like buzzing insects, the sound of a fork scraping against a plate, jangling keys, etc. He was afraid of heights, was afraid to walk up stairs without holding on to something. We were told that he had vestibular and proprioceptive issues.

As he got older he got better at hiding his sensory issues. I think it was probably in cub scouts that he learned it wasn't manly to show any sign of sensory issues so he kept his fears and anxiety about certain things a secret. Even though he was afraid of heights he climbed the climbing wall and he encountered a lot of insects at the overnight camps. He slept (well he didn't actually sleep) in a tent listening to howling coyotes. He pushed himself to do things he was uncomfortable with when he was around other boys. Musical theater helped him also. He learned to "act" like he wasn't bothered by anything and he learned the show must go on no matter how he felt.

He only got six weeks of OT for his sensory issues because our insurance wouldn't pay for it and he still outgrew some of his issues.

He outgrew his issues well enough that he is now able to endure 14 hours of pain every day in a scoliosis brace. I don't think clothing tags bother him any more.

I hadn't seen anyone mention Dabrowski's Overexcitabilities as one place to get a certain context on it and some other effects.

http://www.stephanietolan.com/dabrowskis.htm

DS6.5 randomly has tag issues, and the sight of anyone crying on tv or otherwise will get him (however, he seems to be working through it, and now plays for some secondary sympathy when he internally may have had a choice on how to respond.) Tickling same thing. Also very robust awareness of cooking smells (herbs, spices, etc.) as a novelty seeker this works out in some fun complex dinners.

Thanks for all of your responses and bringing some humor to this issue. I am just taking everything one day at a time with Isaiah. It is a roller coaster ride: exciting and scary.

Him reading and spelling at, not even 3, is exciting. His 30 minute dramatic temper tantrums over the smallest things are a headache. His sensory issues are concerning.

I love my little boy and am in for the long ride of trying to understand whats going on. I did read Dabrowski's overexcitabilities and he fits most of those. I actually do too. The more I read it seems like I am gifted also. I guess I'll have to get myself tested someday. My son is getting his neuropsych next month. I have learned so much about myself from parenting a gifted child.