What is Sensory Processing?

Sensory processing is a term used to describe the nervous system's ability to receive and interpret sensory information from the environment and from the body. We have 8 senses:

1. Hearing/auditory
2. Touch/tactile
3. Seeing/visual
4. Smell/Olfactory
5. Taste/Gustatory
6. Body Awareness/Proprioception
7. Movement/Vestibular
8. Organ Sense/Interoceptive

Our brain has an amazing abilty to take in information from all of these senses and organizes them into what's improtant and what isn't. Good sensory processing allows us to shift in between senses easily, tune into what sense is important at that time and tune out what isn't important.

Studies have shown that possibly 1 in 20 children's nervous systems are having difficulty interpreting and integrating information from their senses, leading to a Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). The following are subtypes of SPD:

1. Over-responsivenes: The brain over-reacts to everyday stimulation and puts the child into a fight or flight mode. These children often have sensory defensiveness
2. Under-responsiveness: These children miss sensory cues and can be sometimes labeled as disconnected.
3. Sensory Craving- These children crave sensory input by crashing, bumping, touching. 
4. Postural Disorder: These children do not have adequate postural control to allow them to stabilize their bodies during motor tasks, whether gross motor or fine motor
5. Dyspraxia/Motor Planning: Results in children having difficulty executing new motor tasks due to difficulty with making an idea, sequencing steps or carrying out the motor activity. 
6. Sensory Discrimination: This results in children having difficulty understanding the qualities of sensory information ie where the sound is coming from, if it was a "p" or "t" sound, what the edges of something feels like.

Occupational Therapy assists children in understanding their sensory processing needs and can actually change a child's nervous system to allow them better filtering and tolerance. Occupational therapy also assists children in maintaining an optimal level of arousal for the situation they are in and improves their emotional regulation.