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Tamar Ovadia
Occupational Therapy
B. Sc Occupational Therapy (UCT)
Sensory Integration Therapy Certified (Ayres SI)
What is Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)?
Sensory processing refers to our ability to receive sensory information from our environments and then process that information and react with appropriate motor and behavioural responses. Human beings have 7 different senses, some that are known, which include our visual, auditory, tactile and oral-tactile senses as well as our hidden senses, which provide us with information about our own bodies.
When our muscles and joints are being stretched we are creating proprioceptive input, which is our body position sense. It tells us where our body is in space so that we can grade the force and accuracy of our movements. Our vestibular sense, refers to our body’s sense of movement and balance, which is important for the development of postural control.
Children who have sensory processing difficulties struggle to process and respond apporpriately to the sensory information that they are constantly receiving from their environments and their own bodies. Being able to process this sensory information is important for everyday functioning and can impact a child's grooming, feeding, bathing, motor skills and may also impact on concentration and general learning. This allows us to only focus on important stimuli in a particular situation and block out stimuli which are irrelevant. Often this filtration system is not working efficiently in children with SPD and it can appear as if the child is easily distracted by or overly sensitive to noise, visual stimuli or textures.
SPD includes children who may have difficulty regulating or balancing sensory input, meaning that they can tolerate and sometimes seek out additional sensory input ('on-the-go') or avoid everyday sounds, textures and food. Emotional and social behaviour can also be negatively impacted by SPD.
