As any parent of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) knows, even the most mundane daily tasks, like getting your child dressed for school, can be challenging. To complicate matters further, 80% of children with ASD also experience Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). Daily meltdowns are particularly common for children with both autism and sensory issues, causing mental and physical exhaustion that reverberates throughout the family.
Despite the severity of these issues, conventional medicine tends to overlook them or merely mask them with medication, leaving kids and parents drowning in neurological issues they can’t navigate.
In this article, we’ll explore the complex neurological link between autism and sensory issues, why they occur, and, most importantly, how Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care offers renewed hope for families.
What are Sensory Processing Issues?
Sensory processing refers to how the nervous system receives input from the environment and body, organizes and interprets it, and generates an appropriate response. When the brain integrates sensory information properly, it filters out irrelevant input and prioritizes important information.
Sensory dysfunction indicates impaired processing that hinders an individual’s ability to respond appropriately to sensory input. Children with autism often exhibit inaccurate reactions to stimuli that most people filter out naturally. Their brains may either amplify the impact of input or fail to register its presence at all. This results in two types of sensory processing issues — hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity.
Understanding Hypersensitivity
Children with hypersensitive nervous systems experience more intense sensations of stimuli than most people. They may find sights, sounds, and scents unusually sharp and feel bombarded by abrasive sensory details.
Even everyday functions such as classroom noise, fluorescent bulbs, and clothing textures can provoke distress. Due to their inability to modulate heightened input, people with autism are more prone to meltdowns and shutdowns and struggle to avoid overload in stores, stadiums, and other crowded places.
Understanding Hyposensitivity
Individuals with hyposensitive autism have high sensory thresholds that are rarely exceeded. They often crave more detailed sensory information and may mouth or smell objects to experience sensory nuances others may not notice.
Due to being less sensitive to subtleties of temperature, injury, and proprioception, hyposensitive individuals risk harm by missing cues to adjust their behavior accordingly. They may appear detached yet constantly try to stimulate their senses, which are often starved of stimulation.
The Autism and Sensory Issue Link: Uncovering “The Perfect Storm” of Factors
While the new DSM-5 criteria acknowledge sensory reactivity as an autism trait, traditional support still overlooks these pervasive struggles.
It is widely known that many children with autism also face sensory input issues. However, what contributing factors lead to these challenges early in their development? The latest scientific research suggests other explanations beyond the commonly accepted “genetic predisposition” explanation in the medical field.
Research links Sensory Processing Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder susceptibility with complications during birth. Birth trauma can result in neural misalignments (subluxation), causing interferences within the delicate neural communication pathways. Interference from recurrent infections, gut imbalance, and overuse of antibiotics can further disrupt microbiome-brain connectivity.
At PX Docs, we refer to this cascade of environmental factors, “The Perfect Storm.” This framework encapsulates the interplay between:
- Maternal inflammation and stress during pregnancy can cause lasting changes in an unborn baby’s developing brain and nervous system if they are chronic. This is because high cortisol and inflammatory signals can cross the placenta.
- Interventions during birth, such as C-sections, vacuum or forceps extraction, or even intense pushing and positioning, can damage delicate cranial and upper cervical tissues that house sensory processing nerves, leading to impaired function.
- Misalignments or subluxations in the spine can pinch nerves and related blood vessels, leading to suboptimal nerve supply. This disruption is similar to kinking a garden hose, where vital messages flow less smoothly to and from the body and brain.
- Ear infections and heavy antibiotic use can damage the microbiome communities essential for immune and nervous system health, leading to inflammation and dysfunction.
As neuro-circuitry adeptness directly relates to proper sensory integration capacity, when spinal tension and inflammation disrupt nerve system communication, the consequences reverberate through every processing domain.
Signs of Autism and Sensory Issues
Hypersensitivities or over-responsiveness often emerge through:
- Auditory Sensitivity: Distressed by noises like loud music, vacuum cleaners, barking, clocks ticking. Seeks quiet settings.
