Sensibly Speaking

22/04/2026

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22/04/2026

YES!!! 💔

S is for Suppression.

This post is the result of a recent situation I was part of.

Adults were celebrating how “well” a student had been doing over the past year.
The behaviors had stopped.
The child looked compliant. Quiet. Controlled.
Everyone said the program was working.
The environment relied heavily on compliance.

And then…
the student burned out.
Skills regressed.
Self-injury became much harder to support.
The child was overwhelmed and struggling in ways that were far more intense than before.
Suddenly the distress everyone thought had disappeared came rushing back—bigger, louder, and harder for the child to carry.

Because suppression only lasts so long.
Eventually, the body screams.

Have you ever seen this happen before? 💔

Image Description: Light red tile with a light blue square in the middle. At the top of the tile in dark blue writing reads, “Suppression is not improved behavior“. In the blue square reads, “Attention compliance! You didn’t improve the behavior. You taught the child to suppress their distress.“ In the bottom left corner is a graphic of an adult woman in purple looking frustrated talking to a child in turquoise looking confused.

20/04/2026

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20/04/2026

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19/04/2026

YES!!

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18/04/2026

Yes!
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12/04/2026

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07/04/2026

Read further down in the article of unique strengths too!

And yes, some people with autism prefer using the term ‘high functioning autism’.
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4 Common Challenges in High-Functioning Autism. https://www.amenclinics.com/blog/4-challenges-and-4-strengths-in-high-functioning-autism/

31/03/2026

Such a good read!!
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A new study (n=795; ages 4–17) examined the mechanisms underlying Extreme Demand Avoidance (EDA) across autistic and neurotypical populations.

Findings indicate that anxiety and autism traits are positively associated with EDA behaviours across all groups. Notably, sensory reactivity, specifically sensory sensitivity and sensory seeking, uniquely characterised EDA in the autism + PDA group. In contrast, intolerance of uncertainty was associated with EDA only in neurotypical children, and not in autistic children without PDA.

These results suggest that heightened sensory reactivity may be a key mechanism underpinning demand avoidance in PDA, with implications for developing targeted, strengths-based and sensory-informed intervention approaches.



https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reia.2026.202816

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To learn more about supporting individuals with sensory differences across the lifespan see the link below:
https://www.sensoryintegrationeducation.com/bundles/Sensory-Inclusion-Facilitator-Certificate-B