Understanding Sensory Needs.

We all know about our five senses (eyes to see, ears to hear, nose to smell, tongue to taste and touch to explore the environment). They play a major role in carrying out daily living tasks.

We also have our special senses which include proprioception (muscle/joint sense) and vestibular (movement sense). These help us understand where our bodies are in space, what position we are in, and help us with balance and coordination.

Sensory Integration is the ability to process the incoming information from the environment through our senses (touch, movement, smell, taste, vision, and hearing) and relate it with the information stored in the brain to create a meaningful response.

For the person with Autism, this process does not always work properly. Children with Autism often experience sensory processing difficulties that can make the environment a very confusing place.

An Occupational Therapist  can assist in identifying sensory processing difficulties, offer supports to make sure the child can function at their maximum potential and to reduce unwanted behaviours.

Further information can be found in the dedicated tabs on the left (top for some mobile users). Please select a tab to view the information.

Tactile System.

This is the first system to develop in the body. Embryos less than 6 weeks old will respond to touch with motion.

Tactile senses respond to light touch, pressure touch, pain, cold and heat (temperature).

Touch perception and discrimination develop over time.

The tactile systems provide the brain with body boundaries so we can differentiate “me” from “not me”

Signs of Tactile Processing Disorder:

Dislikes having fingernails cut, hair cut or brushed, avoids touching certain textures, avoids messy play, high threshold to pain and temperature.

Activities to improve Tactile Sensory Processing:

• Rub-a-Dub- Dub: Encourage the child to rub a variety of textures against his/her skin. Offer different kinds of soap (oatmeal soap, shaving cream, lotion soap) and different textured scrubbers (loofa sponges, thick washcloths, foam pot scrubbers, plastic brushes).
• Water play: Fill the kitchen sink with soapy water and a variety of unbreakable bottles, sponges, egg beaters and toys and set it outside on the grass. Pouring and measuring are excellent for developing the tactile system.
• Sand play: In a sandbox, or on a sand table, add small toys (cars, trucks), which the child can arrange and rearrange, bury and rediscover.  Alternatives to sand are dried beans, rice, pasta, cornmeal, popcorn and mud.

• Feelie box: Cut a hole in the top of a shoebox.  Place different objects in the box, such as spools, marbles, plastic animals and little aeroplanes. The child should insert a hand through the hold and guess what toy he/she is touching- without looking. This activity improves the child’s ability to discriminate the form of an object without the use of vision.
• Finger painting: With your finger “draw” a shape, letter, number or design on the child’s back or hand. Ask the child to guess what it is and then to pass the design on to another person.
• “Can you find It?” Game- hide small objects in the sandbox. Ask your child to find a button or car without looking. Or, show him a toy, coin, or block and ask him to find one that matches.

Vestibular System. 

The Vestibular system is present in the inner ear. Development occurs during preschool years, but maturation is not complete until age 10.

It is very important for gross motor development like balance and equilibrium, bilateral coordination (using two hands), eye, head and neck control, muscle tone and arousal levels (increase or inhibit alertness).

We use the sensory information from the vestibular system for providing information about movement, whether or not we or our surroundings are moving, and about speed and direction of movement.

It also provides unconscious awareness of one’s own movements and position in space, so that physical movement during activity can be performed successfully.

Signs of Vestibular Sensory Processing Problems:

Always on the go, “thrill seeker”, No fear for heights, crave intense movements or avoids height or movement activities.

Activities to improve Vestibular Sensory Processing:

Vestibular receptors are located in the inner ear and are stimulated by the activities such as turning, rolling, swinging, and jumping. 

It is important not to overdo these activities, as some children may be very sensitive to vestibular input.

• Rolling: Cut out the bottom of a cardboard box so the child’s head and arms are free at one end and feet are free at the other. Let him/her roll down a grassy hill (simulated play). Wrap him/her up in a beach towel for a different rolling experience.
• Swinging in a Blanket: Two adults hold opposite corners of a blanket and the child gets an exciting ride. A hammock works too.

• Swinging: Encourage (but never force) the child to swing. Gentle, linear movement is therapeutic. If he/she has gravitational insecurity, start him on a low swing so his/her feet can touch the ground, or hold him on your lap.
• Riding Vehicle: Trikes, bikes, and scooters help children improve the sense of balance as well as motor planning and motor coordination.
• Walking on unstable surfaces: A sandy beach, a playground , grassy meadow, and a water bed are examples of shaky ground that require children to adjust their bodies as they move.
• Riding, balancing, and walking on a seesaw.

