Is Your Child a Sensory Seeker or Sensory Avoider?
While sensory regulation is a term often used in therapy, the meaning can be unclear to children and their famillies. Let’s break down what sensory regulation is and how the sensory system works.
Each of our senses receives input constantly throughout the day. The ability to perform daily tasks requires the sensory system to first be regulated. This is how an individual perceives, modulates, organizes, interprets, and then reacts to sensory input.
Every individual requires a different amount of input to reach their “threshold.” Some individuals require significant input to regulate their bodies, whereas others require very little.
Sensory Seekers
Individuals who have a high threshold are referred to as sensory seekers. These individuals are under-sensitive to sensory input. In other words, they require more input to tell their system that they are “regulated” and ready to go about their daily tasks.
A few of the many actions that could be seen with sensory seekers are clapping, blowing raspberries, chewing on edible/non-edible items, spinning, rolling, swinging, and jumping. It is important to ensure that sensory seekers obtain sensations to satisfy their needs in a safe and appropriate way.
Sensory Avoiders
Conversely, children who have very low sensory thresholds are referred to as sensory avoiders. Sensory avoiders are oversensitive to sensory input. They can quickly become overwhelmed when a significant amount of sensory input is provided and can shut down. Many individuals who are sensory avoiders steer clear of the input that overwhelms them.
Some clues that a child might be a sensory avoider are:
refusing to touch/eat specific foods
doesn’t like hugs/being touched
avoiding swings/slides/spinning/rolling/jumping
often in tears/overwhelmed
It is critical that one’s sensory system is just right so that the sensory system can perform the necessary daily tasks. That said, some individuals can be sensory seeking in one sense and sensory avoiding in another. For example, a child could have a high threshold (sensory seeking) for their vestibular system and could have a low threshold (sensory avoiding) for tactile input.
5 Activities That Help Regulate These Senses
1. For children seeking movement, provide opportunities throughout
the day that allows for heavy work
movements. Pushing and pulling
activities will help them regulate their bodies.
2. For children challenged by overstimulating
atmospheres and noisy environments, use
noise-cancelling headphones.
Ensure you have your
child’s full
attention before giving them directions.
3. For children chewing on non-edible objects,
provide
oral stimulation such as an electric
toothbrush,
chewy or crunchy food, or blowing bubbles.
4. For children who avoid touch, provide
tactile exploration activities in a
low-stress
playful way. Make sure that the child has
some control over the activity and make it fun.
Start with something easy, such as
introducing dried beans or noodles,
then work your way up to messier
activities such as shaving cream.
Playdoh is another option
that can be predictable and fun.
5. For children seeking touch, provide
deep pressure squeezes or weighted
blankets. This will provide the input
for the child to understand where
his or her body is in space.