One of the biggest challenges we face these days are hidden sensitivities or allergies to our environment as our immune systems aren’t what they used to be.

Do you remember being a child and playing outside for hours at a time until the street lights came on? Riding bikes, playing hide and seek, getting dirty without the stress of time limits or homework? It rings a bell for me!

Now days we have children who are more intelligent and who are acting out more, with a growing list of behavioral symptoms reported by their parents and teachers. Parents then have the big task of figuring out what to do about these behaviors. Our job is to figure out the root cause.

When children come into our office for an evaluation, we discuss their development, starting from birth. It often comes up that our clients were irritable as an infant. If they were fussy after eating, had abdominal discomfort and/or needed to switch formulas (often from milk to soy, and then to other hypoallergenic formulas if needed), then they seem to fit into what I call “the allergy category”. If they constantly needed to be moving (held, bounced, rocked, or driven in the car) or left alone to calm in a quiet or dark place, then they seem to fit into “the sensory category”.

A history of ear infections and chronic congestion are other alerting symptoms that are in my allergy category. These concerns in particular can turn into sensory as well as speech and language disturbances. When the muscles of the middle ear (that sit next to the ear drum) are affected by fluid or scar tissue, then these muscles are not able to do their job well- to protect our ears from sounds! Then you see children who respond to loud sounds as a threat, or deep tones (like vacuum cleaners, blenders, public toilets flushing and hairdryers). This can be addressed by occupational therapists using auditory integration training programs to exercise the ear muscles back into shape. Speech and language development can also be affected as children can not be expected to hear and speak clearly if they perceive sounds and words from behind a fluid filled ear, as if they were hearing people talk underwater. Sometimes these symptoms are apparent when a child shows visible signs of congestion, a frequently runny or congested nose, or signs of ear pain. These symptoms should always be discussed with your child’s doctor. They should also see an Ear, Nose and Throat physician if these symptoms persist.

Children who are often irritable, don’t like being touched, or who are sensitive to certain types of clothing can appear to have tactile hypersensitivity. This is when the brainstem sends too many alerting messages to the brain, causing the person to react in a negative or distressed manner. A sensory integrative treatment approach would be useful here unless these children have a history of eczema, dry skin, rashes or hives, which now places them into my allergy category. I have seen children with these symptoms improve dramatically, if not completely, when milk and sugar are avoided in their diet (for at least 2 weeks as a trial period). They are often sensitive to chemicals on their skin as well, including chlorine from unfiltered water and swimming pools, pesticides sprayed inside our homes and on our grass/playgrounds, bleach products used for cleaning, antibacterial products, soaps, air fresheners, polyester blends of clothing and laundry detergents (just to name a few)!

The behavioral responses seen in children can look the same here when their sensory symptoms are assessed without considering their medical history.

There is yet another group of symptoms that fit into my allergy category that are not considered medical allergies, but chemical sensitivities. These are food dyes (especially red dye #40), artificial ingredients (like sweeteners) and preservatives. We can find these ingredients in almost every product in the grocery store that is packaged and found on a shelf. Children who have sensitive nervous systems react to these ingredients by being hyperactive, impulsive, distractible, overly silly and/or more emotionally reactive. They often have a harder time calming down and may have a strong desire to consume these foods. From a sensory perspective their behaviors can be the same as a child who has a sensory modulation disorder. This is a condition in which the brainstem cannot regulate incoming sensory information. We won’t know the root cause until we can see how their behaviors change when these children are on a strict diet that excludes these artificial ingredients. If this applies to your child then try to live by the motto “if I can’t pronounce the ingredient, then my child should not be eating it”.

The most helpful suggestions I’ve seen work successfully in our office are:

  1. Replace the use of harsh cleaners with natural or organic cleaning products. Baking soda and vinegar are great and inexpensive household cleaners.
  2. Try to buy organic foods whenever possible, to avoid ingesting chemicals and pesticides that have been sprayed on our produce and wheat before processed.
  3. Wheat and dairy products should be avoided when congestion/ear infections are present, dark circles under the eyes are seen or when the child’s stomach protrudes.
  4. Continue to substitute milk products if your child was sensitive to them as an infant. You may see that they are tolerated without a strong digestive response as they get older, but they seem to have other symptoms that arise such as being constipated, irritable, hard to wake up or more reactive, behaviorally.
  5. Watch your child’s intake of sugar if they are hyperactive or distractible. Natural sugars from fruit or raw sugar will not cause such extreme behavioral changes as the artificial sweeteners and sugar-free products that flood our grocery stores. Monitor your child’s activity level based on the foods eaten.
  6. Children who are on a good multi-vitamin and an omega fatty acid supplement appear to have better nervous system support for self-control, good behaviors and better attention for learning.
  7. Children who eat protein in the morning seem to do better with controlling their behaviors and attending longer throughout the school day. Sugary breakfasts work in the opposite direction. When I have clients that are sensitive to sugar, I can tell what kind of breakfast they ate within a few minutes of working with them. Eggs with cheese, protein drinks and lunch meat roll ups are some of the safe foods I hear about that are eaten for breakfast.

I will be sure to interview a variety of experts on this topic in upcoming podcast shows.  Best of luck on your venture to good health and sensory processing!

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