Behavioral Tantrum or Sensory Meltdown Written by Morgan Craig, OTD, OTR/L

Is your child quick to anger, become frustrated, or have emotional outbursts? Do these outbursts appear to come out of nowhere or do they have a clear cause? All of these outbursts are communication, but it can often be difficult to determine what our children are trying to communicate.

Occupational Therapists are trained to look at the root cause of these outbursts then determine how to best support them in order to return to a regulated emotional state. First, we must identify if these outbursts are a sensory meltdown or are a behavioral tantrum.

Once this is determined, we can then provide strategies that best support regulation and participation in daily activities. Check out the chart below to see how a behavioral tantrum vs a sensory meltdown can present.

If your child exhibits many of the behaviors associated with sensory meltdowns, an Occupational Therapist may be able to help. For more information, give us a call Arise Therapies at (615) 241-0122 to determine if it may be time for an Occupational Therapy evaluation.