What is Sensory Processing?
Sensory processing is the ability to take in, sort out and make use of information from our environment. All activities in life involve the processing of sensory information. Information is received through all our senses, including vision, hearing, touch, taste and smell. Sensory processing also includes our movement and balance, our awareness of our body and its location as well as our awareness of our inner body cues.
We all have sensory preferences. Individuals can be over-responsive or under responsive to sensory information. Whether a child is over-responsive and/or under responsive to sensory input, the primary goal is to support and accommodate their sensory needs within their environment to promote their participation in daily activities. Failing to recognise and support these needs is likely to impact on learning emotions and behaviour.
Understanding Your Child’s Sensory and Emotional Needs
Behaviour is how a person reacts in response to things happening inside them (thoughts or feelings) and outside of them (their environment). As adults we often have the ability to tell others if something is bothering us or to identify and communicate if we have a specific need. Children are still developing the capacity to effectively identify and verbalise their needs. As such their communication is often done through their behaviour. As parents, sometimes our child’s behaviour can be confusing to us, making it difficult to see the underlying need, and this can be challenging.
Sometimes a child’s behaviour may be indicating an emotional need (for example overwhelm, anxiety, sadness, anger, happiness, a need for connection) or a physical need (for example hunger, tiredness, illness). Other times their behaviours may be letting us know that they are under or over responsive to sensory information in their environment. For example, you may observe a pattern where your child’s behaviour and emotions become dysregulated in environments where there is a lot of noise and bright lights or strong smells. This is not always easy to figure out but when we do so it allows us to identify the child’s sensory preferences and therefore support their sensory needs.
Supporting Your Child’s Sensory and Emotional Needs
Ensuring a good routine to support adequate sleep as well as a good diet and exercise help support physical wellbeing. Providing time for fun, connection and play with parents and others can fill their emotional cups. Ensuring that there are rules and boundaries that are clear and enforced with warmth and love are also important factors in helping children feel safe.
When we can step back, give ourselves space and time to calm and think about our child’s behaviour, then we can begin to come up with possible reasons to understand why it is happening. This can help us be more understanding and empathetic. We can help our children learn to identify and manage their own emotions by repeatedly providing them with co-regulation. Co-regulation is a warm and responsive interaction where parents help label and validate their child’s emotions by connecting with them and soothing their distress. We need to maintain boundaries, but we can also help with the difficult feelings that come with the upsets and challenges of life. The trickiest part of this can be recognising our own emotions and ensuring we stay calm and can respond and support our children in a warm and kind way.
Top Tips
Fill your child’s cup. Children need their ‘emotional cups’ filled daily, meaning they need to receive sufficient amounts of attention, affection, and security. When their cup is empty, children can be more prone to experiencing difficulties with their emotions and behaviours. It is important to incorporate daily, uninterrupted, one-to-one time together, where you follow your child’s lead, allowing them to choose what they would like to do or talk about with you.
Manage your own emotions. When your child becomes overwhelmed, has big feelings or becomes dysregulated from the sensory input from their environment, it is important to try to manage your own emotions and stay calm. Check in with yourself, and notice how you are currently feeling, before responding to your child. Being aware of these things, help you to tune into your child’s behaviours and understand the need they are trying to communicate with you.
Parental self-care. Parental self-care is vital to ensure that parents are best equipped to respond effectively to their child. When we don’t understand our child’s behaviour it can be difficult, and so it is important that parents ensure their own needs are being met. You can’t pour from an empty cup!
Identify appropriate supports. If your child’s behaviour is communicating some sensory needs or preferences, then you can put certain supports in place to help them get through their day. For children who experience hypersensitivity, one must consider sensory input from the child’s environment and how accommodations can be put in place to support the child, for example, creating a calm space to help them to regulate and lower their arousal from the overwhelming sensory input from their environment. For children with hyposensitivity, items like fidget toys, heavy work activities and visual timers can be helpful. It is important to keep in mind that each child is an individual, some trial and error may be required and there is no one size fits all strategy.
Link with your GP: If your child is presenting with sensory needs and behaviours that are impacting on daily functioning, you and your child may benefit from professional support. Speak with your GP, who will be able to sign-post you to the most appropriate support.
This article was contributed by Written by Miranda Comar, Psychology Assistant (Primary Care Child and Family Psychology Service, St Camillus’ Hospital), in conjunction with Senior Occupational Therapists Eimear Goulding (Barrack View Primary Care Centre), and Stephanie Van Haaren (Croom Primary Care Centre) on behalf of Parenting Limerick.
