You may have heard your child’s occupational therapist talk about a sensory diet before. Sensory diets are specific, targeted activities that help your child meet his or her sensory needs to and stay calm, focused and organized throughout their day. However, sensory diets are usually used as breaks or in preparation for other tasks and activities. Below, I will be discussing some sensory adaptation strategies that can be used in addition to a sensory diet in order to meet a child’s needs while they are engaging in daily tasks and activities.

Understanding the Seven Major Sensory Systems

• Visual: There is a lot more that goes into vision than just sight. Sight is about taking in, processing, recognizing, and even ignoring visual input in our environment to help us navigate and learn from the world around us. In order to use our vision functionally, our brains need to be able to pick out the most important things from our environment, which means ignoring some of the things that aren’t important can be just as valuable. We also need to be able to notice and interpret how far away items are, when items are moving, the speed, and direction.
• Auditory: This refers to the processing of sound. Just as with vision, our brains need to learn how to process, interpret, and filter out certain sounds so that we only respond to what’s most important in a given situation.
• Tactile: Your tactile system refers to how you process touch. Similarly to vision and hearing, we need our brains to habituate to (ignore or filter out) certain information in order to attend to what’s most important. For example, we don’t notice the feel of our clothing touching our body or the chair we’re sitting on, which allows us to better be able to notice if someone taps our shoulder.
• Oral: This largely refers to the ways in which we taste different flavors in our mouths. It can also include how we process and manage different textures of foods.
• Olfactory: Our sense of smell, which can give us a lot of information about our environment and is closely linked to our emotions and memories. Different smells can also elicit different physiological responses, such as calming or alerting.
• Vestibular: Our vestibular system is largely responsible for our sense of balance and body position in space. Our vestibular system works through changes in head position moving the fluid within our inner ears. Our brains then process this feedback to tell us where we are in space and what our bodies need to do to respond and catch our balance.
• Proprioception: This refers to the feedback we get from our muscles and joints, which also helps us understand where our bodies are in space. Our proprioceptive systems are active when we are moving, jumping, and getting deep pressure input, such as from hugs, massages, or squeezes. It can often help to facilitate a calm nervous system and improve body awareness.

Understanding Your Child’s Sensory Processing Style

Everyone has different sensory processing needs and a unique sensory system that influences how we process and engage with the world around us. Sensory processing refers to the ways in which we notice, take in, and respond to information from our environment and body. Sensory processing styles are largely categorized by our thresholds for sensory information and the ways in which we respond to sensory information. This can vary greatly depending on the type of sensory input, as well as depending on the day, time, and situation.

• Sensory Seeking: Sensory seekers have a high threshold for sensory input, and respond by seeking out more input to meet their sensory needs.
• Sensory Avoiding: Avoiders have a low threshold for sensory input, and respond by avoiding or moving away from sensory input.
• Sensory Sensitivity: Sensors have a low threshold for sensory input, meaning that they notice sensory input at a high rate. However, they don’t usually take action to reduce the information they’re receiving, and often get overwhelmed, distracted, or fail to notice important information (e.g., don’t hear their names being called over the TV).
• Sensory Bystander: Bystanders have a high threshold for sensory input, and need higher intensity input in order to register and process it. They might miss important information from their environment, such as failing to notice obstacles in their environment or having a hard time finding objects in a busy background.

10 Sensory Adaptation Strategies to Modify Daily Activities

While many people with sensory processing challenges will benefit from sensory diets and activities focused on meeting their sensory needs in order to function, they will also benefit from strategies to modify daily activities in order to get the sensory input they need. Below are some ideas to adapt the environment and common daily tasks in support of a child’s unique sensory needs. Your child’s occupational therapist can always help you better identify your child’s sensory processing styles, needs, and come up with ideas for strategies to adapt challenging tasks.

1. Dynamic Seating

There are many ways to provide opportunities for movement while seated, which can support increased seated attention and engagement.

• Wobble Cushion
• Balance Ball Chairs
• Tie theraband resistance bands around chair or desk legs
• Standing Desks

2. Fidgets

Fidgets allow your child to engage in tactile exploration that can help give their sensory systems the extra input needed to stay focused and calm during class, car rides, family outings, and more.

3. Weighted Lap Pad

This provides proprioceptive input, which can help a child who has difficulty calming their body and give them a better sense of where their body is in space.

4. A Light Board

This can be placed under paper to increase visual attention to handwriting or drawing activities.

5. Visual Timer

This can help kids better understand expectations so they know how long they are expected to focus on a task before taking a break. It can also be a good distraction during potentially challenging activities such as brushing teeth.

6. Chewies

Chewies are a great, safe way for your child to get extra proprioceptive and oral sensory input into their mouths/jaws. There are a variety of textures, strengths, and shapes to increase accessibility and provide the right amount of input that your child needs.

7.  Noise-Cancelling Headphones or Earplugs

Great for the child who has a hard time focusing with background noise. It can help filter out the unimportant auditory information in their environment to enhance focus and calm.

8. Gum or Ice Water

Oral sensory input can help increase alertness/arousal and focus. Offer gum (if safe for your child), ice cold water, or even ice chips to provide additional oral sensory input and wake up their nervous system.

9. Compression Garments

Compression garments are great for children who need more proprioceptive (deep pressure) input or who have a hard time tolerating the feel of different clothes. They can be worn on their own, or underneath regular clothing items. The same sensation can be received from spandex clothing (e.g., Under Armour, swim shirts, etc.) that are a size smaller than what you’d typically buy.

10. Tactile Play

Incorporate increased tactile input by having your child draw shapes or write letters in sand or with play-doh rather than only using pen and paper to work on pre-writing skills.

About the Author

Sarah Epstein is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist with over 4 years of clinical experience in a variety of pediatric settings. Outside of the clinic, you can find Sarah playing tennis, camping, snowboarding, hiking, reading, and spending quality time with family and friends.

About NAPA Center

At NAPA, we take an individualized approach to therapy because we understand that each child is unique with very specific needs. For this reason, no two therapeutic programs are alike. If your child needs our services, we will work closely with you to select the best therapies for them, creating a customized program specific to your child’s needs and your family’s goals. Let your child’s journey begin today by contacting us to learn more.