Occupational Therapy

Sensory Processing Difficulties

Sensory processing is the way a child receives, organises, gives meaning, and responds to information from different senses. This happens automatically for some but can be more complicated for others. Because sensory processing difficulties happen internally, sensory processing difficulties are not always recognised right away. Children who experience these might be labelled as being fidgety, distractible, or too sensitive. In a child this can look like:

  • Touch (Tactile sense) :
    Refusing to wear certain types of clothing, being bothered by tags/seams of socks; or on the other end, wanting to explore everything by touch and engage in messy play
  • Body awareness and position (Proprioception) :
    Being clumsy, playing with others too forcefully without being able to grade pressure, or often breaking things
  • Movement and Balance (Vestibular sense) :
    Constantly moving- running, climbing, spinning; being afraid of heights and not wanting to play with playground equipment
  • Sight (Visual sense) :
    Difficulty visually focusing attention to the teacher, learning to read, or finding objects in the room
  • Hearing (Auditory sense) :
    Having meltdowns in busy/noisy environments like the mall, concerts or classroom; not remembering what was said and inability to follow instructions
  • Taste (Gustatory sense) :
    Being a picky eater
  • Smell (Olfactory sense):
    Being sensitive or insensitive to smells
  • Internal body (Interoception)
    Inability to regulate thirst or hunger, toilet training issues, severe mood swings

At The Kids Place:

  • We conduct screenings and assessments of the many underlying skills which may affect attention and concentration (e.g. visual and auditory memory, sensory processing difficulties, visual skills).
  • We offer individual sessions to develop the skills required for sustained attention and concentration.
  • We support your child to learn how to self-monitor and implement strategies to ready their body for learning.
  • We provide strategies and recommendations to support attention and organisation at home and school. This may include changing positioning in the classroom, supports like a fidget toy, decluttering visual stimulation, to name just a few of many options.
  • We meet with other professionals (e.g. teachers) to plan how to best support your child’s learning journey and maximise their potential.
  • We offer formal and informal feedback to other professionals (e.g. paediatricians) if requested by you.
  • We are happy to write a short referral to a Paediatrician of your choice if you wish for further investigation, and request this from us in writing (email).

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