Understanding Sensory Processing: How It Impacts Your Child’s Development and Behavior

 It’s hard to walk into a store these days without spotting fidgets, sensory toys, or sensory bins on display. Social media platforms like Pinterest are also filled with sensory activity ideas. “Sensory” has become quite the buzzword! While many parents recognize the importance of sensory stimulation for development, the concept of sensory integration—and how it impacts self-regulation, particularly regarding behavior—is not as well understood for many parents.

Sensory Processing

Sensory processing is how our brains make sense of the world through information we receive from our five senses—sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing—as well as from signals within our bodies. While our five main senses help us experience things around us, we also have three “internal” senses that help us understand our body’s position, movement, and balance. Together, these senses play an essential role in our emotions, behavior, and ability to move, interact with others, and respond to our environment.

Internal Sensory Systems

• Proprioception (Position Sense): This system provides feedback from muscles and joints, helping with body awareness, coordination, and balance. It enables us to know where our body are in space and how to move efficiently.

• Vestibular System (Movement Sense): Located in the inner ear, this system detects head movement and contributes to balance, coordination, and hand-eye coordination. It works closely with sight and hearing to help keep us steady and focused. It also plays a role in regulating muscle tone, emotional regulation, attention, language development, and even eye contact.

• Interoception (Internal Awareness): This internal sense helps monitor essential body functions like hunger, thirst, digestion, and heart rate, allowing us to recognize when we need to eat, drink, or use the bathroom. When interoception is impaired, it can make it hard for kids to interpret their body’s signals. This can lead to challenges in calming down, identifying emotions, and recognizing physical needs.

• Tactile System (Touch Sense): The tactile system helps us explore and understand our world through touch and protects us from danger (like pulling away from something too hot). It’s also essential for emotional connection, like hugs or receiving comfort. If this system isn’t working properly, a child might be overly sensitive to touch or not responsive enough.