Sensory regulation is our body's ability to process environmental stimuli (noises, sights, touch, etc.) into meaningful information. This is an essential function for individuals to succeed in a world that is full of stimuli. Sometimes, an individual's body has difficulty regulating the amount of information it receives. The brain receives either too much or too little sensory information, making it difficult for the information to be processed it into anything meaningful. This condition is referred to as Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD).
In order for children to develop appropriate sensory regulation skills, they must be exposed to a variety of sensory-rich experiences from an early age. This has become more difficult in our modern-day society as children spend an ever increasing amount of time indoors with electronics and other sensory-depriving forms of entertainment. For ideas of how to create sensory-rich experiences for children of all ages, click the link below.
Although people often refer to our "five senses", there are actually seven when looking at them from a from a sensory regulation viewpoint. These include: The five commonly known senses:
Vision
Auditory
Tactile
Gustatory (taste)
Olfactory (smell)
The two lesser known (but equally important) senses:
Vestibular (sense of motion)
Proprioception (sense of orientation in space)
For a better overall understanding and a great resource from Alpine School District of sensory processing, click on the sensory toolbox link:
For more detailed information and activities on how each of the seven senses influence us, and ideas of what to do for each of the senses for someone with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), click on the link below.