What Is Neurodiversity?

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Neurodivergent siblings often struggle with each other when their sensory needs are in conflict.

Meeting the needs of children with opposite sensory needs is difficult.

Openly discussing sensory needs helps normalize differences and empowers children to self-advocate.

Parents may also have opposite sensory needs from their children and should be mindful of their own self-care.

Early on in my therapy career, I was providing individual therapy to a pair of young siblings. Their mother asked if we could do some sibling sessions, explaining that their constant fighting at home was causing distress for the whole family. I asked a few questions, starting with, “Does this seem like typical sibling rivalry, or something more?” Their mother stated that it seemed like more than just the usual sibling squabbles, so I agreed to do a few co-sessions to observe what was going on.

Since the siblings already both knew me, they were pretty comfortable and began to fight early on in the first session. I focused on observing and taking notes, and had them come in a couple of times to ensure that my qualitative data was consistent. I brought mom and dad in for a parent session to follow up and told them, “I think I’ve identified the problem: Your kids have opposite sensory profiles.” I then explained to the parent what I had observed. One sibling was auditory seeking and constantly made noise. They banged toys together loudly, talked, sang songs,........

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