To a lot people, aromatherapy is just about enjoying a pleasant smell. Scents actually surround us daily and can impact a child's comfort level. These scents can vary dramatically including air fresheners, cleansers, cologne, cooking, candles, plants, and flowers. For a child with autism, aromatherapy is much more than smell. Sensory enrichment can be an effective therapy for the treatment of autism, particularly among children past the toddler stage.
True aromatherapy not only delivers the relaxing benefits of fragrance, it also provides many other health benefits that are unique to each essential oil. Aromatherapy is the practice of using aromatic and volatile liquids that are extracted from plants, shrubs, flowers, trees, bushes and seeds as therapy to treat the sensory seeking in an individual who has a strong tendency to smell objects. It is important to remember that all odors and smells tend to be alerting. Identify scents that are associated with positive activities or that child finds comforting. Vanilla, lavender, and rose are generally felt to be calming scents while citrus, cinnamon, and mint tend to be regarded as more invigorating scents.
Many children with autism seem to need to smell everything to feed their sensory input. This may be related to the need to gain more information through a sensory channel with which they are more comfortable. Providing pleasing smells may be helpful, but it is probably more helpful to improve the other sensory systems for gaining information. In some cases, children may look for familiar smells to calm themselves. For example, a dryer sheet, towels washed with a fragrance detergent, or a perfume. Help your child find additional calming strategies as well. Some children may seek out alerting scents to "wake up" their sensory system. Try to analyze the child's olfactory preferences and how they impact their behavior.
Characteristics of different scents:
Cinnamon, mint and citrus "“ Tend to be more invigorating or revitalizing (alerting)
Vanilla, rose, lavender "“ More relaxing and calming
Pine "“ mood elevator
You can develop a calming association to certain scents by coupling a specific scent with another soothing activity. For example, always use vanilla scent when you bathe your child (if bathing is a soothing event). This may help your child learn to feel relaxed when exposed to the particular scent. You can also provide scents that you know are already associated with the feeling you want to evoke.
