SENSORY PROCESSING/INPUT/DIET
Sensory processing is how information is taken in,organized and acted on. Childrencontinually process input from the environment through their senses. The senses work together smoothly andefficiently to lead to an alert and prepared to learn level of arousal for mostchildren in school. Some children’ssystems do not function as well and can be in a state of over-arousal orunder-arousal throughout the school day. The same children can also fluctuate from one extreme to the other fromday to day or even hour to hour.
A state of arousal that is prepared to learn means a childis focused, relaxed and able to attend to the environment. The child can effortlessly maintain anupright posture, keep head up/forward and switch attention to relevant stimuliwith ease (for example, listen to teacher while background noise is filteredout).
A child who is easily over-aroused may have difficultyattending in the classroom. Loud orunexpected noises, unusual smells, excess visual stimuli, postural instabilityor irritation from touch can all be very distracting. Too much stimuli can also lead to shut downwhen the child tunes out the environment due to the high level of stress thatis felt.
A child who is under-aroused may have difficulty maintainattention due to lack of alertness. Thistype of child receives little feedback from the body and may appear tired ordisinterested. A child with poor bodyawareness may over rely on vision to know how to move his body and appearclumsy or fearful of movement.
Sensory input can be very powerful to children. It is important to monitor their seeking,their responses and to respect their choices. Some students have a delayed response or an over reactive response toinput; monitor if they are not tolerant.
Swinging and spinning are significant forms of sensoryinput (when combined, especially!!) Watch for signs of distress (flushing orwhitening of face, nausea, dilated or restricted pupils, sweating, increasedrespiratory rate). Tactile input,especially light touch, can be distracting or noxious to a child with tactiledefensiveness; monitor and do not impose if they are not tolerant.
Basic Concepts/Activities fordifferent areas:
TACTILE INPUT: Activities that involve touch or oralchoices. Light touch is usually notorganizing. Tactile exploration shouldbe coupled with deep pressure activities.
ACTIVITIES:
Playing in sandbox/salt tray
Exploring different textures in box of any of thefollowing:
Birdseed,uncooked rice or beans, sand, shaving cream
Looking for different things in those types of media
Put hand in a bag of familiar objects and guess what it isby touch alone
Finger painting, shaving cream, gak, glue, feather, kooshballs, etc
Play doh, stress ball
Cooking
ORAL INPUT: the mouth has many sensory receptorsincluding taste, proprioceptors, and touch/texture receptors. For some children, providing variety of foodsor oral stimuli can help with organizing sensory information as well as thedevelopment of fine motor skills.
ACTIVITIES:
Provide variety of snacks (crunchy, chewy, hard, sweet,sour, salty)
Provide snacks during fine motor or times when child hasto concentrate (alerting foods arespicy, crunchy, sour and/or cold…calmingfoods are chewy foods or having to suck through a straw…can do that withyogurt)
Water bottle with straw top at the desk (having to suck)
Resistive chew tug and pull (bite on twisted licoricedon’t let person take it)
Blow/Suck straw activities. Can have them suck regular yogurt or puddingthrough milkshake straw so extra work!!
Add granola, nuts or cereal to yogurt for added crunch andinput
VESTIBULAR INPUT: movement activities that stimulate the middle ear that can organize or bring to heightened alertness.
ACTIVITIES:
Swinging
Riding a Bike
Jumping on a trampoline
Roller Skating, skate board, scooter
Hoppity hop ball
Running, jumping
Rolling on ground or in barrel
Forward Rolls
Sitting on uneven surface like a pillow, cushion or rolled-up sweatshirt
PROPRIOCEPTION: This type of input usually has calming andorganizing effects. These are consideredheavy work activities or activities that use the big muscles of the body andcompress the joints.
ACTIVITIES:
Carrying heavy backpack Swimming
Jumping Climbing
Moving chairs or furniture Squeeze putty or resistive ball / squeeze toy
Carrying stack of heavy books Weighted lap pad, weighted vest
Pushups (floor, chair, wall) compression vest, under armor
Eating something chewy, resistive, hard clothing/tight fitting clothing
Rough housing games
Tug of War Sittingin bean bag chair
Wheelbarrow walking Wrapup tight in a blanket/tuck in at night
Sensory input may have different effects on individualstudents. Being aware of the environmentand how it may be effecting the child can be key to understanding theirbehavior. Very general responses tovarious stimuli are listed below:
ALERTING CALMING
Bright lights Lowlights
Loud music Softmusic
Fast unpredictable movements Slow, rhythmical movements
Light touch Deeppressure
Spicy, crunchy, sour foods Chewyfoods/straw/suck
Jumping Rocking
Fast respirations Slow,deep breaths
Heavy perfumes/fragrances Soothing smells (lavender)
Certain sensory stimuli can last for several hours. As a general rule:
PROPRIOCEPTIVE: (deeppressure, heavy work) can have a lasting effect of up to 2 hours; VESTIBULAR:(swinging, etc) lasting effect up to 6 hours; TACTILE: (touch processing) canhave a lasting effect up to 1 hour
Often good to follow vestibular or tactile input withproprioceptive to “settle” the child.