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Ask an Autistic - What is Sensory Processing Disorder?

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    Hi everyone, I'm Amythest, and welcome to
    ask an Autistic.
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    (Upbeat music)
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    Today I'm going to be talking about
    Sensory Processing Disorder.
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    Sensory Processing Disorder is a
    neurological condition in which the brain
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    does not interpret sensory input from the
    environment correctly.
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    A person with Sensory Processing Disorder
    may be over or under sensitive to input
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    from their environment, such as lights,
    colors, noises, music, people talking,
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    smells, textures, and tastes.
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    Every autistic person will have some kind
    of Sensory Integration Issues.
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    This is just part of our neurotype
    and part of what makes us autistic.
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    But, Sensory Processing Disorder, as a
    neurological diagnosis can exist
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    on its own, in non-autistic children.
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    Sensory Processing Disorder really can
    affect and encompass all of the senses.
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    Now, human beings actually have more than
    five senses, we have something like
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    eighteen to twenty-two, depending on who
    you ask.
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    But, I think that there are the seven
    basic senses that are important
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    to know about to understand
    Sensory Processing Disorder.
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    So you have the basic five, which I think
    everybody has heard of.
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    That's taste, touch, smell, sight, sound.
    Yeah, I think I got that right.
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    And then there are two senses that most
    people haven't heard of.
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    And that is the Proprioception Sense and
    the Vestibular Sense.
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    Proprioceptive Sense is the sense of
    where your body is in space.
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    It allows for you to know where your limbs
    are, how much force you're
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    exerting on things.
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    And also, where you are spatially in your
    environment, and how to interact
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    with objects in your environment.
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    The Vestibular Sense is the sense that is
    all about motion and movement.
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    It is a sense that tells you if you are
    in motion or standing still.
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    If you are up or down, swinging, spinning,
    upside down,
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    all of that is informed by the
    Vestibular Sense.
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    So, as I'm sure you can imagine,
    when a person is under or over sensitive
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    to any of the sensory input they may
    receive from their environment,
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    their experience is going to be a lot
    different than a typical person's.
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    And their life is going to be very
    different because of the things they
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    have to deal with.
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    For example, a child who is undersensitive
    to proprioceptive input may have trouble
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    knowing where his body is in space,
    he may have trouble knowing how much
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    pressure to exert on things.
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    So he may either be too gentle, and be
    consistently dropping small objects.
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    Or, he may be too rough in play, and be
    constantly seeking out really rough
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    activities to give him a lot of deep
    pressure input on his joints.
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    Like wrestling, jumping around,
    jumping on a trampoline.
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    A person with sensory integration issues
    who is very sensitive to noise may have
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    a lot of trouble with auditory processing
    issues when they're in a space where there
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    is background music or a lot of people
    talking, like in a restaurant.
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    So while they can hear the person who is
    sitting across from them and speaking,
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    they may not be able to interpret what the
    person is saying.
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    They know they're speaking, their brain
    just can't filter out all of the auditory
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    information.
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    So like I said, sensory processing issues
    can encompass and incorporate all of the
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    senses.
    And everybody who has sensory integration
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    issues, autistic or non-autistic will have
    their own set of triggers,
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    negative sensory input that causes them
    discomfort or pain.
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    And many people who have
    sensory integration issues, will have
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    some sensory input that they actively seek
    out and they crave, often because they are
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    undersensitive to it.
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    So, an autistic person who seeks out
    Vestibular input because they are
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    under-sensitive to vestibular input
    may really enjoy activities like
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    swinging on a swing, or spinning on a
    tire swing, or on a computer chair.
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    Something that comes up a lot, and I get
    questions about this a lot, comes down to
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    Sensory Defensiveness and food.
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    Many autistic people have a very limited
    diet. And this is both due to
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    their routine and resistant to change,
    but also to sensory defensiveness.
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    Sadly, children who are struggling with
    sensory integration issues may have their
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    sensory defensiveness toward a certain
    texture or taste of food, interpreted
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    by their parents as just picky eating or
    even outward defiance.
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    This isn't the case. When you have sensory
    integration issues,
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    you know that you're different, and you
    wish you weren't.
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    Sensory integration issues and
    Sensory Processing Disorder can cause
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    a lot of grief in our daily life, because
    this world isn't really built for us.
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    It is so loud, and so fast, and so bright,
    and all the clothes are too tight,
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    and everything's too itchy and it can be
    exhausting just trying to get some sleep
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    at night with all these sounds all around.
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    Sensory integration issues can be
    really hard to deal with, and it's
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    important to remember if you're having
    a showdown with your kid over dinner,
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    they're not trying to be defiant to you,
    they're not just being a picky eater
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    if they have sensory processing issues.
Title:
Ask an Autistic - What is Sensory Processing Disorder?
Description:

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Video Language:
English
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Duration:
10:35

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