Sensory Processing
Sensory Processing (also known as Sensory Integration or SI) refers to the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioural responses. If you are eating spaghetti, catching a ball or drawing a picture, your successful completion of the activity requires processing the sensations or “sensory integration.”
Here at Sen
sory Tots I have trained in Sensory Integration and understand the importance of supporting children’s development in this area. Classes are conducted for an hour covering each of the 7 senses and helping our children reach their potential!
7 Senses
We grow up understanding our 5 senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch but did you know we have 2 more senses? Vestibular - this sense sends messages to our Central Nervous System about balance and movement and helps us to generate muscle tone so we can move smoothly and efficiently. For example it helps us know if we are moving or the object is the moving. Proprioceptive – our body awareness. It helps us know where our body parts are in relation to each other and the environment. It enables us to judge force and speed of tasks. For example closing the door without it slamming shut. Tactile (touch) – this sense can be divided into two: protective and discriminative. Protective sends messages to our brain to alert us of danger. For example if a child touches a hot hob then they remove their hand as quickly as possible to prevent injury. Discriminative helps us discriminate between objects. For example being able to find a pencil in their pencil case. Visual (sight) – this sense is located in our eyes and works closely with our nervous system to interpret information. For example being able to read a book or draw a picture. Auditory (hearing) – this sense is our hearing and listening. It is located in our ears and helps us know when our name is being callled or being aware of traffic. Olfactory (smell) – this sense process odours and is one of our oldest and most vital senses. It recognises smells and combined with our taste produces flavours. It also provokes emotions and memories. Gustatory (taste) – our sense of taste and knowing if something is sweet, spicy, crunchy, sour. Combined with oral motor skills it helps support language and speech production. Importance of Sensory Processing and your child
With your child we want to support and build their sensory development to establish their foundational skills for learning. When children grow up those who have difficulty who have difficulty processing sensory information can have problems performing countless everyday tasks such as motor clumisness, behavioural problems, anxiety, depression, school failure. One study (Ahn, Miller, Milberger, McIntosh 2004) shows that at least 1 in 20 children’s daily lives is affected by senosry processing disorder. Another study by the Sensory Processing Disorder Scientific Work Group (Ben-Sasson, Carter, Briggs-Gowan 2009) suggests that 1 in every 6 children experiences sensory symptoms that may be significant enough to affect aspects of everyday life functions. Babies learn more in their first year of life than at any other time! Never again will they experience such rapid development and are totally attentive to their whole new world of sight, sound, touch, taste, movement, smell and body awareness. At Sensory Tots we make every moment count! Instructor
Linsey Irvine is a Paediatric Occupational Therapist from Scotland. She has been practising for 12 years and has been trained in Sensory Integration for 10 years. Linsey initially worked in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, Scotland where she worked with children as in-patients and out-patients. Her practise included children with autism, aspergers, cerebral palsy, developmental delay, developmental coordination disorder and children who were experiencing difficulties at nursery and school. Linsey moved to Singapore in 2008 where she designed and developed the Occupational Therapy department in a new school. She worked with both typically developing children and non-typically children to support them through the school system. Linsey then moved to Hong Kong in 2012 where she has designed and established sensory classes for babies. She now runs Sensory Tots with passion and enthusiasm to maximise her student’s abilities. Come join her for your free trial class today and enjoy the sensory experience!
