Get exclusive deals you won't find anywhere else straight to your inbox.

Identifying Sensory Needs
Raising a Child with Sensory Differences:
A Journey as a Mum and Occupational Therapist, Part Three.
This is part three of the four part blog series, written by Andrea Matthews, OT and Mum from Creative OT. In part two, Andrea wrote listening, explaining and problem-solving with her son. She shares the importance of acknowledgment and how each person's sensory profile is unique to them.
In Part three, Andrea now looks at the 8 sensory systems, how we identify our sensory needs and how they can impact behaviour, movement skills and learning.
Identifying Sensory Needs
We have 8 sensory systems that inform us about the world around us and the internal state of our body. Sensory differences can result in over or under responding to sensory information in one or more sense (modulation) and/or having difficulties understanding and interpreting the qualities of sensory information (discrimination), e.g. does an object feel hard, soft, rough, etc.
Sensory processing differences can impact regulation, behaviour, movement skills and learning, and can therefore make it difficult to participate in the activities that we want and need to do.
Some examples of sensory based challenges are highlighted in the table below, but it is important to seek advice from a therapist trained in sensory integration if you are unsure about the sensory needs of your child. These needs are not always obvious and can appear inconsistent and unpredictable. For example, a child may struggle to cope in a noisy assembly but may thrive in a loud sports hall when playing their favourite sport.
On the surface it may look like they can’t have difficulties with loud or busy places. However, we need to look at sensory processing as a whole. In assembly they may be expected to sit still and not leave the hall and may have to sit in close proximity to others, so they can’t move or leave the environment to support regulation, and sitting close to others may cause anxiety, for example due to the risk of unexpected touch.
When playing sport they can move their body (vestibular and proprioception), leave if they need to, and are doing something they enjoy and makes them feel good. So, although the environment is noisy and busy, they may feel more able to manage this due to the other helpful/supporting factors.
The sensory systems should work together in a coordinated way and most things that we do involve a number of sensory inputs being integrated. For the purpose of providing examples, the table below shows some of the possible challenges that can arise from sensory processing difficulties in each sense, though it should be noted that often more than one sensory system is involved.
For example, dyspraxia (also known as Developmental Coordination Disorder or DCD) is associated with both proprioceptive and vestibular systems, but it's broader than just those two systems—it also involves issues with:
-
Motor planning: Difficulty planning and executing movements in sequence.
-
Fine motor skills: Challenges with tasks like writing or using utensils.
-
Gross motor skills: Struggles with tasks like throwing, catching, or riding a bike.
These examples are by no means exhaustive but aim to give an idea of the vast array of challenges that can arise from sensory processing difficulties.
VISUAL | AUDITORY (SOUND) | OLFACTORY (SMELL) | ORAL SENSORY PROCESSING, INCLUDING GUSTATORY (TASTE) |
May:
Be easily overloaded by the visual environment, e.g. lighting, people walking around them.
Notice visual information in the environment that others don’t.
Struggle to ignore irrelevant visual stimuli, e.g. distracted by a bird flying past the window or wall displays.
Need more intense visual input before this is registered, e.g. not notice visual information.
May seek out visual input, e.g. flashing lights, watching objects spin.
Struggle to understand/interpret visual information, e.g. pick out foreground from background, or recognise a partially presented object. |
May:
Be easily overloaded in loud environments.
Notice sounds in the environment that others don't and struggle to filter out irrelevant background sounds, causing distractibility.
Need more frequent/intense auditory input before this is registered, e.g. name called several times before noticed.
May seek out sounds, e.g. repeatedly creating sounds.
Struggle to understand/interpret auditory information, e.g. recognising sounds, volume or direction sounds are coming from |
May:
Find certain smells overwhelming. Might be smells that others find pleasant.
Notice smells in the environment that others don’t.
Need smells to be intense before they are noticed.
Seek out smells, e.g. smelling people or objects.
Struggle to understand/interpret smells, e.g. identifying smells and their intensity. |
May:
Eat a restricted diet, preferring predictable tastes, flavours, textures and temperatures.
Seek out or avoid certain tastes, flavours, and textures.
Struggle to identify food based on the way it tastes or feels in their mouth.
Lose track of food in their mouth, e.g. storing it in their cheek and not noticing it’s there. |
TACTILE (TOUCH) | VESTIBULAR (HEAD MOVEMENT, SPEED/DIRECTION, BALANCE, GRAVITY) | PROPRIOCEPTION (MUSCLES, JOINTS AND LIGAMENTS) | INTEROCEPTION (SENSE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING INSIDE THE BODY) |
May:
Find some tactile experiences difficult/unpleasant, e.g. light touch, unpredictable touch, grooming.
Seek out tactile experiences, e.g. touching people or objects to understand how they feel.
Seek deep pressure, like wrapping self tightly, firm hugs, massage, vibration or weighted objects.
Struggle to identify objects based on the way they feel. |
May:
Have a fearful response to movement or having feet off the floor.
Get dizzy easily and feel sick during/after movement.
Seek movement, e.g. rocking, spinning, appear to always be on the go.
Appear passive and under-alert.
Struggle to maintain different postures against gravity.
Struggle to save self when falling/remain upright when unbalanced.
Struggle with balance and using both sides of the body in a coordinated way. |
May:
Lack awareness of body position in space.
Rely on vision to guide movements, e.g. needing to watch hand move when completing a task.
Struggle to plan and coordinate movements.
Use too much or too little force during activities, e.g. appear heavy handed or drop tools when trying to use them.
Seek a lot of ‘muscle work’ e.g. crashing down, bouncing, pushing, pulling, etc. |
May:
Struggle to register and interpret body needs, e.g. hunger, thirst, struggle with toilet training/not recognise need to use toilet until the last minute, knowing when ill and where in body, etc.
Struggle to interpret different emotions.
Feel internal sensations intensely, which can cause overwhelm or difficulties interpreting, e.g. response to changes in heart rate or breathing. |
Next time in part 4 ……practical strategies and tools to help manage your child’s sensory needs
Blog Series written and supplied by Andrea Matthews, Creative OT
Andrea is an Occupational Therapist and Advanced Sensory Integration Practitioner. She specialises in neurodivergence, sensory processing and acquired brain injury. Her time is spent working in schools, clients’ own homes, clinic, workplaces, and the community with adults and children. Andrea is Co-Director of Creative Occupational Therapy, Neuro Rehab Group and Creative Physiotherapy.
Web: creativeoccupationaltherapy.com
Facebook: Creative Occupational Therapy
Updated January 2025