What is "Sensory"?

Sensory for Everyone! Oh my goodness! this is literally my favorite (and most complicated) question to get asked. Followed by the comment "I think this kid has sensory needs", to which I typically reply with something along the lines of "don't we all?" The truth is, yes we all have sensory needs. As adults we've just gotten really used to the way we process sensory information and have adopted socially appropriate ways of handling these needs. Have you ever been really bored in a meeting, feeling like you might doze off? So you started wiggling around in your seat or drink a sip of water to refocus or reenergize? Have you ever been in the car and gotten a little lost or really had to focus on where you're going and you turn down the radio? Obviously hearing better won't get you there any easier. These are sensory strategies that we've learned or felt the need to implement in order to place our brains and bodies in an "optimal" state of learning or attention.

I specifically remember being a constant foot tapper in high school. Apparently, I crossed my legs and tapped the foot on top, especially when I got nervous or bored. I honestly had no idea that some of my school anxiety came out in the form of foot tapping/bouncing until I had a teacher who would walk by and smack her hand on my desk and yell at me to stop tapping my foot. From then on, all I could think about was keeping my foot still. Forget paying attention or listening. I was too busy willing my foot to remain still! Now think of your kids... they cannot learn or pay attention if they are simply being stifled.

What is Sensory? Ok, so NOW- what IS Sensory? I'm not going to get super technical here even though I absolutely looooooove neurology and the science behind all of this... I'll spare you that at this point. But what you need to know is that we all have areas of the brain that are entirely dedicated to making "sense" of the world around us. From what we see, hear, smell, taste and feel to some more complicated senses that help us understand where our bodies are in space and movement. Typically, when we say a child has "sensory needs", we simply mean that they are particularly OVER responsive to sensory input or they are UNDER responsive to sensory input. So much that it puts them in state of DYSfunction (or their typical, functional day is disrupted because of their sensory needs). Again, this is pretty over generalized but rest assured, I plan to go into glorious neuroanatomy detail in future posts about these last few senses (tactile, vestibular and proprioception) in future blog posts.

Hypersensitivity What science DOES tell us is rather fascinating. Some of us have brains that can be oversensitive to certain sensory input. Get motion sick? It's likely you're hypersensitive to vestibular input. Get overwhelmed when all of your kids are crying at once and the dog is barking and the oven timer is going off? It's likely you're hypersensitive to noise. Been hypersensitive to smells when you're pregnant? You guessed it. Our brains made us hypersensitive to smells (probably for physiological and biological purposes of keeping buns in the oven safe from certain foods). The list goes on, but you catch my drift.

The part we are beginning to understand is that this hypersensitivity sends signals to the part of our brain that triggers the fight or flight response. I can tell you that the hypersensitivity to sounds I mentioned above will often make me a little crazy and mommy loses her mind for a second, wanting to scream or cry in response to SO MUCH NOISE. Now I know enough to blame my amygdala- the area of my brain sending me to flight or flight. However, my own inhibitions and social expectations can keep me from having a behavioral reaction (like the screaming and crying that I feel like doing) because my frontal lobe (the area of my brain responsible for reasoning, problem solving and high level executive functioning) is nicely responding to my amygdala saying things like "start with turning off the oven timer and the music... now address one child at at time... "crazy mommy" isn't a flattering reaction... take a deep breath... don't frighten the children..., etc). Now, that being said- children don't yet have nicely developed frontal lobes for reasoning and they don't often care what society tells them is appropriate. So they tend to stay in the fight or flight reaction until they can learn otherwise, as their frontal lobes mature, or we can assist them with self regulation strategies. Research is now indicating that people who experience migraines and people who are classified as introverted personalities are more likely to have hypersensitive brains all the time. This is particularly fascinating to me because this is my LIFE. I'm thrilled that so much research and attention is going towards understanding the way the sensory cortex works and interacts with other areas of the brain to make us sense, perceive and react to the world around us. I am so excited that research is catching up to the great concepts and anecdotal evidence of the sensory based OTs who have been advocating for children's needs for decades.

If you have a child (at home or in your classrooms) with sensory sensitivities, if you yourself believe that you are sensitive and tend to be more introverted or if you just find introversion and sensory sensitivities interesting, I HIGHLY recommend reading Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain. This book has opened my eyes to so much in myself, my own children and my classroom kids. It's worth the read, trust me!

Hyposensitivity Now, on the other end of the spectrum, we have the HYPOsensitive brains. Being hyposensitve means that a person's brain NEEDS more input than most. Their thresholds for their needs are so much higher than most other people. These are your kids (or friends) that cannot stop bouncing off the walls (sometimes literally), are completely unfazed by chaos around them, can ride the biggest, scariest roller coasters all day long and NOT get sick, can eat spicy foods and act like its candy. These are the kids that you think "oh if I could just bottle up your energy" or "you have got to be tired; you've been going ALL DAY". These individuals have much higher thresholds to meet their sensory needs. As parents and educators, these kids make. Us. Work.

IF you're fortunate enough to have a mature and highly integrated sensory system, it's hard to understand these behaviors because your thresholds are so much lower. Spicy food becomes spicy at YOUR threshold; kids or people with hyposesitivity to oral input will have MUCH HIGHER thresholds. They will seem unfazed by the things you think are strongly flavored. They put "odd" things in their mouths. The same thing holds true for sounds, movements, visual input etc. I, personally, get very overstimulated by noise (I'm hypersensitive) so I'm constantly telling my kids "You have to turn your volume down". But hyposensitive kids will BLAST music, make their own (sometimes odd or annoying) noises just to fill the air space and meet their own sensory thresholds for sound.

Hyper AND Hypo

It's also important to understand that if you're hypersensitive in one area, that does not mean you are automatically hypersentive across the board. Lots of people can be hypersensitive in 1-2 areas and HYPOsensitive in a handful of others. A child can be hypersensitive to sound and oral input but hyposensitive (sensory seeking) for vestibular input. The trick is to first identify what is going on with the sensory systems, understand that an element of compassion is required when we simply cannot relate, THEN figure out what can you do to help. We'll get there... ;)

"Everyone has some sensory integration problems now and then, because no one is well regulated all the time. All kinds of stimuli can temporarily disrupt normal functioning of the brain, either by overloading it with, or by depriving it of, sensory stimulation." - Carol Kranowitz "The Out-of-Sync Child" (1995)

Wrap Up

Why is all of this "sensory stuff" important? In terms of development, it's VERY important. It is one of the earliest skills to be developed neurologically and it lays the foundation for higher level skills such as academic performance, attention and executive functioning (Williams & Shellenberger, Pyramid of Learning). In other words, it is going to be very difficult for a child to attend or learn without these foundational sensory processing skills nicely integrated.

This particular blog post is intended to simply explain what sensory looks like. I'm not going to give tips or feedback to address these JUST YET. My plan is to break down each sensory system with ideas for the hyper and hyposensitve brains. So, if this information feels interesting to you, please don't miss the subsequent posts! Also, check out the books that I referenced in this post, they are really helpful resources and give tons of in depth information.