Hypersensitivity

To this day I have heart palpitations and begin to hyperventilate when I walk into Walmart. I try to stay out of the place, but on occasion I have no choice and must enter in. On those rare occasions I try to take deep breaths, keep my mind on what I am there for, and get out as fast as I can. Why do I have this strange aversion to a place well-loved by so many? It's a funny story (or not, depending on your point-of-view)...

Many years ago when my children were little I was in desperate need of a few household goods. Normally I would never attempt to take three small children into a store without any help, but like I said, I was desperate. At first all was well. We walked around gathering our items. The boys were moderately interested in what was going on, but mostly content. Megan was happy to be out and about, and we were moving right along. I have no idea what happened, but something definitely did, because all heck broke loose. The boys started screaming and kicking, Megan started crying, and I started desperately trying to soothe them all. It was pandemonium. I quickly completed my shopping and got out as fast as I could. Months later I decided to attempt a visit again. This time immediately upon entering the store the boys started screaming. As you can imagine, we did not go back again for a very long time.

Since that time I wondered, what was it that caused the meltdown? Was it the lighting? Was it the cramped aisles? Was it, perhaps, the eerily smiling yellow face? I may never know for sure, but I have a few guesses.

Children with autism often have issues with hypersensitivity. They are super sensitive to sounds, smells, textures, and lighting. Once you recognize the problem for what it is, then you can see a course to help deal with it. After our boys began attending the special needs preschool we started learning coping mechanisms to handle their hypersensitivity.

When my boys were three-years-old I cut all the tags out of their shirts because they would bother them so much they could not concentrate on anything else. When Colin was five he would pick holes in his socks because he could not bear to have any loose strings sticking out. I didn't let this bother me, I just bought him more socks and he eventually grew out of it. I bought the boys earmuffs to wear at night because they would curl up under their blankets holding their ears to block out all the sounds, and would get way too hot. We avoided situations that really bothered them, but did not let them completely back out of anything. We taught them to work through their sensitivities and not around them.

I am still not completely sure what caused the meltdown in Walmart, but my best guess is that it was overstimulation. Their senses, which were already heightened, were on overload. I am sure that there were warning signs that I missed at the time, but now would immediately recognize. That is just part of growing and learning. You learn what upsets your child, you learn their signals of becoming agitated, and then you learn how to help them deal with it. The best advice I can give you on this is to watch your child and use your best instincts; trust yourself and love your child, and you will also learn how to help them deal with the world around them. My boys can now go into the large stores with no problems, they sit out in church with the super loud music, they wear their shirts with tags intact, and request scissors to snip the strings on their socks.