What do YOU do to RELAX? Do you listen to music? Perhaps you take a warm bath or maybe you like to read a book. When you are under stress what helps you to relax? Do you tap your pencil, chew gum, rock back and forth, take your shoes off, tap with your feet, hum to yourself? Most of us have our ‘favorite’ things that help us to relax. Some of us are “oral” and like to chew gum or munch on crunchy foods to de-stress or smoke cigarettes. Others choose the visual pathway to relaxation: reading, drawing, watching TV, or dimming the lights. Still others find comfort in exercise like biking, running, or taking a walk. Many find loose clothes, shedding shoes and warm baths to be the best way to decompress. Aromatherapy is the avenue of choice for those who indulge their stress by lighting scented candles or baking bread. We are sensory beings and we experience sensory overloads. When we have had enough, we intuitively know how to decompress. We have the innate ability to *know* what we need.

    Individuals with Aspergers often have difficulty recognizing when they are “on overload” . Many individuals with Aspergers frequently experience sensory overloads. They differ from neuro-typical people in that their threshold or tolerance for some sensory experiences is much lower. For example, the humming of an air-conditioner might go unnoticed by most people but to some individuals with Aspergers Syndrome the humming might sound more like a pounding and it might quickly become intolerable. Likewise, some smells that most people might perceive as pleasant might be perceived by someone with Aspergers as intolerably pungent.

To determine what the sensory needs are of the individual with Aspergers, answer the following questions. For those questions in which the answer is YES, click on the icon following the question for suggested interventions:

1. In crowds, she disappears.

                Yes         No

2. Sometimes he covers his ears.

                Yes         No

3. He only likes certain texture foods.

                Yes         No

4. She always has something in her hands.

                Yes         No

5. She is noisy and often talks too loud.

                Yes         No

6. He prefers it when it’s dark.

                Yes         No

7. She is picky about what she wears.

                Yes         No

8. He won’t wear shoes.

                Yes         No

9. She won’t wear barrettes.

                Yes         No

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