In recent years, awareness has grown of our 8 sensory systems. You will be familiar with the 5 basic senses – sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste. Next there are 2 movement senses – proprioception (muscles and joint awareness) and vestibular (balance related). Finally is interoception, our awareness of what is going on inside our body.
Children and adults may experience and process the input from some or all of these senses with much higher intensity, or much lower intensity than ‘most people’. This may be caused by a range of conditions including Autism, ADHD, Trauma, FASD or traumatic brain injury. These differences may show in a range of different ways.
Here are some examples of just some of the ways in which sensory processing differences can impact babies, children and adults.
Note that many of these are only a concern if they last much longer than would occur for a typically developing person, or if they stop the person from doing something they want or need to do. This is the point at which a ‘difference’ becomes a ‘difficulty’.
- Showing strong emotional reaction to unexpected movement – being really scared when held up above an adult’s head, when being turned over or when losing balance or falling; getting dizzy fast, avoiding unstable surfaces, rollercoasters, swings, ladders or even being a passenger in a vehicle; seeking these sensations a lot if they make the person feel good.
- Being very aware of touch sensations – temperature change/ wet wipes at nappy change; avoidance of personal care tasks such as hairbrushing, toothbrushing, nail cutting, sunscreen; awareness of seams and labels; strong preference for / avoidance of certain food textures; using fidgets or other touch stims to calm themselves
- Seeking proprioception to regulate themselves – biting people or things; throwing, hitting or up-ending heavy items; squeezing into small spaces, or enjoying the sensation of being wrapped in a blanket, doona or big hug
- Being much more or less aware of sounds than ‘most people’ – avoiding or becoming upset in busy, loud, crowded spaces with multiple layers of noise; not noticing verbal instructions; having a very strong reaction to unexpected sounds, even if they enjoy making sounds themselves.
- Not noticing the signals from within their body – taking longer to toilet train than other children; not adjusting clothing when body gets too hot or cold; forgetting to eat, drink or use the toilet, especially if they are focussed on an activity, or in a busy place; finding it hard to identify emotions if they do not sense the body signal which usually accompanies it (pounding heart for fear)
- Seeking or avoiding visually stimulating experiences – enjoying or avoiding fast switching visuals on screens or flickering lights; having a very strong preference for bright colours or more muted tones; finding it hard to find things in a busy cluttered setting
- Seeking or avoiding certain taste and smell sensations – perhaps putting non-food items in their mouth to taste them, becoming upset when strong food smells fill the house during meal preparation, being unable to eat certain food, if the space smells of a different food.
Early Childhood Outreach training and coaching support helps educators understand these sensory differences and their impact on wellbeing in an Early Childhood setting.
With our support, educators will learn how to document a child’s preferences, and adjust the environment and activities to minimise the risk of sensory overwhelm and meltdown. We will also discuss the sensory differences which educators may experience, and how to support themselves in their workplace.
Teaching children how to recognise their preferences, the strategies which support them, and how best to advocate for their needs is an important skill in setting children up for success when they transition to school.
