Processing sensory information is important for your child to play, learn, socialize, and function in the world.

It is also essential for self-preservation.

What is sensory processing?

Most people are familiar with five senses: vision (eyes), hearing (ears), touch (skin), smell (nose) and taste (mouth).

There are two additional, less-known senses: vestibular (balance and movement) and proprioception (body position).

The brain is constantly receiving sensory messages from one’s own body and environment. It then has to process these messages and respond with useful movement or other behavioral reactions.

Sensory processing is the brain activity that organizes these sensations so we can do the things we need to do in our everyday lives, in an appropriate manner.

Why is sensory processing important for learning?

When the body is able to put together the information from all the senses, your child is able to make sense of the world around her and participate in it.

Most of the tasks your child has to do involve some of her senses working together. She needs to be able to integrate her senses to engage in everyday activities.

Sensory processing of information is vital for skill mastery, behavior, attention, and self-regulation, all of which impact learning. Sensory challenges often interfere with learning.

How can you tell if your child has trouble with sensory processing?

When everyday activities become overwhelming for your child, it may be that she is having trouble organizing and using her senses, so she may not be responding to things appropriately. Sensory processing issues can show up in one or more of four categories:

1. Sensory modulation ( the brain under responds or over responds to sensory information)
2. Sensory discrimination (the brain had trouble interpreting subtle differences in the sense)
3. Vestibular bilateral function (poor balance and difficulty coordinating both sides of the body)
4. Praxis (planning for and carrying out new movements, e.g. learning to jump)

Here’s some of the behavior you might observe if your child is over responsive. She may:

• Think clothing feels too scratchy or itchy
• Think lights seem too bright
• Think sounds seem too loud
• Think soft touches feel too hard
• Experience food textures that make her gag
• Have poor balance or seem clumsy
• Be afraid to play on the swings
• React poorly to sudden movements, touches, loud noises, or bright lights
• Have difficulty accepting changes in routine or transitioning between tasks

      If your child is under responsive, you will notice that she:

• Can’t sit still
• Seeks thrills (loves jumping, heights, and spinning)
• Can spin without getting dizzy
• Doesn’t pick up on social cues
• Doesn’t recognize personal space
• Chews on things (including their hands and clothing)
• Seeks visual stimulation (like electronics)
• Have problems sleeping
• Doesn’t recognize when her face is dirty or nose is running

If your child has balance or coordination issues, she may:

• Be uncoordinated
• Bump into things
• Be unable to tell where her limbs are in space
• Be hard to engage in conversation or play
• Have difficulty climbing stairs
• Have trouble holding a pencil/pen
• Have difficulty saying certain speech sounds

How can you help your child develop sensory processing skills?

Every child’s issues are different. The good news is that there are ways to help your child’s brain process sensory information more effectively.  

To improve visual processing:

• Play hidden picture games.
• Do mazes, word searches, and dot-to-dot pictures.
• Play catch. If your child cannot catch a ball, use a larger, softer ball and roll it back and forth at first. Work your way up to bouncing and catching the ball, then regular catch.

To improve auditory processing:

• Have your child listen to music or stories without video.
• Clap hands to music with simple rhythms.
• Play with a rain stick

To improve smell processing:

• Have your child draw with scented markers.
• Play with scratch and sniff stickers.
• Have your child help with cooking or baking. Encourage her to smell the ingredients.

To improve taste processing:

• Sucking on popsicles. If your child cannot tolerate the fruit flavors of popsicles, make a few out of plain water and have your child suck those first, then gradually introduce flavors.
• Chewing gum or chewy candy.
• Drinking through a straw.

To improve touch processing:

• Bury small toys, dried rice, or dried beans in sand. Have your child dig for and find the toys.
• Place familiar objects in a cloth bag or box with a hand hole. Place pictures of the objects on a table in front of your child. Have your child reach in the bag to grasp an object without looking at it, then point to the picture of the object. Then have your child pull the object out of the bag to see if it is a match. Older children can feel and name the objects verbally before looking.
• Finger painting.

To improve proprioceptive (body positioning) processing:

• Jumping on a trampoline or rebounder.
• Pushing or pulling heavy objects, such as pulling a wagon loaded with toys.
• Simple exercises, like jumping jacks, push-ups or sit-ups. If she can’t do a regular push-up, have her stand and try a push-up against a wall.

To improve vestibular (balance and coordination) processing:

• Swinging in any type of swing.
• Riding a bike, scooter, or skateboard.
• Sliding down a slide or sledding in the winter.

When you have your child do these activities, make sure that her skin is exposed so that the touch receptors come in contact with the different shapes and textures of the object she is interacting with.

Keep in mind that children with sensory processing challenges are not deliberately trying to be difficult. Their brains just have a hard time filtering, organizing, and interpreting information that was taken in through one or multiple senses.

Every child is different and develops at her own pace. Get to know your child. The better you know her the more you can help.

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