can children get overload from sensory toys?

[mysonben]

Really puzzled by this, ds is 4 and has mild asd, his way of playing is quite sensory seeking, so i bought him a load of sensory toys a few days ago, stuff like little spinning lights necklace, rubbery light-up octopus with clacking feet, stretchy caterpillar,... he hasn't put them down yet!

He loves them, all good and well but he has been doing his twirly hands and fingers lots and lots over the past 2 days while playing with these, he is going through self-absorbed phases where he is so disconnected and blank, and finally he has been really really hyper in the evening with lots of vocal stims, screetching noises and a few mini-meltdowns.

DH says it's due to the toys! He thinks the toys are giving DS too much sensory stimulation and he can't handle it although he 's loving it all. I'm .

Could it be that?

Yes ( at least for us). I avoid all these things like the plague as they over stimulate DS1. Heated Lavender wheatbags and listening to his IPod calms him down!

Thanks for reply cyberseraphim.
DH will be pleased to know he 's probably right...for once!

I think some children may benefit - I only know my own case but I do think professionals advise these toys because they confuse the issues - ie. the fact that the child enjoys an activity is not a sign in itself that the activity is good for the child. We don't accept that logic for NT children ' Ooh bless him, he does so love his little matches, Look Look there's teddy going up in flames now.'

Oh thats so sad Seems so out of order that something that brings them so much pleasure actually causes more harm than good. Really feel for you MSB, bet you were thrilled to see him love the new toys.

How are you going to get him away from them?!

Use them for reinforcers / rewards. We use them for ABA and DS gets them as a reward for doing an adult led activity - but only gets them for short bursts eg 30 seconds-1 minute. He has a habit of holding them right up by his eyes and stimming like crazy. We block him doing this by putting our hand over it and say look nicely and then he looks at the toy properly not as a stim. But have to say he can stim over a million different things a day and until he has better play skills we're fighting a losing battle. But do keep using the toys but perhaps when you really need a distraction or in short bursts. The nursery use toys as rewards too on advice from our ABA supervisor. So for example to get him to do a turn taking activity he would be rewarded each time he waits his turn - he gets a short go with a toy or given a picture card (he loves flash cards) reward. You could use them with a token system eg he does x work to earn 4 tokens and then gets a go with the light toy or he sits nicely for x minutes. If he likes them then keep them but make him work for them and limit their use.

If it makes you feel better in terms of wasted cash we went all the way to BIBIC from North Yorkshire and DS refused point blank to go in ANY of the sensory rooms. He literally clung onto the door frame by his finger nails rather than go in.

Thanks ladies.

Barmy, i will have to take them swiftly while he is asleep or at nursery

Grumpy, yes i was thinking along these lines, letting him having the toys for a little bit at a time as opposed to 24/7.
I was surprised though by his behaviour, like you said about your ds, the toys seems to make him stim more than usual which i wasn't expecting.
Lol about your ds at Bibic...although it must have been a bit disapointing.

My neighbour who is an OT, has told me about this website "www.sensoryworld.org"
It's brilliant it has rooms where DS can enter and click on different items all with different sensory themes.