What is Sensory Processing?
Everyone experiences the world a little differently although we all experience the world through our senses. Our nervous system receives messages through specialised receptors and relays these messages to the central nervous system where meaning is given to the message. Our brain interprets that the colour is yellow, the sound is loud, the touch is soft, etc. Our brain tell us whether we are moving or still, the direction we are moving and whether we are accelerating or decelerating. In fact, our nervous system is so good at this process that we barely think about it unless we have difficulty processing some sensation or another and we need to pay attention. This is what we call sensory integration and enables us to do the things we need to do in our everyday life (such as getting dressed, eating, socialising, learning and working).
This link provides a video explaining the concept of sensory processing: https://youtu.be/P7_mCJzegi4
For most of us the development of sensory integration occurs when we are young, as part of our normal development. We develop via the things we do such as rolling, crawling, walking and in play. For others sensory integration is less well developed. This may be due to various factors including prenatal and birth complications and environmental factors. For example, children who are looked after or adopted often experience difficulties with sensory processing, due perhaps to restrictions in their early life experiences or poor prenatal care. Physiological factors at birth (low weight, prematurity, etc.) may also cause sensory processing difficulties.
As with any developmental and/or behavioural disorder, the causes are likely to be the result of factors that are both genetic and environmental. Only with more research will it be possible to identify the role of each. A preliminary summary of research into causes and how common these problems are is contained in Sensational Kids: Hope and Help for Children with Sensory Processing Disorder (New York: Perigee, 2014, 2nd edition).
What skills are affected by sensory processing difficulties?
Along with touch, hearing, taste, smell and sight the “internal” senses of body awareness (proprioception) and movement (vestibular) may be affected. Our brain may struggle to synthesise all this information coming in simultaneously, it’s like a traffic jam in your head. This results in difficulty making sense of the information.
For children with sensory processing difficulties, dealing with sensory information can be frustrating and confusing. Sensory Processing difficulties can show up as over OR under responsive to stimulation from sight, sound, touch etc. Things that should cause discomfort like being too hot or too cold prompt little response, and other things like a dog barking can cause a response akin to physical distress and extreme anxiety. Here are some aspects of processing that may be affected:
- Resistance to change and trouble focusing: It can be a struggle for children with sensory processing issues to adjust to new surroundings and situations. It can take them a long time to settle into activities. They might feel stressed out when asked to stop what they’re doing and start something new.
- Problems with motor skills: Kids who are under-sensitive to touch may avoid handling objects. This is a problem because playing with and manipulating objects is a crucial part of development – one that helps children master other motor-related tasks like holding a pencil or buttoning clothes. They might appear clumsy due to poor body awareness.
- Lack of social skills: Oversensitive children may feel anxious and irritable around other children, making it hard to socialise. Under-sensitive children, on the other hand, may be too rough with others. Other children might avoid them on the playground or exclude them from birthday parties.
- Poor self-control: Children who feel anxious or overstimulated may have trouble controlling their impulses. They might run off suddenly or throw a noisy new toy to the side without playing with it.
- Activity level that is unusually high: Children may demonstrate hyperactivity or appear in constant movement. They are usually impulsive in behaviours.
- These children are often known to break their toys while trying to manipulate them. Their attention span is quite short, often going from one subject to another in short time spans. Hyperactivity combined with distractibility is one of the reasons many children with sensory processing difficulties are sometimes misdiagnosed as having ADHD.
- Intolerance to textures and certain clothing: some children cannot stand the way certain clothing feels on their bodies. They need simple styles with very few seams and have to have to labels taken out. They may not be able to wear certain fabrics like wool.
- Intolerance to certain noises or loud noises: some children with SPD hate the sound of vacuums, sirens, or crying babies. These noises can cause what feels like physical pain to those with SPD, and make it difficult to concentrate or function.
- Food textures and colours causing extreme responses: You may find that children will only eat certain foods and textures.
- Coordination problems: These children appear clumsy with some having difficulty learning new motor tasks. They may regularly bump into things, seem to have trouble orienting themselves in space, or show difficulty with writing or catching a ball. These children need more practice time to learn typical activities such as bike riding or skating.
