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Implications Of Sensory Defensiveness In A College Population, Mary-Ellen Johnson, Rebecca Irving

Occupational Therapy Faculty Publications

Sensory defensiveness is an inappropriate and exaggerated response to a typically harmless sensory stimulus (Kinnealey & Oliver, 2002). For persons with sensory defensiveness, sensory stimuli can elicit avoidance, increased arousal, and fight-or-flight behaviors. Some specific behaviors noted in persons with severe sensory defensiveness include crying, screaming, or lashing out from light touch; running away from touch; gagging or vomiting in response to certain food textures; hyperactivity in response to loud noises or bright lights; and extreme reactions to sound stimuli, such as fire alarms or vacuum cleaners. Unexpected and unpredictable stimuli are most likely to cause a reaction, and behavioral …