What is Sensory Processing?

One of the major areas Occupational Therapists support children with is around understanding a child’s sensory processing patterns.  When I meet with parents, we often use an assessment called the Sensory Profile 2, which gives some really good information about how a child is understanding and processing touch, movement, sight, sound, taste, and smell.

Sensory Processing can be really complex to understand, but one way to think of sensory processing is to picture a tall glass of water and a short glass of water.  Some people have a tall, large glass, so they can tolerate quite a lot of sensations and input without becoming overwhelmed. Whereas others have a much smaller glass of water.  It doesn’t take much to make their glass overflow, and for children or people with smaller glasses, they can become overstimulated and overwhelmed with much less sensory input.  These are the kids who may cry or become annoyed and frustrated when they have had too much, which may look like a tantrum, but actually is about them reaching their limit in terms of sensory experiences and input.

For some parents, just learning this about their child can help to create so much more understanding about what is behind their child’s behaviours.  It also means you can tailor the environment to ensure your child is managing and is not over or understimulated by sensations happening around them.

OT’s also work very closely with teachers in ELC’s, kindergartens, preschools and schools, so that we can advocate and support around ways to promote a child’s learning and social development.  This is different for every child, but sometimes it may be about promoting schools and pre-schools to have opportunities for kids to withdraw and have quieter spaces if they feel overwhelmed in loud, busy environments; or having opportunities for children to move and explore if they need to get their bodies moving in order to activate themselves and concentrate more fully. 

The beauty of OT is that it is all about understanding your child’s unique and individual differences, and then tailoring the environment and activities to support them in their development - it is never a one size fits all approach.