Therapeutic Horticulture: How Can Plants Relieve Sensory Issues in Individuals with Autism?
- HEALIS AUTISM CENTRE
- Jul 16, 2024
- 4 min read
What is therapeutic horticulture?
Therapeutic horticulture, also known as gardening, is an organized natural setting where individuals can explore calming and stimulating sensory experiences. There are many different smells, colors, textures, and sounds in the flower or vegetable garden. Plants can relieve sensory issues by creating an opportunity for the individual to experience the different flower colors and smells, the sounds of the insects and birds, and the different textures of the rocks, stones, and soil. These sensory stimulations are essential to healthy brain development.
What are the behaviors when experiencing sensory issues?
People with autism display certain behaviors when experiencing sensory issues.
For example:
- Additional movement such as jumping and spinning.
- Increased stimming like hand flapping, making repetitive noises, or rocking back and forth.
- Frequent touching of others or playing rough
- Speaking louder and faster, or not talking at all.
- Refusing or demanding certain foods or clothing.
- Often chewing on non-food things
- Escalating, overwhelming emotions, or needing to escape a situation (meltdown).
Gardening can help in calming over-sensitive children and stimulating under-sensitive children with ASD.
Their senses seem to be too acute (hypersensitivity/over-sensitive) or not working at all (hyposensitivity/under-sensitive).
Individuals who are hypersensitive to sounds, lighting, or touch. Individuals with hyperhearing, dislike thunderstorms, and crowds and are terrified by a haircut. They often cover their ears when the noise is painful for them, though others in the same room may be unaware of any disturbing sounds. Sometimes hyperauditory children make repetitive noises to block out other disturbing sounds.
Individuals with hypervision would notice the tiniest pieces of fluff on the carpet, complain about air particles flying, dislike bright lights, look down most of the time, and may be frightened by sharp flashes of light.
Hypertactile individuals would pull away when people try to hug them because they fear being touched. Because of their hypertactility, even the slightest touch can send them into a panic attack. Parents often report that washing their child’s hair or cutting nails turns into an ordeal demanding several people to complete it. Many individuals refuse to wear certain clothes, as they cannot tolerate the texture of their skin. Some children with hypertactility overreact to heat/cold, avoid wearing shoes, avoid getting ‘messy’ and dislike food of certain textures.
In contrast, individuals who are hyposensitive to sounds, lighting, or touch may seek/explore sensory experiences excessively. These individuals with hypovision are attracted to lights, they may stare at the sun or a bright light bulb. They are fascinated with reflections and brightly colored objects. When they enter an unfamiliar room they have to walk around it touching everything before they settle down. Often they sit for hours moving fingers or objects in front of their eyes.
These individuals with hypohearing may ‘seek sounds’ (leaning their ear against electric equipment or enjoying crowds, sirens, and so on). They like kitchens and bathrooms – the ‘noisiest’ places in the house. They often create sounds themselves to stimulate their hearing – banging doors, tapping things, tearing or crumpling the paper in their hand, and creating loud rhythmic sounds.
Those with hypotactility seem not to feel pain or temperature. They may not notice a wound caused by a sharp object or they seem unaware of a broken bone. They are prone to self-injuries and may bite their hand or bang their head against the wall, just to satisfy their sensory need. They like pressure, and tight clothing, and frequently crawl under heavy objects. They hug tightly and enjoy the rough-and-tumble play.
Some individuals with autism may avoid certain sensory experiences like messy play in the mud. Others may enjoy swinging for a long time. Some individuals may be sensitive to certain sound frequencies and noise, lighting, motion, or touch, or explore these experiences excessively. Sensory gardens can be a calm and safe space for individuals with autism to explore their senses without being overwhelmed. They can engage in gardening that is slow-paced and relaxing, allowing them to take in various stimuli such as smell, touch, sound, taste, and color.
The use of fine-textured plants such as smooth leaves and flowers, monochrome colored plants, and hardscapes such as smooth finished walls and walkways can calm over-sensitive individuals with autism. The use of coarse-textured plants such as rough leaves, barks, plants with various colors, and rough finishes on walls and walkways can stimulate or encourage under-sensitive individuals with autism.
Sensory gardens are beneficial for children who are hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli because utilizing pastel colors in plants and small-sized dense shady views can calm over-sensitive individuals with autism. In contrast, the use of brightly colored plants and large bright sunny views can stimulate under-sensitive individuals with autism.
Fragrant plants can also calm an over-sensitive individual while aromatic plants stimulate the senses for the under-sensitive individuals.
It is also important to have an easy-to-maintain therapeutic garden so that the caregivers and family members can focus on the individual or the child. Select plants that require lower attention and install sprinkler systems during the build phase to ensure easy maintenance. Choose materials, structures, paving patterns, and furnishings for ease of care and strength.
Therapeutic horticulture has many takeaways for individuals with autism. One can connect to plants and share their thoughts and feelings. Another may feel less anxious while doing gardening. Others may become more curious about trying new food groups and resulting in enduring nutritional health. A garden helps to buffer the varied challenges that individuals with autism experience. Gardens can provide individuals with opportunities to be outside and exercise, socialize, discover, nurture their sensory systems, and improve their health.
Written by Carabelle.
References
Austin, A. Benefits of sensory gardens.
Autism Speaks. Sensory Issues. https://www.autismspeaks.org/sensory-issues
Barakat, H. A.E.-R., Bakr, A., & El-Sayad, Z. (2019). Nature as a healer for autistic children. Alexandria Engineering Journal, 58(1), 353-366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.10.014
Bogdashina, O. (2014, September 19). Sensory hyper- and hyposensitivity in autism. https://www.integratedtreatmentservices.co.uk/blog/sensory-hyper-hyposensitivity-autism/
Davis, H. (2021, October 5). Gardening and autism. https://adultautismcenter.org/blog/gardening-and-autism/
Grant, A. (2022, October 19). Autistic children and gardening: Creating autism friendly gardens for kids. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/children/autistic-children-and-gardening.htm
PositiveHealthOnline. (2001, December). Therapeutic horticulture. http://www.positivehealth.com/article/herbal-medicine/therapeutic-horticulture
Wagenfeld, A. (2021, August 5). The remarkable ways sensory gardens can help people with autism. https://www.autismparentingmagazine.com/sensory-gardens-can-help-autism/
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