Take your child out of the overwhelming situation somewhere a little quieter. If you were drowning, you’d keep kicking and kicking until you reached shallower waters. They’re seeing and hearing everything around them all at once with no filter of separation. A meltdown is a state of becoming overwhelmed. When your child is experiencing a meltdown, it’s important to remember how your child is feeling.
On the other hand, meltdowns end either when the child tires out, or when there is a change in the sensory input. When the child gets what they want, or when they’re rewarded for better behaviour.
Now seeing as tantrums and sensory meltdowns are different behaviours, it makes sense that we should deal with them in different ways. The key difference being that a meltdown is involuntary. That response establishes itself as what appears to be a tantrum. Then something akin to “fight or flight” kicks in. Too much sensory information becomes too much to handle. Your computer can play a video on its own, no problem, but if you’re playing that video alongside ten more videos, you’re going to see some slow-down. That seems obvious but think of it like a computer. Noise, smells, and sights are all processed at the same time. Everything we experience throughout the day is sensory information. It can be attention based, with children even pausing to check if anyone’s watching.Ī sensory meltdown is when a child has too much sensory information to process. They often present themselves as outbursts of frustration. A tantrum is usually when a child wants something. The most important difference being control. It might not be a tantrum, but what is referred to as a sensory meltdown.įirst of all it’s important to note that while they may appear similar, tantrums and sensory meltdowns are very different behaviours.
“They’re just having a tantrum”, it’s just what they do at that age, right? Well, you might be surprised. A young child starts crying in a busy public space and we often jump to the same conclusion. JThe Difference Between Tantrums and Sensory Meltdowns
Sensory overload meltdown zip#
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