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Positive Relationships: Behaviour - In touch

If a child overreacts to tactile experiences it may be down to sensory processing, says Anne O'Connor.

We have a four-year-old in our setting who seems constantly irritable and has lengthy tantrums. Other children upset her if they stand too close or touch her, yet she often barges into others and squeezes them hard when she is hugging. She doesn't settle well to activities and avoids messy play altogether.

All behaviour is communication, at any age, and this child's irritability is telling you that she is in distress a lot of the time. There are several indicators here that she might have difficulty with sensory processing, which might account for her unhappiness.

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