Does sensory processing disorder get worse with age?

No, it doesn’t. There are a couple of reasons why. Children and teens with autism have been taught how to process some sensory issues such that they are able to either ignore it or have noise cancelling earphones for situations that will really bother them. The therapy they receive for sensory processing disorder is called “sensory integration therapy”. Sensory items that would otherwise upset them are used repeatedly throughout the week and sometimes even at home so that they become “numb” to the sensation and aren’t so disturbed by it. Really, their brains are retrained to feel it but not be completely bothered by it. It’s the equivalent to teachers who have noisy classrooms and the teachers completely filter out the noise in order to not be overwhelmed by it by staying put and waiting until the class is ready to work and learn.

As children and teens with autism get past these sensory challenges, they become adults who will need to continue the therapy until the doctor/ therapist says it’s time to cancel it. Once they reach retirement age and beyond, their senses will dull, just like everyone else’s. They hear less, see less, feel less. About the only sense that probably won’t deaden for them is taste, because the sense of taste is the last to go. There might be some challenges here, but if there were no sensory challenges involving taste and the texture of their food when they were young then there won’t be a problem at all.

The only instances where sensory processing order could possibly get worse with age is if the adult never received any sort of therapy as a child, or the therapy was inconsistent. If a parent or therapist just stopped the therapy before the full effect was reached, the child or adult with autism would return to an earlier stage where that particular sense was still bothered by the things in their environment.

More on Questions:
1). Do autism symptoms get worse with age?
2). Is there a cure for autism?

1 comment

  1. I am an adult with SPD and it’s getting worse with age. Would doing those kind of therapies now be beneficial to me? I was undiagnosed until 3 years ago.

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