In our prior post, we shared that OT focuses on fine motor development, play skills and sensory processing. We want to discuss Camila’s sensory system and how it impacts her development and functioning. 

 

When you think of your sensory system, it includes eight senses: 

 

1.     Visual: sense of sight – not how well you see, but how your brain interprets the visual information in your environment 

2.     Auditory: sense of hearing – not how well you hear, but how your brain interprets the auditory information in your environment 

3.     Gustatory: sense of taste - directly connected to your olfactory system 

4.     Olfactory: sense of smell 

5.     Tactile: sense of touch - tactile receptors are all over your body 

6.     Proprioception: sense of movement and body position – you have receptors in your joints and muscles that tell your brain where your body is and what it’s doing 

7.     Vestibular: sense of movement - located in your inner ears so that whenever your head moves, this system activates 

8.     Interoception: sense of internal processing – hunger and thirst, needing to use the bathroom, when you feel sick, etc. 

 

The sensory system helps you understand and respond to the world around you. Everyone has their own sensory threshold, the point at which you can respond to the information you receive. Some may react when just a little stimulus is given (over-responsive) and some need a lot of stimuli to react (under-responsive). 

 

For Camila, she tends to be over-responsive to auditory, tactile, gustatory and olfactory stimuli. This means her body feels like it gets too much. She can then become quite dysregulated and avoidant of that input. She is also under-responsive to proprioceptive and vestibular stimuli. This means her body feels like it doesn’t get enough but she doesn’t know how to get the input she is seeking. 

 

Given this sensory dysregulation, we notice her facing challenges with daily routines and transitions. We also notice this during meal times, the only time during the day when the entire sensory system is activated, which directly impacts nutrition and feeding (we’ll get into this more in another post). 

 

Camila’s sensory threshold also impacts gross and fine motor development. At times she will avoid skills due to discomfort, display difficulty judging how much force and pressure to use during skills, avoid certain textures that limits the practice of skills, and has difficulty figuring out how to move her body to complete a skill. 

 

Camila’s Occupational Therapists have begun helping us create a sensory diet, to give her brain the right type of sensory input it needs to function well. They also collaborate with her PT, SLP and Nutrition providers for ongoing education and consultation. 

What we have come to learn and advocate for is consultation and clear communication between providers. This reinforces her providers to continue to provide the best treatment possible, reduces our mental load to translate clinical jargon to her care team, and brings us comfort knowing Camila has a team of providers who truly care for her wellbeing and development. 

We continue to do our best to help Camila with sensory regulation but she also puts in so much effort of her own via stimming (repetitive movements and behaviors that help her feel more comfortable and calm), a natural way of self-soothing. We are endlessly proud of our sweet girl!