OT and Sensory Issues

I was rubbing Griffin's back tonight and gave him a quick massage and asked him if he liked it and he quickly said "no" and then he told me to stop rubbing and patting him. I found this hard to do since it is second nature for me to do this as he is going to sleep when we snuggle but I stopped of course. He soon went to sleep but it made me wonder if he has ever tolerated me rubbing or patting his back because it is mommy's way of showing affection. I guess that I will just have to ask him tomorrow if he has always disliked it or if he just disliked it last night. Does an autistic child tolerate sensory difficulties just to get through the day or do they automatically have behavior issues if they are having sensory issues? I guess it depends on the individual and that is why it is a spectrum disorder but I hate the thought of Griffin tolerating things that have bothered him and he hasn't spoken up, I just hope that's not the case.

He has been hitting quite often lately but not hard just enough to get the point across and one of the Occupational Therapists showed me this trick called the hand press where you press both hands together with the child's hands when they are hitting and it gives them that sensory input that they need. Griffin has been bored at OT lately, I say this because I observe him and he has been having behaviors which he doesn't have during Speech and Speech is very challenging for him.  I am hoping that she changes things a bit in order to challenge him in OT in order to curb these behaviors like screaming, kicking, and throwing things.