Seven Senses

http://www.visualsupportsandbeyond.co.uk/why/sensory.html Now we'll have a look at the seven senses and some of the things we see children doing in those areas when their senses are over or under sensitive.   It is by looking at these things we can build up a picture of a child's sensory profile and how it affects their behaviour and learning.   Not all people have difficulties with all their senses, but most have some degree of sensory processing impairment.

Situated in our inner ear, this is our sense of balance, of where we are and how we are moving (including speed) in relation to the pull of gravity.   We need it to keep our balance and maintain our posture. If our vestibular sense is over sensitive, we need to reduce and avoid the input.   Things we see in children are; Difficulties with activities which involve movement, such as sports. Car sickness. Hating the head not being in an upright position. Difficulty with walking or crawling on uneven surfaces. If the vestibular sense is under sensitive, then we need to seek out sensory input and stimulate it.   We see; The need for rocking, spinning and swinging. Lots of running around and jumping. Happy to spend hours on a trampoline, bouncing on furniture etc.

Our body awareness system, tells where the different parts of our body are and how they are moving in relation to each other.   It is situated in our joints and muscles and tells us what parts of our body are doing even when we can't see them. If our proprioceptive sense is over sensitive we need to reduce and avoid the input.   We see; Difficulties with fine motor skills. Placing the body in strange positions (ones that reduce proprioceptive input). Maybe turning the whole body to look at things rather than just turning the head. If it is under sensitive, we see; Low muscle tone. Weak grasp (may drop things). Stumbles or falls over a lot. May stand too close to people due to not understanding personal body space. May bump into people or objects. And again the strange body positions, this time ones that stimulate the proprioceptive sense. Enjoying trampolining, with lots of moving around and interesting postures.

This is our sense of smell, it is processed through chemical receptors in the nose and gives us information about our immediate environment.   Smell is a sense that is often neglected and forgotten about, but can be quite powerful.   Have you ever had a smell trigger a memory that 'takes you back'?   It a quite a strange, emotionally charged feeling, which is fine when you understand emotions! In the over sensitive group we often see; Smells being intensified and overpowering. Toiletting problems (if you've ever taken a strong whiff of smelling salts, you know how painfull a strong smell can be.   Now imagine that every time you sat on the loo, you'd be reluctant to go too!). A dislike of individuals with distinctive perfumes, shampoos, and smokers. Wearing the same clothes all the time (we often can't smell ourselves, but fresh laundry can smell quite strong, depending on the detergeents and conditioners used). Fleeing from smells and people. Sometimes even self-injurious behaviour (SIB) in reposnse to smells, especially to the head and nose. If its under sensitive, we may see; Seeking out or failure to notice strong odours. Smelling or licking self, other people or objects. Smearing of faeces, earing it or putting it up the nose.

Our sense of sight is situated in the retina of the eye, and is activated by light.   It helps us to define objects, people, colours, contrast and spatial bounderies. People with over sensitive sight report; Distorted vision occurs and objects and bright lights can jump around. Fragmentation of images as a consequence of too many sources. Focusing on a particular details (such as sand grains) can be more pleasurable than looking at something as a whole. It is less overloading to simply look down at the floor all of the time. A fascination with stripes, patterns, wheels, spinning, twirling etc. Some sources of light, particularly flourescent lighting, can appear to flash like a strobe light and be painful. People with under sensitive sight say; They may see things darker than they really are, and lose features or lines. For some they may concentrate on peripheral vision because their central vision is blurred, while others say that a main object is magnified and things on the periphery become blurred. They may have poor depth perception, leading to problems with throwing and catching, and general clumsiness. Some are attracted to lights. They may look very intensely at people. Often we see children moving fingers or objects in front of their eyes, sometimes while looking at a bright light. They may be fascinated with reflections and brightly coloured objects. They could be afraid of heights and travelling at speed. Some report having difficulty with certain colours.

As with the vestibular sense, our hearing is situated in our inner ear.   It informs us about sounds in our environment and is the most commonly recognised aspect of sensory impairment. Over sensitive hearing can lead to; The volume of noise being magnified and surrounding sounds distorted and muddled. An inability to cut our certain sounds (like ticking clocks) leading to difficulties concentrating. Covering the ears a lot, especially in response to sudden noises. Sleep difficulties. A dislike of active, noisy animals such as dogs. Being scared of thunderstorms, crowds and haircuts. Needing to make repetitive or droning noises to drown out other sounds, or using 'white noise' such as a TV or radio tuned to static or a fan for the same reason. Attacking, hiding and breaking the sources of noises, such as telephones and bells. If hearing is under sensitive, we may see; Not acknowledging some sounds. Enjoying nosiy places such as kitchens or swimming pools. Tearing paper, crumpling it, throwing objects that break noisily. 'Homing in' on sources of noise, such as a washing machine starting it's spin cycle, Making loud, rhythmic noises. A hearing impairment can have a direct effect of communication and balance.

Our sense of touch is situated on our skin.   It tells us about touch, pressure, pain levels and helps us to distinguish temperature.   Touch is a significant component of social development. People with an over sensitive sense of touch may; Resist being touched, as it may be painful. Dislike having anything on their hands or feet. Dislike the wind, showers, and hair brushing, washing, drying or cutting. Hate tight clothing, certain textures or types of clothing, or prefer to be naked. Avoid getting messy. Dislike certain textures of food, or food with more than one texture (like meat in sauce). Avoid people altogether, as they always insist on touching! Overreact to heat, cold and pain. If it's under sensitive, they may; Love cuddles, maybe holding others too tightly for too long. Have a high pain and temperature threshold. Self-harm. Enjoy heavy objects on top of them. Like pressure, tight clothing. Mouth objects, biting them to gain sensation. Love the feeling of resistance you get from water. Enjoy and often initiate rough and tumble play.

And finally we come to our sense of taste.   It is processed through chemical receptors in the tongue, and allows us to detect sweet, sour, bitter, salty and spicy. If it's over sensitive, we may find; Some flavours and foods becoming too strong and overpowering. Resistive eating. Using the tip of the tongue for tasting. Gagging or vomiting when presented with certain foods (can also be smell). Preferring bland foods. Hating fizzy drinks (can also be tactile). Hating chewing.   The bit where the food is in the mouth is too aversive, so it goes in and straight down. And in under sensitive we may see; A love of strong and spicy foods. Eating everything, soil, grass, faeces. Mouthing and licking objects and people. Loving mixed foods, such as sweet and sour. Regurgitating food and eating it again