Tactile: Over Responsive

1. Student has difficulty standing in line or sitting beside other students

A student who is overresponsive to tactile input often dislikes close physical contact with others. When the student is standing in line or sitting on the floor (e.g. for circle time or in Assembly), other students may be too close, causing unpredictable touch input. This input can be interpreted as painful and threatening for the student with a tactile sensitivity.

Suggested Strategies:

• Standing in line:
  • Place this student at the back of the line. This will involve less touch input, and so is less threatening, than standing in the middle of the line. However, allow the student the opportunity to be first in the line or ‘leader’ on occasion. In this case, place a mark on the floor where the leader stands, and then place another mark on the floor to indicate where the rest of the line begins. This will ensure safe physical distance.
  • If you have a smaller class size, simply, mark out where each student should stand in the line. Allow adequate space between each person e.g. using feet templates or coloured squares on the floor can help with physical boundaries and personal space
  • Give this student extra time to transition between classes. Allowing the student to leave class a few minutes early could help the student avoid a crowded corridor and reduce the student’s anxiety
  • Teach the student how to ask for extra personal space in an appropriate way rather than hitting or pushing
  • Teach the whole class to stand and walk at one arm’s length from others

• Sitting beside other students in the classroom:
  • If you have a small class size, give each student a cushion or mat to sit on, and instruct the students not to ‘invade’ each other’s cushion or mat.
  • If it is not possible to give the whole class a cushion or mat, just give this to the tactile sensitive student. Advise other students that they are not allowed to ‘invade’ this student’s mat/cushion.
  • Alternatively, seat this student at the end of a row preferably next to a wall to reduce the physical contact with others.
  • Provide desk partitions or visual boundaries such as tape to remind students not to sit too close to each other
  • Teach the student how to ask for extra personal space in an appropriate way.
  • Provide the student with a visual scale to indicate when they are becoming distressed and need a break from tactile stimuli

Point to remember

• Give the student adequate personal space; use visual cues where appropriate to mark personal space

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2. Student dislikes contact sports and games in playground, P.E etc.

Suggested Strategies:

• Sports:
  • Sometimes activities that emphasise joint compression (e.g. jumping, pushing, pulling, weight bearing) may help students who are sensitive to touch.
  • Choose activities that can be performed in a group but do not include physical contact from others e.g.
    • Gym circuits
    • Simon Says
    • Gymnastics
    • Running
  • Playground:
    • Provide alternative non-contact activities e.g.:
      • Skipping
      • Throwing/catching a ball
      • Races
      • Treasure hunts
      • Nature trails
    • Teach the student and a peer a game to play with each other, and then gradually extend to a larger group of peers if appropriate.
    • Section off an area of the playground:
      • There should be a limit to how many students can be in the quiet area at once to reduce the chance of students bumping into one another
      • The quiet area could have some structured play activities (e.g. hop scotch, obstacle course) available to help students with autism play whilst unpredictable physcial contact.

Point to remember

• Mark a quiet area in the playground, and limit the number of students who can play in this area. Include structured, non-contact games in this area.

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3. Student avoids ‘messy’ play activities e.g. finger painting, clay modelling

Suggested Strategies:

• Desensitisation: This involves gradually increasing the student’s exposure and tolerance to tactile stimuli; this can be a long process as it involves very gradual and controlled introduction to the input. The example below focuses on finger painting.
• Allow the student to wear gloves for the first few sessions of finger painting, and then gradaully cut the fingers out of the gloves, one finger at a time over a few weeks.  Eventually the student should be able to touch the paint without wearing the gloves.
• Allow the student to use a long paint brush and then cut the brush to make it gradually shorter over a few weeks, until the student is comfotabletouching the paint.
• Gradually increase the time the student spends on the painting activity and use a visual timer.  Start with a few seconds only and then gradaully increase the time in each session.
• Provide calming input during and after the painting activity.
• Repeat this process with a variety of other tactile experiences.

Point to remember

• Gradually introduce the student to new tactile experiences by slowly increasing the time spent on the activity

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4. Student may react aggressively to unexpected touch, especially light touch

Unexpected touch and light touch are very alerting, and can be perceived as painful by a student who is sensitive to tactile input. This may result in the student reacting defensively e.g. pushing or hitting others as part of a protective/defensive reaction.

Suggested Strategies:

• Ensure the student has adequate phyiscal space in the classroom and other environments.  Consider where the student is seated.
• Provide non-contact games in the playground and P.E.
• Reduce unexpected light touch input i.e. brushing past the student, tapping his/her shoulder, leaning over him/her when working at the desk
• Ensure the student is not sitting at the end of a the desk next to the main walk way in the classroom, as thsi increases the risk of physical contact when others walk past. If they are seated at the end of a desk make sure it is beside the wall.

Point to remember

• Do not gain student’s attention by tapping his/her shoulder; use a visual or auditory cue instead.

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5. Student dislikes certain textures of food and so has rigid diet

A student who is overresponsive to tactile input may dislike and refuse certain textures of food, resulting in a very rigid diet.

Suggested Strategies:

• If you are concerned, advise the student’s parents to seek medical advice regarding weight and nutritional intake.
• If there are concerns about the student’s weight and nutritional intake, use a desensitisation approach to introduce new food. Advice should be sought from an appropriately qualified professional e.g. occupational therapist, dietician, psychologist, speech and language therapist
• Keep mealtimes calm and positive. Allow the student to eat preferred food at mealtimes to establish the routine of eating at mealtimes and to reduce anxiety around eating.
• Do not introduce new food at mealtimes as this can stress the student and cause them to refuse to eat. Instead introduce new food at another time of the day. Try and introduce the new food at the same time and place each day to reduce anxiety.
• Use the student’s preferred texture when introducing a new taste. For example, if introducing a new vegetable, mash or puree it for the student who likes soft textures but provide it raw for the student who prefers crunchy textures. Do not simultaneously introduce a new taste and texture as this will be overwhelming for the student.

Gradually expose or desensitise student to new foods

• By breaking down the introduction of foods into manageable steps it can reassure the student and make him/her feel in control. Steps for desensitising may include:
  • Student looks a food item
  • Student smells food item
  • Student touches food item with finger
  • Student brings food item to lips
  • Student licks food item
  • Student puts food item in mouth
  • Student eats food item
  • Each step in this process make take days or weeks. When the student is comfortable with the new food item it can be moved to mealtimes.
• Encourage the student to handle and prepare food (this could be done as part of a lesson).
• Think about the environment the student is eating in. The canteen can be over stimulating so this student could eat in a quiet room instead.
• Some students eat better in the company of adults or peers – the student may be more willing to try new foods if they see other people trying the same food and enjoying it.

Point to remember

• Introduce new food very gradually and allow the student to taste food only when he/she is ready; do try to persuade or coerce.

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6. Student dislikes certain clothing, fabrics e.g. school uniform, P.E kit, labels on jumper

A student who is overresponsive to tactile input may be very aware of clothing fabric against the skin, material moving against the skin, labels itching the skin and seams on clothing. This can be distracting for the student, affecting attention, and can causing agitation.

Suggested Strategies:

• These students may benefit from wearing something tight underneath their uniform like a Lycra sports garment.
• Advise parents on alternatives e.g. seamless socks, different fabrics, cutting off labels.
• Some students may prefer socks that are too small, providing pressure and preventing socks sliding down into shoes which can be distracting for students with tactile over responsiveness.
• Be flexible about school uniform policy.

Point to remember

• Allow appropriate flexibility in the school uniform policy

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