Sensory “Diet”
The ability to process sensory input from your environment successfully is imperative to appropriate behavioral and functional responses from the physical environment. There are times as well when what might look to others as “behavior” has a sensory based component. Every child’s nervous system processes sensory input from the environment in a different way and there are times when a disconnect that can impact their attention, play skills, social interaction, and tolerance for daily routines. For this reason, a formal and individualized assessment is recommended to determine your child’s specific sensory processing needs.
What is a “Sensory Diet”? A sensory diet is an individualized range of activities that are performed regularly to provide the best type of sensory feedback to the brain and body to enable efficient and successful processing to enable efficient regulation of input.
These are potential signs of sensory processing disorder:
Seeks intense movement constantly and/or unsafely
Overly sensitive to loud noises, may avoid certain environments or situations
Distress during self-care tasks such as brushing teeth, bathing, having hair cut
Having difficulty transitioning between play tasks or environments
Avoidant of new situations or environments
Poor safety awareness
Avoidant of getting wet, messy, or overreaction when this happens
Places all types of objects in the mouth, chews clothing, or grinds teeth regularly
Heightened reactivity to touch, difficulty standing in a line with other children or during circle time in class
Rigid regarding routines, lack of flexibility with changes
Picky eating
Virtual therapy can help identify your child’s unique strengths and challenges with processing sensory input and can target areas of challenge. The focus of parent education and coaching is to help the child be most successful in adapting to sensory input, and being flexible in their daily routines, academic tasks, and social interactions.