Does your high needs child need to touch everything

[lisac77]

Mine does. It drives me nuts.

Stores are especially bad. He wants to touch everything, and dawdles while touching everything, and I spend our entire trip reminding him to keep his hands to himself and keep up. I hate it.

[karina5]

When you say High Needs do you mean that your child has a developmental disability?

[escher]

No kids yet, but my partner does this. When we're trying to do a quick shopping trip, I end up leaving her somewhere to feel all the fabric or packages or whatever. She isn't high needs in general, but she definitely likes to touch everything!

[lisac77]

No he's high needs: high energy, demanding, inquisitive, etc... to the max. It's not a compulsive touching (like OCD), it's an inquisitive, "Oh, look at this! And this! And that over there!"

[lisac77]

Originally Posted by escher12

No kids yet, but my partner does this. When we're trying to do a quick shopping trip, I end up leaving her somewhere to feel all the fabric or packages or whatever. She isn't high needs in general, but she definitely likes to touch everything!

OK, I find that hilarious, because he is just like that. Except I can't leave him anywhere, YK?

[Redifer]

I'm a high needs adult parent of a high needs child. We drive DH insane in the store. If it isn't her running off to look at something, touch something, whatnot, it's me. Usually it's both of us running off in opposite directions toward something that caught our eye!

He prefers to shop alone now

[snuggly mama]

Dd is still a touchy-feely high needs kid -- and she's nearly 12!! I kid you not, I still have to remind her not to touch every single item on the shelf when we are shoppping. Oh, well, guess it's just one of the quirks about having a high-needs child!

[teachma]

My high-needs kid was kind of the opposite. As a toddler and a preschooler, there was always a lot he wouldn't touch. Things felt "wet" to him when they weren't actually wet (maybe they were smooth or cold, but he thought "wet"). Or something was too "squishy" or "smooshy..." You get the idea. My high needs kid has always been over-stimulated and highly sensitive, which, I think, is what makes him seem "high needs." If that makes sense.

[maliceinwonderland]

Mine has to touch/look at/talk about EVERYTHING. On a good day, it takes us atleast 15 minutes to walk to the corner store...it should take maybe three minutes to get there.

The funny thing is, being so used to her I didn't realize it wasn't normal..so when I took her and my nephew out together (they're the same age) and he wasn't doing it, I wondered what the heck was wrong with him!

[wendy1221]

Yes! Lol

[Sharon, RN]

Oh, yeah... ds touches everything. Even when he sees other kids, the first thing he usually does is touch the other child's shoulder or arm. He's very gentle, he just seems to need that tactile stim.

We both saw the optomotrist (sp?) today and I was sure we were in for it! But, he's getting better at asking before he touches, and I'm pretty good at hunting down things safe for him to touch. (Like, today, we let him practice with the plastic thingie the doc puts over one eye, and he let the doc show him some things on the big expensive lens machine. While picking out frames, I asked for some cheap example lenses that showed various tints for ds so he wouldn't go nuts over playing with the frames. Ykwim?)

I don't think it'll ever go away, but he's getting better at asking an adult for assistance with things he knows he probably shouldn't play with.

Actually, at this age, many adults compliment me on his interest in everything!

[lisac77]

I figured I wasn't alone!!! It's just that I feel like such a nag when we are out sometimes. Even if I'm doing it in my most GD voice, repeating the same thing over and over drives me crazy.

[newmommy]

DS does the same thing...it's getting to the point where it's hard to go somewhere with him.

Every time we go to the store, he thinks we came their to get him a toy AND has a Major Meltdown/Tantrum because I tell him he cannot have another HotWheels car to just add to the collection of over 200 cars he has at home!

"Mommy, I want that" "Mommy, PLEEASEE give me that" with tears and he gets more pissed off when I say for the 100th time "No, DS."

Ugh!

Oh and DS is definetly high needs!

[lisac77]

Originally Posted by newmommy

Every time we go to the store, he thinks we came their to get him a toy AND has a Major Meltdown/Tantrum because I tell him he cannot have another HotWheels car to just add to the collection of over 200 cars he has at home!

"Mommy, I want that" "Mommy, PLEEASEE give me that" with tears and he gets more pissed off when I say for the 100th time "No, DS."

Yes, we go through this as well. We have soooo many junk toys in the house, I finally had to put a moratorium on toy buying. Normally I wouldn't mind buying something small, but it just gets worse and worse every time we go.

One thing that does work is that when I know we are going to the store, I'll mention to DS that we're going to the store, but we will NOT be buying a toy. If I set it up before hand, it makes it easier for him to accept when we get to the store.

Today at the store he voluntarily rode in the cart! It's so much easier that way.

[dubfam]

Originally Posted by Redifer

I'm a high needs adult parent of a high needs child. We drive DH insane in the store. If it isn't her running off to look at something, touch something, whatnot, it's me. Usually it's both of us running off in opposite directions toward something that caught our eye!

He prefers to shop alone now

: except I have a DS

[lotusdebi]

YES!
I believe he has a sensory processing disorder, though I've been calling him my super-spirited boy for years. He's almost 5, and I always have to find something to do with his hands when we go somewhere so he doesn't constantly touch things and pull them off of shelves. He needs constant sensory input, I think.

[Brigianna]

That's part and parcel of being "high-needs," isn't it? Yeah, public outings with our crew are fun to watch.