Is it Behavior or Sensory Problems? A 5 Week Series

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Have you ever wondered if your child's behavior is truly a behavior issue? Maybe there seems to be an underlying sensory issue going on? Many times it is hard to tell if behavior is truly a behavior or if your child is reacting to sensory problems in their body.

In this series on behavior and sensory processing, I hope to give you some ideas and answers on whether your child's behavior is truly sensory-related or not.

You can also get a free printable of this entire series, scroll down to the bottom of this post to get it!

Is it behavior? Or Sensory Processing?

A couple of months ago, I attended a continuing education class by Debra Dickson, RPT titled “Is it Sensory? Or is it Behavior?”. She gave us a lot of great information that I am going to be sharing with you over the next 5 weeks. She has also given permission for this information to be shared.

Also please note, that this series only looks at behavior as linked to sensory responses. There are definitely kids who have a behavior component as well as a sensory component to their responses and behaviors.

And kids will be kids. They are going to throw fits over not getting something they wanted or for seemingly no reason at all. That just comes with the territory. I am not a licensed behavior therapist.

If you feel your child's extreme behavior is truly a behavior and not only sensory-related, please get in contact with your physician and a behavior therapist. And the same goes for sensory if you feel your child has major sensory processing problems, again consult your physician and occupational therapist.

As I stress in this entire series, every child is different, and sensory is NOT a “fix-all” type of thing. But it can definitely help, so keep reading. 🙂

Is it Behavior? Or is it Sensory?

So is your child's behavior a behavior issue or sensory?

The short answer, you may not like is: YES…. and YES! I know you probably don't want to hear that answer, so let me explain it a little bit.

The definition of behavior is: “the way in which one acts or conducts oneself, especially toward others”; “the way in which an animal or person acts in response to a particular situation or stimulus.”

The definition of sensory is: “of or relating to sensation or the physical senses; transmitted or perceived by the senses.” 

Notice anything? If sensory is the sensation or physical senses and a definition of behavior is the way in which a person acts in response to a particular “stimulus” (or sensation), then YES, behaviors can happen because of sensory problems. Now does that mean that ALL behavior is sensory-related? Well, in a way, yes. Behaviors are actions based on the following things:

  • Current biochemical status – chemical reactions in the brain
  • Current neurological status – nerves and the nervous system
  • Hardwiring of the brain
  • Our perception is based on the situation – this could come from past experiences or how our brain is interpreting a situation.

The main thing to gather from this is that no two people have all the same biochemical, neurological, or hard wiring makeup. We also don't perceive situations the same! So what one person may be able to handle without “flipping out” someone else may not be able to.

A good example of this is motion sickness. Many people, my father included, become motion sick at the slightest unnatural movement or sensation in their bodies. So plane rides, boat rides, and car rides are not fun things for them. They need to take medicine to change the biochemical makeup of their brains to be able to make it through that experience without getting sick. But then there are others, myself included, who do not get sick when on a plane, or in the car, or on a boat. It all has to do with our brain makeup and wiring.

Sensory Processing Explained: A Handbook for Parents and Educators.

Children who are having sensory processing problems, their brains are wired much differently than the average person. Sensory information is hitting their little brains and they don't know how to process this information correctly.

It is often misinterpreted. This puts their body under a huge amount of stress. When your body is under stress, it puts you into a very primal response: fight or flight. Do you need to stand up and fight against this situation or do you need to run away from it? It is all about self-preservation.

An example of “fight” would be the mother who suddenly has super power strength in order to save a child from a dangerous situation. An example of flight would be realizing someone is following you and running for your life.

For a child who is not processing the incoming sensory information correctly, their body could be in a state of constant fight or flight mode.  When their body is telling them that this situation is not safe they either need to “fight” or “flight”. They are going to react to the behavior.

The problem for many children is that their bodies are in this constant state of fight or flight for unnatural reasons. Some of these could include:

  • Allergies (foods, molds, pollen)
  • Sleep
  • Nutrition
  • Environmental factors
  • Brain function

All of these play a factor in how a child is going to react to a situation. For many children, if you take a look at the 5 areas above and address these problem areas, often times a behavior will start to diminish.

But guess what?! Remember how we said, no two people are alike? That means no two treatment options are alike either. Each person comes with their own experience, hard wiring, brain function, and reaction to stimulus.

So that means each person or child needs to be looked at as an individual! Just because one treatment idea worked for one child, does not mean it works for ALL children.

This is why behavior plans in schools may work for some children, but not all. In order for a behavior plan to work, stress needs to be alleviated. For stress to be alleviated, you need to look at the 5 factors above. (allergies, sleep, nutrition, environmental factors, brain function).

Sensory Processing Explained: A Handbook for Parents and Educators.

In the next 5 weeks, we are going to look at some general guidelines and ideas for figuring out if your child's behavior is truly behavior or sensory-related. I want to stress that these ideas are not to be taken as medical advice. You need to seek the professional advice of your pediatrician or see a physical or occupational therapist who specializes in sensory integration therapy.

