Is Your Child Experiencing Sensory Aversion or Are They Sensory Seeking?


All of us have a sensory system and all of us prefer certain sensory stimuli over others. In this blog post I will be sharing about sensory aversion and sensory seeking behaviors to help you identify what category your child might be in.

What is Sensory Aversion?

Sensory Aversion is when your child strongly dislikes certain sensory experiences which can occur in food, toileting, touch, clothing, water, noise, lights, movement and the list goes on.

What are some examples of Sensory Aversion?

Depending on the aversion, you will notice that your child isn’t able to do certain things because the brain is not able to process all of the stimuli coming in and your child then presents with an aversion to the stimuli. Signs of sensory aversion include a dislike of textures such as those found in fabrics, foods, having their hair combed or brushed, and even baths and showers to which most people would not react, however, these kiddos struggle with even basic tasks. My son had a strong aversion to different textures in food due to low muscle tone in his mouth resulting in oral motor challenges.

What is Sensory Seeking?

Sensory Seeking or Sensory Craving is when your child is under-sensitive to input and they actually seek out sensory stimuli.

Here are some examples of Sensory Seeking Behaviors

Some examples of a child seeking out sensory stimuli includes standing too close to someone and not understanding personal space, have an unusual tolerance to pain, enjoy crashing into people and things, loves “rough”play on the playground, touch everything, especially in stores, chew on shirt collars, sleeves and everything.

What You Can Do To Help Your Child

After working with an Occupational Therapist, we were able to know which things were going to calm my son down or help him work towards ﻿balance with the things he had an aversion to. We followed a Sensory Diet and incorporated that into his day and it truly helped him.

Is Your Child a Picky Eater?

If you answered YES to that question then, I’d love to chat about food aversion. This was a big thing for my son so eating was quite a challenge. We found out that he had low muscle tone in his mouth resulting in food aversion. After successfully helping my son accept new foods into his diet, I knew there had to be other parents who were struggling with the same thing so that’s when I decided to create an at home program for you to follow that would help your child accept new foods into their diet without panic or stress.

Join My 3 Day Series

I’d love to have you in my upcoming 3 Day Series - How to Get Your Child to Try New Foods. It’s happening May 7th -May 9th. I will give you the tools you need to help your child accept new foods into their diet with proven techniques. You can sign up here :

I know how hard it is when you have a child who is struggling with sensory challenges because I lived in. With over 20 years experience, I am your go to person. I can’t wait to meet you in this upcoming series.

Until next time,

