A sensory toy is one that is specially designed to stimulate one or more of the senses. Sensory toys may be more appealing to children on the spectrum because they can help the child remain calm and provide the sensory experience they want.
They bring us comfort, security and familiarity. For many kids on the spectrum, these items also fulfill a sense of routine and order we naturally crave and need. But I'm going to let you in on a secret.
Stuffed animals are great comfort objects
That's why they often turn to comfort objects that can provide security and some sensory regulation. Stuffed animals can fulfill this role particularly well as they can be held, cuddled, and even weighted to provide children with a sense of calm.
Play is often predominantly social; uses communication and requires imaginative ability. In autistic children there can be a tendency for play to be solitary and limited to exploring sensory aspects or lining toys up in a rigid manner for much longer than in typical development.
These interests are extremely common among people with autism: 75 to 95 percent have them. An interest may involve collecting items such as postcards or dolls, listening to or playing music in a repetitive way, or focusing intensely on a narrow topic, such as insects fighting.
Science fiction and fantasy are often of great interest to autistic people. Depending on their interest levels and abilities, people on the spectrum may learn every detail of a particular "universe," write their own stories, watch and rewatch movies, read comics, attend conventions, or even make their own costumes.
Individuals with autism can also have an aversion to touch. Touch can cause a lack of emotional response or may even cause emotional stress and turmoil.
People with autism may get easily attached to people, leading them to become over-friendly. It can be difficult to understand other people's perceptions of situations, therefore what they feel is appropriate, may be considered as socially unacceptable.
Children with ASD may not "play" with toys in the same manner as their peers and may become fixated on specific objects. Persons with ASD have a different reaction to sensory stimuli seeing, hearing, feeling, or tasting things with more or less intensity than others.
Why hoodies? Many autistic people experience sensory input like light, sound and touch more intensely, and wearing a hoodie with the hood up can help to block out uncomfortably loud sounds or bright light.
Summary. While many people with autism may appear to lack empathy and sympathy, it is not the case for all people with autism. For those who struggle with displaying appropriate empathetic responses, the reasons may relate more to social communication issues than a lack of underlying emotional response.
Many autistic people use stimming as a form of sensory seeking to keep their sensory systems in balance. Repetitive movements, sounds, or fidgeting can help people with autism stay calm, relieve stress or block out uncomfortable sensory input.
Touch is an important component of many social experiences for many people. Autistic children commonly avoid social touch more than non-autistic peers. It is generally thought that this is due to autistic individuals experiencing hyper- or hyposensitivity of touch.
Challenging behaviour in autistic children and teenagers
refuse or ignore requests. behave in socially inappropriate ways, like taking their clothes off in public. behave aggressively. hurt themselves or other children – for example, by head-banging or biting.
Based on the operationalisation of a previous study, we examined 'slower', 'average', and 'faster' agers (Belsky et al. 2017). More than twice as many people in the high autistic trait group (31.6%) were faster agers, compared to 13.3% of the low trait group (see Supplementary Material, Supplementary Figure 1).
Social-Emotional Reciprocity
On the other hand, some people with autism might overshare and might not know when to let the other person have a turn to talk. People with autism might also struggle to share what they are thinking or feeling with other people.
While many children with autism feel averse to hugging, some children with autism like to be hugged.
Some people with autism don't instinctively think to give kisses or hugs and tell you they love you, so their partner often has to be the one to initiate these things. As they learn, they'll get better at consciously deciding to do these things on their own.
Children with ASD often need a hug, just like other children. Sometimes they need this much more than other children. But some children don't like to be touched. Respect their personal space.
Having an extraordinarily good memory (being able to remember facts for a long period of time). Being precise and detail orientated. Exceptional honesty and reliability. Being dependable in regards to schedules and routines.
A child with ASD can be challenging—they may be restless; have trouble sleeping, eating or speaking; experience seizures; or have meltdowns born of frustration or overstimulation. Expectations for a “normal” life may need to be adjusted.
Although this can sometimes feel challenging, it is important to recognize three very simple factors that every person with ASD needs: safety, acceptance and a sense of competence.