Please do not make ANY changes to your child's diet without first consulting a physician or nutritionist. This series is also to not be used as a way “diagnose your child.” The only way to find out if your child has a real sensory processing problem is to talk to your physician or Occupational Therapist. I want to also say that knowing your child's behavior is a result of a sensory processing problem does not mean they get a free pass and have no consequences!

What it does mean is that as a parent, you are looking for ways to alleviate the external or internal stressors that could be causing that behavior. I don't know many parents that like to be constantly correcting or giving out consequences for behaviors. The information in this series is not meant to give excuses, instead, it is meant to empower you as a parent to do all you can for your child and to figure out what is causing their behavior.

Here are the following topics we will be looking at:

Also, check out my follow-up post “Is it REALLY Sensory?

My friend Sharla and I wrote a brand new book all about sensory processing called Sensory Processing Explained: A Handbook for Parents and Educators.

Sensory Processing Explained: A Handbook for Parents and Educators.

We really wanted to create a go-to guide for parents as well as teachers, so you will find a section based on the home environment and another for the classroom. 

I also recommend the following books on sensory processing.

Sensory Processing 101Sensory Processing 101Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Processing Issues, Revised EditionRaising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Processing Issues, Revised EditionThe Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder (The Out-of-Sync Child Series)The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder (The Out-of-Sync Child Series)Understanding Your Child's Sensory Signals: A Practical Daily Use Handbook for Parents and TeachersUnderstanding Your Child's Sensory Signals: A Practical Daily Use Handbook for Parents and TeachersThe Out-of-Sync Child Grows Up: Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder in the Adolescent and Young Adult YearsThe Out-of-Sync Child Grows Up: Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder in the Adolescent and Young Adult YearsThe Superkids Activity Guide to Conquering Every Day: Awesome Games and Crafts to Master Your Moods, Boost Focus, Hack Mealtimes and Help Grownups Understand Why You Do the Things You DoThe Superkids Activity Guide to Conquering Every Day: Awesome Games and Crafts to Master Your Moods, Boost Focus, Hack Mealtimes and Help Grownups Understand Why You Do the Things You DoThe Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun, Revised Edition: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing DisorderThe Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun, Revised Edition: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing DisorderThe Sensory Processing Disorder Answer Book: Practical Answers to the Top 250 Questions Parents AskThe Sensory Processing Disorder Answer Book: Practical Answers to the Top 250 Questions Parents Ask

If you are facing some behavior issues with any of your children, whether they are typical or have special needs, I hope that you can gain some information that can help you to problem-solve their behaviors and help to turn things around in your home.

Want a Printable Version of This Behavior vs. Sensory Series?

I have a printable version of the entire 5 post series that you can download when you subscribe below. Just enter your e-mail address and click the green “Download” button.

You will need to confirm your subscription in the e-mail you receive in your inbox (double check your spam box if it does not show up in your inbox). Once you confirm, the download will be automatically sent to your computer.

You'll also get my sensory processing e-mail series as a follow-up with free printables of each sensory system in each e-mail!

Heather Greutman, COTA

Heather Greutman is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant with experience in school-based OT services for preschool through high school. She uses her background to share child development tips, tools, and strategies for parents, educators, and therapists. She is the author of many ebooks including The Basics of Fine Motor Skills, and Basics of Pre-Writing Skills, and co-author of Sensory Processing Explained: A Handbook for Parents and Educators.

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50 Comments

  1. Can we get this in PDFs? I would like to print it out .
    Is It Behavior or Sensory Prolems series

    1. Hi Melissa,

      That is a great idea, I will add that to my list of things to work on. Thanks for the suggestion.

  2. Hi my name is Jessica I just found out my daughter may have a sensory problem she’s 3 years old she has a hard time with behavior transitioning to one thing to a other is very difficult she has trouble eating as well as sleeping has a parent I do everything I can from my child but not knowing about sensory I find my self struggling to find and fix the things that are holding back from learning since she has a speech delay

  3. I cannot wait to read this whole series! I have asked the same question so many times with two boys with autism and one with ADHD – major sensory problems across the board. So glad to have connected with you on inspired bloggers! Can’t wait to read more 🙂

  4. My son has SPD but not really any behavioral problems. But I was reading how food allergies could be causing issues as well. I’m not sure if you can tell me but if he doesn’t have behavioral problems, does that mean he’s less likely to have allergies?

    1. He also has a really poor diet.

    2. Hi Summer,

      Unfortunately I really can’t answer that question since I don’t know your sons history and also am not a physician. I would definitely talk to his pediatrician about your concerns.

  5. Something I want to throw out there. Sometimes the issue can be sensory, but the problem an internal hiccup. I would not have believed it if I hadn’t seen it, but I took my daughter (age 4) to a chiropractor and she literally got an attitude adjustment.

    It’s a bit of a story, but she had some chronic constipation and it got to the “mom will try anything” point, so I figured it was worth a try. Let’s just say I now consider it an integral part to keeping her GI moving. One day though, the chiropractor asked how things were with her and I said she’d been super cranky for the last week or so. The child who walked out of the office that day was NOT the same who went in. A good nap later and I had my cheery child back!

