Do you often hear at your child's doctor's appointment or parent teacher interviews the words: "Sensory Processing" and think what is that?
At Country Therapy, we love educating parents and clients about anything and everything and this is often a common term we need to explain.
Sensory Processing is how our brain receives, processes and responds to any of our 5 senses. The response we give are often automatic and voluntary.
Sometimes when we touch ice cold water, we react by either pulling our hand away or yelp from the bitter chill. This is our brain processing the touch stimuli and telling us to react.
How does it relate to our kids?
As we age, our brains are constantly learning and recognising different stimulations. We learn to love the smell of rain or decide to head inside. Sometimes, when we don't expose our brains to certain stimuli, it decides to remove that knowledge and potentially the ability to react appropriately to certain situations. We need to feed our brain's these stimulations in order for it to grow and adapt accordingly.
Being young, exposure to certain sensory inputs would be scarce in comparison to a thirty of forty year old. Conducting sensory-stimulating activities at home and school is important to allow the growth and development of our kid's brains. It allows us as parents or guardians to understand our children's sensory limitations and build on their strengths. Finally, it allows us to recognise when our children has issues with sensory processing which can then bring on behavioural problems, problems with emotional regulation and social skills.
Want some light reading?
Because we love visuals, download and read through the resource below that further defines sensory processing and lightly covers topics of over and under-stimulation and how it may relate to people living with Autism Spectrum Disorder or ADHD.
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