My child hates "messy play"!

My child hates the feeling of sand between their toes.
My child hates walking on grass.
My child can't stand playing with goop or slime.
My child hates rice play.
My child never wants to do finger painting.

These are common complaints from children who are  intolerant to various sensations.

Some children will gradually tolerate these sensations as they "brave" repeated exposure.  Eventually they don't react to these sensations and may seem as if they have always loved these sensations.

Other children find it really difficult to interact with these sensations.  It is almost as if they are having a pain response to this touch.  We call this "tactile defensiveness".  

Tactile defensiveness refers to the pattern of observable behavioural and emotional responses, which are aversive, negative and out of proportion, to certain types of tactile stimuli that most people would find to be non-painful (Lane & Royeen, 1991).

Tactile defensiveness may also be seen with complaints about clothing {the labels, certain textures, length of sleeves}, emotional responses to anticipated touch {avoiding crowded environments, tickles or hugs} and aversion to being helped with some daily activities {such as brushing teeth, nappy changes, nose cleaning}.  These are just a few examples.

A child who experiences tactile defensiveness may benefit from an overall sensory integration assessment by an Occupational Therapist if this is interfering with their ability to participate in the classroom or to complete daily activities at home. 

In this post I will look at how you may assist a child who avoids play activities involving tactile materials.   This looks at just one sensation they may be avoiding at a time. I will discuss some general strategies to try with tactile defensiveness in a future post.

You may like to prepare hands and feet by massaging them with your hands or using a small toy that has a vibration.  A tapping or clapping game prior to sensory play with hands will also help prepare your child by helping to be aware of their arms and hands.

Example: Sand or rice play with hands
The progression begins with asking a child to take toys from the surface of the sand/rice (where they don't need to touch the sand or rice), then half burying the item in the sand/rice, and finally burying into the sand or rice.  

• Repeat each stage until the child is confident at this stage.  This may take several weeks or even months.
  
• As the child becomes more tolerant, introduce a smaller toy and begin on top of the surface again.

Notes:  

• Your child may tolerate moving from on the surface to half buried to buried on their own accord. This should be encouraged but not forced.  
  
• Be clear with expectations providing reassurance (eg. We are going to drive the digger across the sand 5 times and then stop.  Your fingers might touch the sand while you are driving. We are not going to bury the digger today).
  

If your child is more sensitive with one body part (eg. hands) compared with other parts of the body, you may introduce a new sensation to less sensitive body parts (eg. elbows, forearm, etc).

You may be able to incorporate pouring and scooping at some point in addressing your child's play.  It is preferable if your child does this independently rather than someone else pouring it over them. 

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Have a go at these simple, gradual introductions to these touch sensations.  This may be a slow process as children have different levels of tolerance.  A child may become tolerant of one texture quicker than with another.  

Is your child sensitive to touch?

Lane, S. & Royeen, C. (1991). Tactile processing and sensory defensiveness. In Fisher, Murray, & Bundy (eds.), Sensory Integration Theory and Practice. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company.