Too Sticky, Too Slimy
Touching certain substances, like finger paints or play dough, may be intensely unpleasant for your child with tactile sensitivities. And since the sense of touch extends into the mouth, these aversions may include certain textures of food. If your child balks at a particular food or activity, an overactive sense of touch could be to blame.
Rethink this as a legitimate sensory preference and not a behavioral challenge, and try finding alternatives that are acceptable to both of you. Glue sticks and paint bottles with sponge tops can be good alternatives for kids who don't want to touch glue or paint, and different food choices can be made available.
Slimy substances can also be bothersome to children who are underreactive to things they touch. Slippery, oozy materials or foods may not create strong enough input to trigger much of a reaction, and that may make your child uncomfortable — to have hands covered by or mouth full of something that can't quite be felt or identified. It may be helpful to put something with more tactile oomph in slithery substances — glitter or rice in finger paints, or fruit in Jell-O or pudding.
Children who are undersensitive to the feeling of things in their mouths may have speech problems because of it. Much of forming consonants and phonemes involves putting the tongue in a particular position against the teeth or the roof of the mouth, and kids who can't feel when that happens won't be able to speak clearly.
