sensory issues with non ASD child

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Ok, so I figure what better place to get info on sensory. My 3yo doesnt have ASD, but has a sensory issue or two. First of all, since she is a baby she has had issues with eating. Not so much with food, but eating. She wants food, will ask for something, and then when you give it to her, she will have a fit, scream cry, hit her legs, etc...I have learned over the years, that if I just let the fit play itself out, she will most likely eat the food. It seems to me the LOOK of the food can casue a meltdown. I just dont get why? And she is extremely verbal, will say, too hot, to cold, to much sauce, I cant taset the butter, etc...she has numbers of reasons why the food either looks or tastes bad, but after her fit she will eat that same food.

This has been since she is a year old. Not a new behavior, just seems worse casue she is 3, and bigger fit, louder screams and even will hit her legs in anger. And then, like nothing, will eat that same food. It is very bizarre to watch. I have never seen another child do such a thing. My son has fits over food and wont eat it. SHe has fits ove food she loves, and then eats it.

Next issues, clothing. She cant stand tags, tight fitteing clothing, jeans, dresses, seams on socks must be right, shoe issues, etc....Let me say that she has dermatographia, where she breakes out in hives welts or rashes over ANY skin contact. Her sleeves laying on her wrists can casue hives, so I can understand more this issues, as she has a physical reason behind it. Her skin reacts to the slightest of touch, and any rubbing of material casues pain, itching, swelling. So, I make accomidations for her, get comfy clothing, always loose fitting, cut tags, etc...I get it, jeans are rough and can cause hives and itching, so we just aviod them.

SOOO...waht do I do? The food thing I just try to ignore the screaming, and eventually she wlll eat, but it can take a half hour, and she does it when we are out even. It is upsetting to watch.

So far she has no ASD traits, she gets social cues that my 6yo with Aspergers doesnt, she loves to be around kids her age, and will go off and ask kids to play with her, and wil join in their games (doesnt have to be in control of the play as her bro does) and pick up cues with ease. She understands facial expressions and gets body language, and is very expressive with both herself. She is more reasonable then my 6yo, she understands if she wants something and we say she has to wait, there is no fit or tantrum (unlike my 6yo) she is a MUCH easier kid, (not that she is easy, she is 3, just easier the my older child ever was). She has no motor issues, can feed with utensils for years, my son at 6 struggles with this. She can catch a ball better then him, balance and coordination is fine, holds a pencil great and crosses midline, all issues that my son stilll struggles with. She plays with all toys, never obsesses of fixates on anything, just plays imaginative and has fun. She just seems typically deeloping to me, dramatically diffferent developmental path then my son took. This is one issue that seems off, when everything else seems fine. While my son was pretty much off in all areas of development.

Our one issue with her is this sensory food thing, and the clothing which has a physical reason. I can deal with the clothing, just at a loss with the food.

Anyone ever deal with a food issue like this? Where just LOOKING at food, and food she nomally loves and eats all up, she looks at it and has a physical reaction before she can eat it. Not every meal, not every time, but defenitley daily. And for years, since the beginning of her eating, always some reaction. Some people say its casue she is 3, but she has been doing this since she is 1, and it sint a new 3yo behavior. It is an old behavior, and odd behavior. People tell me its casue she is a girl. Well, what the heck does that have anything to do with it? I have plenty of nieces and freinds with girls the same age, I dont know a single one that looks at food, had a half hour fit, and then happily eats the food.

any ideas?

thanks!

My understanding of sensory issues is that the key to them is habituation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habituation or very, very, very slow exposure. With food, any exposure counts: pictures, smells, etc. For NT kids without sensory issues, it can take up to 20 exposures until they accept a new food - so you can imagine how many exposures its going to take before your daughter does.

I think DS had a sensory food issue, but since food is my special interest, I had done a lot of reading on it and studying and we were prepared. I just kept at it and kept at it, and backed off when it seemed like backing off was appropriate. I also realized that every time he lost a tooth we had to start over from scratch because his whole mouth felt "different."