    As the chiropractor explained it to me, if the spine is out of alignment, it can interfere with the nerves that run in and out of it, causing the body to work less than optimally. Anyway, since this was about kids’ sensory/behavior issues, I thought it worth mentioning. 🙂

    1. That is definitely a good thing to bring up Shannon. I think I actually mention it in the post on diet. My daughter was a very colicky baby. The first 4 months were awful. We took her to a chiropractor 3 times and she was a completely different baby afterwards. It is something I definitely recommend people looking into for their kids. Thanks for sharing your story! 🙂

  6. I really dislike articles like this that seem to think the ONLY solution is sensory. Yes sensory helps, but if a parent can’t use both then they will struggle. I have had more than one occupational therapist refuse to even evaluate my child because I won’t drop behavioral therapy on a child that is 5 nonverbal and not potty trained. The best thing for a child is BOTH the sensory side and the behavioral side. One won’t magically fix the others. One will help the other, but if occupational therapists refuse to even work with a child receiving behavioral therapy then what is the point?

    1. Hi Rebecca,

      I agree with you that sensory is not the answer the answer for every child. As I mentioned in the post, every child is unique and different so what works for one will not or may not work for another. And if some sensory things do work, it definitely is not a “magical” fix. There are kids who definitely have a behavior side and a sensory side, I worked with many of them in the school system. As for your son’s particular case, since I don’t know him or his case it would not be right for me to comment on that since I don’t know what the previous OTs were looking for. I would say to continue advocating for your son and if you feel he needs certain services to keep searching. I’m sorry I cannot be of more help in that area.

      At the beginning of this post, I mentioned the PT who gave this lecture I attended. Contacting her therapy program may be a good place to start.

  7. Thanks for putting this together. I have a 5-year old daughter who struggles with SPD. It was a huge issue for her until we went on the GAPS Diet last winter. Since then she has healed SO much. The connection between the gut and the brain is truly amazing! Gonna go check out the rest of your series. 🙂

  8. In the course of my son being evaluated for developmental delays, he was diagnosed with sensory processing disorder. It’s quite an interesting topic once you realize how the senses are intertwined with typical development. My son crawled for a very short time (like 2 weeks) got up and walked at 9 months, we thought wow this kid is gonna be a quick learner. Come to find out no he walked because he didn’t like touching things with his hands. Later he would tell us he cried while taking pictures because the flash hurt his eyes, or the loud music hurt his ears. He wasn’t crying in his toddler years because he was being bad, he was just sensory overloaded and didn’t know how to process his environment. He’s 12 now and it’s still a work in process but with good communication, patience and hard work it’s getting better every year.

    1. Thank you so much for sharing your story Anna! I am sure there are other parents who will read this and be encouraged to keep digging and researching!

  9. Dianna Kennedy says:

    I’m really looking forward to reading this series.

    I have a sensory seeker (or two or three ….) — and I wanted to ask —
    How do you balance their sensory needs AND parenting/social situations?

    I was in a seminar during the Great Homeschool Convention, and while I recognize the sensory seeking behavior in my own kids, at some point, we have to teach them how to balance that with appropriate behavior in the grocery line, church, playdates, etc.

    Am I making sense, or do I just sound like a mean mom?

    1. You are making total sense and I definitely agree with you! It is all a balance of both recognizing the sensory seeking needs and also parenting and having expectations for social situations. ALL children need discipline and learning how to respond in social situations like the grocery store. And ALL kids are going to try and push buttons! ALL sensory kids will also have behaviors that are just plain mis-behavior, not caused from any sensory issue! Here is a great article I found on behaviors in sensory seeking children and strategies for discipline. http://www.sensorysmartparent.com/issuesfamily.html
      Recognizing that you may need to change your discipline strategies to something that will work with their sensory needs is also key! I will be covering this a lot more in the last post of this series! 🙂

  10. I have a 21 month old and i’m wondering if he is a sensory seeker. I look at his behaviour and wonder whether its just his age and stage or more attention seeking as ive worked for over 14 years with this age up to 3 years. What i am worried about is hes lashing out at children, mostly those he knows but its so hard to know if hes seeking attention from me, because he doesnt yet have the language to express himself, (his friends are usually minding their own business at the time) he usually hits them around the head. After watching him for a while now it makes me wonder if its because he doesnt know how to react in those social situations, almost like its an impulse that takes over his body and he does it so quick as if he doesnt even realise hes even done it. He gets very excited when he knows someone is coming to play and almost reacts in a simular way as if a strong feeling comes over his body and he releases it in a physical way (just not as hurtful to others)
    Please help if you can.
    I think there are many reasons he may be reacting this way….big groups…noise…language…tired…hungry…attention seeking????????

    Kind.Regards

    Lucy

    1. Hi Lucy,

      I am glad you have found this post. Unfortunately for licensure reasons, I am not allowed to give specifics on a child by child basis. However, I would continue to observe his behaviors, which it sounds like you are doing. If you continue to have concerns about his behavior I would speak to his doctor and seek out possible OT evals, if needed. I think this series will also give you some ideas that you can do at home to help!

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