Melissa Petcu, MS, OTR/L, an occupational therapy team member at the Midtown office of Child and Family Development, was captivated by the title of a recent story in Parent Magazine, “Kids Who Feel Too Much”.        

This article describes some classic characteristics of children who seem overly sensitive to the environment– whether it is sound, touch, light or related to another sense. 

Sensory sensitivities are common in children with autism. Melissa reminds us that the opposite is not true. Just because a child has difficulty processing certain sensory input does not mean that the child has autism. Formal evaluation from an occupational therapist and can determine sensory processing skills and an evaluation from an ADOS-trained psychologist can determine if an ASD (autism spectrum disorder) diagnosis applies.  

Read more about Melissa’s take on sensory processing on our blog here. 

Melissa and the 7 other licensed occupational therapists on our team are available to share their expertise.