One key that you may be running into now - if sensory needs around food aren't respected, kids develop trust issues and "guarding" behavior. This is more difficult to address than the initial sensory issues. Offering understanding and giving her some sense of control will help prevent this behavior. For instance, make sure that there is always a "safe" food on her plate. Be honest - explain that she isn't going to like everything she puts in her mouth, but that tastes do change and eventually she might learn to accept it. Give her an out - teach her to politely spit out food that's unacceptable, or to wash it down with a lot of liquid if that works for her. She's probably hungry enough to overcome her reaction and eat it (it may also be that she's reacting to the smell of the food - a lot of kids with sensory issues have a strong reaction to smells, and it would explain the meltdown before eating, and her ability to calm down and eat it after a few minutes - smells habituate quickly.)

Sensory issues are very real for the people that have them: I also will break out in a rash if there is a zipper touching my skin, no matter what material the zipper is made of - I can't wear zip-front sweaters at all. Some things I do eventually habituate to, but I can't control the physical reaction (I will eventually get weeping sores if I ignore the rash.) I am well aware that it's psychosomatic and not a "real" allergy, but that doesn't mean I can control it. Things that don't cause a rash, I sometimes can learn to tolerate - but I generally cut the tags out of everything and wear clothes made of cotton jersey. Same with DS; we finally broke down and bought 10 different kinds of socks until we found a brand he could tolerate.

Good luck!

PS. I used a modified version of these techniques when learning to feed my son: http://www.ellynsatter.com/how-to-feed-i-24.html
http://itsnotaboutnutrition.squarespace ... icky-eater

thanks for the reply. The foods that sets her off are foods that she asks for and LOVES. It is more the appearance of the food. if there is a hole in the cheese, if there is a line in the cookie, a break in the bread, the noodles dont cover the whole plate. That can set of a 30 minute fit. When she is done fitting, she happily eats the same food she just threw a fit about.

it can also be about the taste of the food or if she doesnt taste butter, I end up putting almost a whoe stick of butter in her noodels so it tastes buttery in every single bie!

But like I said, she will happily eat it after she throws the fit.

I am not talking about introducing new foods she dosent know or like, I am talking about her throwing a massive fit over food she wants, likes and eats on a daily basis. Not every meal, but every day. So we might be OK for breakfast, but lunch she might have her food fit, and then after the fit is done, she will eat that same fod she just lost it over.

It is baffling!

She was diagnosed by her allergist with dermatographia, it is a real thing not in her mind. She gets hives over cold, hot weather, seat belt, when she scratches her own skin she gets red puffy welts, she gets hives from nothing apparent or anything that touches her skin. Sitting on the toliet casues hives on her butt, summer is hard casue she is in shorts and sits on the rug, welts on her legs from that, etc...

thanks for the link I will look into it

Have you checked into OCD? DS has a lot of difficulty with visual things (not with food) and we found that, although he doesn't have OCD in the traditional sense, the book "What to do when your brain gets stuck" helped us have some language to get him past some of the issues he had with lines on the floor, etc.

BTW, I wasn't implying that her issues weren't real: mine are real, too. I just read up on dermatographia, and it sounds like what I experience; I noted that the causes for it are unknown. It makes sense to me, as someone on the spectrum and with other sensory sensitivities, that it would be linked to the brain - which, as I pointed out, makes it no less real.

I will look into that book. It does appear that her brain gets stuck, then she gets VERY upset, and then over it as if nothing happened and eats the food.

The dermatogrphia had me puzzled. I had no idea when she would get random hives and then it seemed no pattern, not reason, but the allergist did a simple test, he made a tic-tac-toe shape on her belly with the flat end of a medical Qtip, and then he talked to me for 5 minutes, when we lifted her shirt, the shape he made was red and raised...she had her diagnosis. it all made sence to me, why she cried and said OUCH OUCH when she would wear certain clothing. here I was forcing her to wear those things, saying to myself get over it...and meanwhile she had literal discomfort with those things. I felt terrible!! !

thanks for the ideas, I will for sure look into the book!

Have you tried having her help, for instance being the one to get the bread out of the bag or spoon things onto her plate? Maybe giving her some sense of control over how the food looks?

We have similar issues with food visuals (in addition to many other sensory issues.)

The bread has to be a perfect shape, not have holes or have distortions. There cannot be any brown spots on the banana. He only wants the yogurt with the oval opening, not the circles.... Cups have to have the usual sloped sides, not rounded. Until this last year all cookies had to be round. Pizza, slices, pie and cake slices have to be perfect shapes, etc.

