Is this a sign of sensory disorder?

by Cortney
(Virginia)

My daughter excessively rocks back and forth while waking up, going to sleep, or anytime she feels "unbalanced" in an environment she also bangs her head. She does this on pillows or huge stuffed animals preferably on hard surfaces such as the floor. I am in counseling and my counselor brought up Sensory Disorder. She fits a lot of the checklist. But i am not sure if this is related. Can you please help?



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May 03, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Anon
by: Anonymous

it certainly can be. if you suspect, i would suggest finding an occupational therapist in your area and taking her in for an evaluation. the occupational therapist can be so resourceful and insightful. rocking and banging can be a vision issue as was mentioned in a previous post, but it can also be a coping mechanism for anxiety or other processing issues.
Mar 11, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Rocking back and forth
by: Anonymous

I actually know nothing about sensory disorders, but when my son was young he would rock and swivel his head. We later figured out that he was seeing double and the shaking would straighten his vision for a second. Oh, and you need to find a "developmental optometrist" to check for that. Regular ones could not detect it.
Mar 07, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		ABA
by: Steve Faherty

Head Banging can be reinforcing in and of itself. Contact an Applied Behavioral Analyst to help you.

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