Sensory overload can be triggered by any external or internal factors that can cause a child to become overwhelmed. Whether it's crowds of people, loud noises, bright lights or all of the above, it is important for parents to recognize their child's triggers and explore ways in which to decrease or eliminate subsequent behavior. Planning, not punishment, is the idea way of approaching the issue. For example, my youngest son would completely go into a full-fledged meltdown whenever we would go into a Walmart, screaming, crying and even throwing things off the shelves. I was at a loss as to what was prompting the behavior until someone asked me if I thought it was sensory overload. The thought had never crossed my mind but I decided to eliminate Walmart from our outings and opted for the more scaled down Walmart market. Believe it or not it worked. Not only do we manage to get our grocery shopping done, but I am still able to expose him to real-life social experiences that I feel are important for getting him prepared for independent living. It may take some trial and error, but understanding and addressing sensory overload is about finding ways to make our children's lives easier in the long run.
