Heightened sense of smell?

[aris99]

I've read the link about this being a possible symptom of SPD but can find nothing about helping someone with this problem. Taking my son to a neurologist in a couple of weeks but thought I'd ask here if anyone has a child w/heightened olfactory symptoms that affect how he/she eats. My son says he can't eat if he smells food other than what he's eating. He gags if he smells strong smells like peanut butter and he said yesterday that he couldn't take the "smell" of his little sister. His little sister had been playing outside and had kind of an outdoor-sy smell about her but she wasn't sweaty (she's only 4).

[Linda on the move]

my dd has a heightened sense of smell, too. She also really hates the smell of peanut butter! It has graduall gotten a little better as she's gotten older. I've never come across any research on ways to help it.

We try to channel it by providing things that smell good to her in the form of different body washes, lotions, etc. She also really, really loves the botanical garden. She can catologue different smells in her head.

Your son might really enjoy growing some herbs this summer.

[earthmama369]

That's part of my lovely little SPD profile. It's like having pregnancy nose all. the. time. Sometimes that's cool. I'm REALLY good at checking food in the frig to see if it's still good. And I'm usually the first person to catch a whiff of spring flowers the first morning they pop up. But body odor is also really noticeable and makes me want to gag. Cologne and perfumes are a hassle, too -- it took me years to figure out that not everyone drenches themselves in scent, it's really just me that smells it that strongly. That can cause some social difficulties.

I didn't receive any therapies as a child -- this being before SPD was really recognized as a diagnosis -- so I'm not sure what I can tell you there. I was raised with pretty strict New England rules about personal space and manners, so in a way that helped. We tend not to crowd too close. And at least having a firm grasp of manners means I never alienated anyone because of the way they smell, so it smooths out some of the social issues, though it doesn't do a thing for my comfort level.

With competing food smells, it helps to get a nice, close appreciation of the food I'm eating. Bend your head close, take a deep whiff, compliment the chef, then take a bite. It's socially acceptable -- at least for the first bite! -- and helps crowd out other smells in the air. You might try making it a game, too. Have everyone close their eyes and try to tell from just smell what's cooking for dinner, what's on their plate, etc. Turning this into a gift, in some aspect, might help him both learn how to manage all that sensory input better and give him a more positive spin on it. The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun, by Carol Kranowitz, has some olfactory organizing activities in it that may be helpful.

[aris99]

Thank-you for your responses and for sharing your experiences. Linda: how old is your dd? Earthmama: Good suggestions but my son is SO affected by smells that he will stop eating if he smells something "wrong" and nothing will bring him back. He's 6.5yo and 42lbs....he's looking pretty thin these days

My son had severe oral aversions between 2-5 yrs of age where he would gag a lot and stop eating. His diet was terribly limited. I guessed it was a sensory issue...textures. He had therapy for this. At about 5 things started getting more complicated. Smells started bothering him. Recently it has taken another turn for the worse where smells are affecting him more and more and even the appearance of something will literally make him dry heave. I have tried to distract him, I have tried to have him eat at a different location and time from the rest of the family. Yesterday he said he smelled dog poop outside (we don't have dogs or cats and we have a fenced in backyard) and he wouldn't go out or eat. I did not detect anything outside nor did his elder sister who shares his olfactory sensitivity (she is not quite as put off by smells though).

[Linda on the move]

My DD is 13