Sensory processing is the process in which we receive, process, interpret and respond to sensory information from the environment. The senses include taste, sight, smell (olfactory), hearing, tactile and movement (proprioception and vestibular). For many students with sensory processing challenges their sensory seeking/avoiding behaviours impact their ability to functionally use their hands or impacts their ability to engage in everyday activities.
Many students are given sensory equipment, fidget toys and activities without being involved in the decision making process and being active in their learning about their sensory needs. It is essential to find sensory strategies that over time support the student to meet their sensory needs, whilst remaining in the classroom and learning alongside their peers. For some students, these sensory activities/toys can distract from their learning (as they become fixated on the sensory properties of the sensory toy/activity) rather than listening to the instructional part of the lesson in the classroom. For other students they require the sensory input to help them to attend and learn.
It is important for occupational therapists to use data and observations to guide the choice of sensory input for each individual student. Completing a sensory assessment such as the Sensory Profile 2 or Sensory Processing Measure is a good starting point. Then collecting observational information from families, support workers, teachers and educational support staff to get an overview of the individual’s sensory needs across a range of environments. Then based on this information choosing well selected and purposeful activities that address the sensory seeking/avoiding behaviours. We have found that initially the input needs to be short and with a clear start/end point e.g. 10 star jumps, then sit down and finish question 2 and 3 on the maths worksheet.
For some students, if they have not had a well selected and structured sensory diet embedded throughout the day at home/school, many of their sensory seeking or avoiding behaviours will be habitual. Keeping this in mind it is essential that when creating a sensory diet, the strategies need to be consistent for the individual and given time to make a change in their behaviour. I often ask the teacher for their weekly planning and then add in sensory activities (based on the assessment and observations) into the weekly routine. Once educational staff are familiar with observing for sensory behaviours and the strategies, this structure can reduce.
Change for some individual students will not be instantaneous and supporting the team around the learner that change will take time, but if the whole team is consistent, then the changes will be faster. I have seen this at a specialist school where one teacher and the two educational support staff in a busy classroom of young boys created a sensory circuit in collaboration with the occupational therapists and after 2 weeks of consistent implementation, the students were able to sit and attend to learning activities for longer and rather than being individuals, they were starting to learn how to be part of a group. The difference I saw in two weeks was significant and through trialling things, the team could then fine tune and pick specific activities for specific students. When others see this change, they are more likely to want to make the same changes in their classrooms.
For students with complex communication needs, it is essential for them to have access to robust vocabulary Augmentative and Alternative (AAC) systems that provide language for adults to initially model using language to request a sensory activity, which then supports the student to over time use language (rather than behaviour) to request a sensory activity, so that over time they taken responsibility for their sensory modulation and can choose appropriate sensory activities that meet their sensory needs and manage within daily life.
Students need to understand why they start sensory seeking/avoiding and through a range of tools, they can select the most appropriate. If good sensory input is provided, the individuals’ sensory needs should dampen over time, but may heighten during changes in hormones, teeth, growing, illness etc.
