Welcome back to Eadie’s story for Part 2. Click here if you missed Eadie’s introduction.
Eadie was described as a sensory seeker:
“At home, she is always moving -- sometimes invading other people's space and sometimes completely dysregulated to the point of driving herself to misery.”
That’s an interesting observation— she sometimes seeks so much input, it further dysregulates her, “to the point of her driving herself to misery”. I’ve never heard a parent describe it like that, and yet, I know exactly what she means.
One important point of clarification here, the term “sensory seeker” is broad. As you may know, we have eight sensory systems, and not every sensory seeker seeks out all 8 sensory systems. In fact, it’s actually quite common for some kids to seek out one or more sensory inputs and also avoid or be more sensitive to others. Eadie’s mom shared with me:
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She is constantly leaning her whole body onto others
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Always in other peoples’ space, both intentionally and unintentionally
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Loves to climb up the door frames
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She would swing all day if she were allowed to
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She’s constantly swaying side to side or bouncing up and down, sometimes she doesn’t even seem aware that she’s doing it
Based on this information, it might be more helpful and informational to say Eadie is a vestibular or proprioception seeker. A movement seeker could also do a better job as opposed to just saying “sensory seeker”.