Over time he has had improvements in this, probably due to some kind of habituation, as sometimes there aren't options (all the bread slices are imperfect, for example) and he has had to choose whether to pick another food or put up with the imperfection. He still protests, but he increasingly will choose to put up with it, and the meltdowns have mostly reduced to whining and, griping. It has taken us a long time, but ymmv. I do agree that it is OCD-like, and have also started adapting the "brain getting stuck" book, for the situations where it fits our deal.

As far as the skin issues, I know you are seeing an allergist, so they probably have already looked into this, but it occurred to me that maybe fabric dyes might also be exacerbating her issues. I would maybe try to find something (start with something cheap, and more readily accessible, like undies) and see if you can find some cotton items that are undyed and not treated with chemicals. (pref. with no tags, and kind of loose) to try out, to see if there is any improvement. Don't add anything on top for the test. Just have her run around at home in it for awhile as a test.

Our son doesn't really "like" clothes. He has no "extreme" reactions; but he is clearly more comfortable and relaxed in tagless, cotton tighty-whitey's that are kind of loose.

Last edited by ASDMommyASDKid on 25 Jun 2012, 6:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

I have a 12 years-old with Aspergers and food issues. The last time she threw a tantrum because she did not want to eat the food she was served she was 1 year-old. It has nothing to do with being a girl. I havent faced the food issues you do. But one two things I can tell you:
1) Dont rule out Aspergers just because she does not fit the complete list of characteristics. My own daughter was diagnosed and she has never had a meltdown like those I have heard people with AS use to have. And she had sensory issues with earing (not anymore, except extremely loud noises), and food, and even though she just complained when she was able to talk. I am not an expert, but the behavior you describe looks pretty autistic to me. I have read about people with AS with no social issues. Apparently it is not mandatory.
2) Her behavior needs to stop. And now is the time. If it has lasted for years, and ignoring the behavior has not worked, then it will not stop alone. Why it needs to stop? Because in 2 years she will start school, and she will have to eat there,do you imagine what will happen if this happens at school? It will be extremely hard for your kid. I would recommend you take her to a therapist specialized in behavior modification working with people with autism. They could give you guidelines on what to do and how to deal with this issue. We had a big problem with our daughter that lasted several years. The therapist solved the issue in 6 months with behavior modification therapy. It works wonders. I am a believer.
Good luck!

The food issue you mention (such as noodles MUST cover the whole plate) sound like rigidity issues associated with ASD's to me. It doesn't seem like anything sensory-related. If it was sensory related it would be more along the lines of not being able to tolerate certain textures.

With the clothing, quite franky, just don't expect her to wear the clothese that do not feel comfortable. It's just not possible. It's a very real physical discomfort and it's not really something you can get used to.

I have a few issues like that myself...socks, for example. I have to wear socks with the seams on top of the toes, not on the end. I cannot stand the way this feels. My mom bought me a bunch of socks with the seams on the end when I was a kid and I used to wear them loose then fold the toe part over the top of my foot, that's how bad it was. Recently I unknowingly bought a few pairs of socks like that. I wore them a few times and just ended up throwing them out. No point in torturing myself unnecessarily.

If she doesn't like tags just remove them. I am usually ok with this but if there is a tag that is making me uncomfortalbe I cut it out.

I can't stand tight fitting jeans and I miss the 90's when loose jeans were "cool". I am not going to force myself to wear the tight jeans just because that's the style that's popular. I see no reason to torture myself in this way.

Maybe its more OCD based then?

So far no other concerns not just social, emotional, she has no fixations, no special interests, she unserstands cues and body language, has reciprocal conversations, can change subject, can follow others lead, has no motor issues, no communication issues, no transition issues, no anxiety, no need to control, etc.... the only box that can get checked is this one. As far as I know, one issue alone doesnt qualify ASD. But I will keep a watchful eye for anythng else! She is a typical 3yo, not that she is an angelic child by any means, but all her things are age appropriate EXCEPT this one. I have never experienced this before. And it has evolved since she is younger.

Also, her development is completely different then my sons. My son did evertying his own way, he developed it all, just different then typical kids. My DD developed typically. It is amazing to compare the 2 kiddos, she has skills at 3 that my 6yo cant grasp, like body language, social cues, and getting along with peers, yet my son was light years academically ahead of her at this age, but her academis are typical for a 3yo. My son was always knew stuff academically years ahead of what he should have known. Pretty much casue he fixated on learning toys, my DD has no fixations.

