Sensory question: cross-sensory issues

[Gena]

Does your child with SPD, ASD, or other issues have cross-sensory experiences?

DS always covers his eyes when noises are too loud for his comfort. He has always done this since he was a baby/toddler. When he was very young, we thought it was because the noises scared him. But now we know that this isn't the case, because he covers his eyes even when he likes the noise. His teacher has commented on it happening at school. And when his aftercare program had a fire drill, the director told me that DS covered his eyes and cried that the noise (fire alarm) was "too bright".

Even though DS knows that you see with your eyes and hear with your ears, that knowledge doesn't match his reactions.

What causes this? Is it a part of his sensory-processing issues? Is it a side effect of his visual impairment?

Does anyone have expereince with this?

[Pepper]

I don't think DS1 does this, but I'll have to watch for it. What an interesting phenomenon (from a nerdy, biological perspective, not a parenting perspective )

[o_mom]

Could it be a form of synesthesia?

[HIU8]

Hmmm.....I have no idea. Now I'm curious and am going to watch DS to see what he does. His new thing is to flip out when he spills water on his clothes (but it's not cross sensory I don't think).

[Gena]

Could it be a form of synesthesia?

I wonder if it could be. I've heard a little about synesthesia before, but I don't know much about it.

DS's communication difficulties make it hard for me to know how he perceives things. He doesn't seem to understand my questions when I ask him about it.

[gatorsmom]

I know Greenbean holds his hands over his eyes about bright lights, but I don't really know where he puts his hands when it's too loud. Normallly, he just says it's too loud and starts running around spazzing out. He pretends to shiver when it's too cold and does appropriate hand signals when it's too hot. I'll watch more closely for his noise reaction.