Get a Gym ball or therapy for your child to sit on while watching television or listening to a story. A twelve inch ball is the appropriate size for most preschoolers.

The ball’s diameter should equal the distance between the child’s buttocks and the floor when his knees are bent at a right angle and his feet are flat on the floor.

Proprioception (joint position sense).

Sensations derived from movement and joint position tells the brain when and how the muscles are contracting or stretching, and when and how the joints are bending, extending or being pulled or compressed.

Proprioception provides input from the brain to provide how much pressure is required for performing a particular movement/action.

Signs of Proprioceptive Sensory Processing Problems:

Clumsy, bites and grinds teeth, bangs his/her head, difficulty holding objects with appropriate pressure (holding pencil or pen) and poor body awareness.

Proprioceptive Processing, Appropriate Deep Pressure Activities:

For children who have difficulty regulating their arousal level and calming their bodies down, it is all about the “squishing”. These children absolutely love to be flattened and steamrolled, sat on, laid on and pressed.

The key is giving and showing them appropriate ways to get this input and helping them realise not everyone likes to be “flattened like a pancake”.

This, in turn, can improve social relationships significantly, as you can well imagine!

• Using bean bag chairs, squishy mats, pillows on them and applying even pressure on their whole body (for some, the weight of an adult is not even too much or enough!)
• Weighted blankets, toys, vests, wraps etc.
• Sitting in bean bag chairs that envelop the body and provide even pressure
• Crawl through resistance tunnels
• Ball pits and ball pools
• Body Sox
• Rolling children up and unrolling them in mats and blankets

Activities to improve Proprioceptive Sensory Processing:

• Tug of war games: Pull a rope, bicycle inner tube or Theraband
• Wheelbarrows: Child walks on hands while adults supports hips or legs
• Turtle race: Place a large beanbag on child’s back. They then crawl around circuit, slowest wins.
• Animal walks: Walk or move like an animal, e.g. snake, quiet mouse, loud elephant, big bear, hopping frog, etc.
• Roller coaster: Child lies on stomach over larger ball with hands on floor and gradually walks forward.  When child collapses, ball is rolled over child and you start again.
• Pillow crashing: Encourage child to crash into pile of large cushions.
• Heavy loads: Encourage child to carry soft drink bottles, laundry basket, boxes of toys, etc.

Vision/Ocular Motor Control.

Ocular-Motor controls the smooth and co-ordinated movements of the eyes to attend to and follow objects and people in the environment.

Controlled eye movements are needed for finding and tracking a moving object, scanning the environment, maintaining eye-contact on an object / with a person and quickly shifting focus from one thing to another for eye-hand coordination.

Vision/Ocular motor control is very important to understand the relationship between people and objects. It defines boundaries as we move through time and space.

Signs of Vision/ Ocular Motor Control Problems:

Problems seen may include poor eye contact, difficulty copying from the blackboard, problems reading across a line, using the eyes to guide hands for writing and using tools.

Oversensitive to light, visually distracted, tends to avoid eye contact, cover his/her eyes and seeks toys that have moving objects or flashing lights.

Activities to Improve Ocular Motor Control:

• Balloon volley ball.
• Push and go or windup toys.
• Remote control toys to watch and follow.
• Target tames, e.g. skittles, basketball, darts.
• Marble runs.
• Torch games, e.g. hide and seek with spot light, following cars along a race track
• Paper aeroplanes.
• Eye-tracking, following a moving object, such as holding a ball 30 cm away and moving it in a ‘box and cross’ pattern. You can use the same pattern to give eye-tracking at teeth – cleaning times. Ask your child to follow the tooth brush with his eyes.

Oral Motor System. 

This is an important sensory system in our body as it is responsible for “Suck, Swallow and Breath” mechanisms.

It is essential for speech and language development, postural control, feeding/eating behavior, eye/hand coordination and a sense of well-being.

Problems with Oral Sensory Processing:

The child may present as a picky eater, mouth and bite objects and toys, crave certain tastes and avoid particular food textures and/or over-stuffing mouth.

Activities to improve Oral Motor System:

Please contact an Occupational Therapist for an individualised “Oral motor program” which will assist the child to overcome the above issues. 

Auditory System.

This is the response to things heard. By 28- 35 weeks of gestation, the fetus moves their body parts to mother’s speech.

Problems with Auditory Sensory Processing:

Hands over ears, difficulty paying attention, failing to follow through or understand directions, likes to make loud noises, or talks excessively.

Please contact an Occupational Therapist for an individual “Auditory program” which will assist the child to overcome the above issues.