Anyhow, we do have an ABA therapist coming to the house and I will ask him to help us plan something to address DDs food fits, as I call them!

thanks all, I now see it in a different light. It is more OCD in nature. Wonder why she is OCD with food only? And she LOVES food, LOVES to eat...which is what makes it even more bizarre! SOmetimes when she is having a fit and crying about food, when she eats her hands shake, maybe a blood sugar imbalance? I dunno....

Just a thought: Maybe she is perfectionist about it ironically, because she does love to eat. That might be more a reason for her to want it to be perfect. My son is that way about things that are uber important to him. He has a limited palate, but the foods he loves, he really loves. In Kinder they had a journal thing where he was supposed to write about his favorite thing he did over break. We took him to an amusement park, and did a few other cool things with him, and he wrote something about eating bananas. He had so many journal entries about food, you would think he never ate, or something. That obviously was not the case; he just loves it so. He is perfectionist about special interests, too.

Sounds like it. ASD's are primarily communications disorders.

My daughter has the same issue with bananas: cannot have brown spots.

What makes you so certain she doesn't have ASD? She's only 3. Has she been assessed?

I know nowadays we parents want to please our little ones. Sometimes too much, to the point of hurting them without wanting to. I know for experience they cry, they scream, they don't want to eat, but we cannot always do as they please. In my house eating time was a nightmare for about 4 years. Between the refusing to stay in her seat to the not wanting to eat what she was served, it was a three-times a day fight. My daughter ate while I was holding the remote control. Thank God she loved TV. If she did not eat or did not stay in her seat, TV went off. That was the only way. Until she learned to stay in her seat and we got to terms about food. She does not like to eat fruits or veggies. But she has to. We came to some sort of agreement: she has a list of fruits she likes, and a list of veggies she likes. And she eats that. Now, 12 years later, from time to time she even agrees to try something new to see if we can add it to the list (which almost never happens). And she cannot eat what she wants whenever she wants to. I do not like to tell others what to do, but I think you are doing wrong by allowing your kid to eat bad just because she wants to. I know it is easier, but it will hurt her in the long term. She will grow up with bad eating habits, and then she will have to pay the price. My husband and I do not eat butter. My daughter does. One stick of butter will last about 11 days in my house. 1 stick of butter per meal, even per day, is way too much. Ask any cardiologist.

She has not been assessed. She is completely dev appropriate at her age, no other issues.
My son HAS ASD, always has, just diagnosed last year. He ALWAYS had global issues we knew about them at a very young age, we just didnt know it was ASD, he was getting services as a toddler, pre schooler and still does today.

DD is complete opposite of him. Also, I looked into the criteria for ASD, all the checklists, she has NONE of them, MAYBE one for the food issues. But one issues doesnt make ASD. She has no language issues, no social issues, no respetative behaviors or restricted interests, no obsessive interests, no transition issues, no other sensory issues (if this isnt sensory then no sensory issues), So, I am not sure why I would think one problem behavior would mean ASD. if she had ASD so be it, I would sign her up today for any and every service she could get. As I did for my son.

I also listed several things in my other posts in this therad if you want to go over it why I feel it isnt ASD, but I can list it here too. She plays with toys perfect, imaginate appropriate play, includes peers in her play, plays cooperative games with kids. She understands body language and social cues, can have a recriprocal conversation, can join in to play with peers with no issues, can follow a kids play with no probs, as well as initiate play in her own, etc...

I am glad that I got soome ideas here, I figured I would get great perspectives on this site! Another PP metioned OCD, it could be that , or it could be me trying to pacify her has tought her this behavior, I am open to anything. I am even open to ASD and have therapists in my life and my fmailys life, they all know DD and none think she has anything, even if I ask about it. I have read tons and tons of material on ASD, have done checklists specifically for DD, and NONE come back that we need to look further into it, or any hint of an issue with ASD. Hope that clears up why I dont think ASD.

I DO think it is an issues, not normal behavior for a 3yo, it only happens around food and it isnt every meal but it is every day. It has been since she is very young, as young a a year old, and has grown with her. It is not a new behavior, it is an odd behavior to me, though others who see it laugh and tell me their kids at that age did or do the same things. Mommy gut tells me there is something else going on. I am going to look into OCD as well as ask our ABA for insight to maybe modify this one behavior that we have issues with!

thanks all