Blake is an almost 6-year-old boy whose parents reached out to me for support around his mixed-threshold sensory behaviors that were affecting his social interactions at school and his participation at home. Blake was already working with various services and therapies, but his parents were looking for more information. They wanted to learn more about some of his behaviors, including:
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Extremely picky eating
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Sensitivity to smells and noises
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Hyperactivity (never stops moving)
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Lack of awareness of others’ personal space boundaries
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Likes to play rough and create big messes when he plays
One of Blake’s parents had a diagnosis of ADHD, and they were suspecting that both ADHD and sensory processing differences were playing a role in these areas, though they mention that he doesn’t seem to have difficulty focusing or keeping up in class.
His parents also shared that most of time, Blake can be found:
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Jumping on the trampoline
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Playing with water bins
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Playing with playdough
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Jumping and crashing with couch cushions
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Climbing/jumping/bumping into other people
My initial thoughts
Proprioceptive processing is one of the major themes that jumped out at me when I read about Blake in the intake notes. The combination of body awareness/personal space issues and a tendency to gravitate toward rough play makes me think that he has a high threshold for proprioceptive input.
Being a selective eater and having a sensitivity to certain textures, sounds and smells indicates a low sensory threshold for other senses. This mix of having both high and low thresholds for various sensations is actually quite common.
Right off the bat, I made the following notes to explore more with Blake’s parents:
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How does Blake’s sensory seeking behavior impact him around his friends?
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How do they meet Blake’s needs right now at home and at school?
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More about his feeding history: how many foods does he currently eat and why has feeding therapy been unsuccessful for them?
Coming up
In the next few weeks we’ll talk more about Blake’s insatiable appetite for heavy work. I’ll share some creative suggestions Blake’s parents and I talked about to integrate the movement Blake craves while also upholding personal space boundaries and not leaving a big mess behind. Toward the end of the sequence, we’ll talk about the power of self-advocacy and helping Blake understand his brain better, plus we’ll dive into supporting selective eaters in a neuro-affirming way.
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See you next week!
Disclaimer: These case studies are inspired by real-life clients I have worked with, with permission from their parents to share. Some aspects of the case are authentic, and other details are added to include more variability for our discussions. None of the strategies and advice here substitutes medical advice, diagnosis or intervention with an Occupational Therapist.
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