The child may spin himself on playground equipment or twirl around a room for prolonged periods without experiencing dizziness. Another child may continually throw himself on the floor, deliberately hurl himself against people and things, or jump excessively. Behaviors Sensory integrative dysfunction can adversely affect many areas of a child's development, including emotional and social. Many children become discouraged or develop poor self-concept, especially if they become aware of differences in their function and those of their peers. If a young child has difficulty with motor skills and play activities, it may be hard for him to make friends or to be part of a group.
Sensory defensiveness can cause aggressive behaviors or cause the child to be a loner.
Sometimes behavior problems are the first indications that the child may have sensory integrative dysfunction. The child may lack flexibility, be explosive, or have difficulty with transitions such as leaving one place to go to another. The child may show extreme irritability or crying which may seem unexplainable until it is discovered that he is fearful of certain sounds, overwhelmed by visual stimuli, or is intolerant to wrinkles in his socks. Sometimes children are so rigid in their behaviors that families go to extremes to accommodate them in order to maintain peace. The mother who follows the child around with a spoonful of food, begging him to eat, or the parents who allow the child to sleep in their bed because he won't go to sleep otherwise, may be taking care of the short-term problems of getting the child to eat or to sleep without addressing underlying problems.