- Visual Sensitivity: Bothered by bright sunlight, flickering fluorescents, screens, and chaotic visual patterns. Turns away or covers eyes frequently.
- Tactile Sensitivity: Avoids certain clothing types based on intolerable fabrics or tags. Dislikes messy play and resists tooth brushing or haircuts due to touch sensitivity.
- Olfactory Sensitivity: Strong odors like perfumes and cleaning products provoke reactions or avoidance. Fascinated by smelling items intensely.
- Oral Sensitivity: Picky eater rejecting foods of certain temperatures, textures, and spices. There is a need for extreme flavors and frequent mouth toys.
Those demonstrating hyposensitivity may:
- Seek deep pressure: Request tight hugs, wrap in heavy blankets, and crash into objects—low awareness of personal space.
- Crave intense movement: Constant running, jumping, spinning, rocking. Difficulty sitting still. Risk of self-injury.
- Display detached manner: Underreacts to temperature, injuries, and proprioception due to high sensory thresholds.
Proprioception is the most important sense for pediatric neurodevelopment and overall brain function among the senses.
Sensory Processing Disorder is often present in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, but it is a distinct condition. Unlike autism, which causes developmental delays, children with sensory issues may have age-appropriate abilities in some areas while struggling with sensory-based challenges in other areas.
Unfortunately, many parents are left confused, and children are left struggling because traditional pediatricians are often unable to provide answers or guidance regarding frequent meltdowns, sleep difficulties, picky eating, and other sensory issues.
Far-Reaching Impacts of Sensory Dysfunction
It’s important to note that children with autism may exhibit hypersensitivity in various ways, such as excessive crying, avoiding eye contact, and being easily startled. As they grow older, these symptoms may manifest as social withdrawal, difficulty in learning, and the need for mindfulness techniques. Families have reported that these sensory issues can vary from day to day.
Fortunately, we can pinpoint effective solutions to help manage these challenges by identifying individual profiles. However, it’s crucial to understand that the sensory overload experienced by autistic children can have long-lasting developmental effects. Therefore, finding effective solutions early on is essential to improve their quality of life and future trajectory.
Some of the long-lasting effects of autism and sensory issues, if unaddressed, include:
Learning and School Function
- Impaired concentration from overwhelming environmental stimuli
- Frequent school absences avoiding triggers
- Reduced capacity to process instruction amid sensory chaos
- Heightened stress fueling academic underperformance
Social Skills and Relationships
- Withdrawal from crowds
- Misreading facial expressions and body language cues
- Social stigma from “immature” sensory-seeking habits
Emotional Regulation and Behavior
- Public meltdowns and shutdowns from hypersensitivities
- Self-injury risks if hyposensitive without proper sensations
- Aggression towards parents/siblings when escalated
Speech, Language, and Motor Skills
- Delayed communication abilities from chronic overwhelm
- Poor pronunciation/articulation connecting oral sensitivities
- Imprecise gross/fine motor control lacking proper neurological feedback
Family Dynamics and Mental Health
- Twin tolls of sensory meltdowns and perpetual vigilance balancing stimuli
- Reduced social freedom always strategizing “safe” public spaces
- Strain navigating skepticism from extended family/friends
- Heavy financial burdens coordinating therapies and special needs care
Restoring Neurological Foundations
Without medications, accessing the neurological roots of challenging conditions, such as autism and sensory issues, is possible. Thermography and HRV assessment can measure nervous system dysregulation, which can be effective for restoration when paired with Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care.
Ultimately, autism and sensory issues do not have to determine a child’s future or negatively impact family dynamics daily. With appropriate neurological care, a child’s nervous system can regain flexibility and move forward in achieving developmental milestones, socializing, and focusing without distractions.
To help your child develop healthy nervous system function and neural communication, check out the PX Docs Directory to locate the nearest drug-free pediatric provider in your area.
