How to Help Children with Sensory Modulation

The term "sensory modulation" describes the integration of information from the five senses, hearing, sight, touch, taste and smell. When children have a sensory disorder or general difficulty managing a sense, it can be overwhelming and stressful for those children and their caretakers because the problem affects the children's ability to navigate their surroundings, learn and interact with people. You help children learn to manage and integrate their sensory experiences by using professional and at-home intervention.

Things You'll Need

• Occupational therapy-related toys

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Instructions

Diagnosis and Treatment

• 1

  Find a reputable child psychologist who can administer tests such as the Greenspan Infant/Child Regulatory Patterns Survey. Be prepared to visit the psychologist with your child for multiple testing sessions and to discuss problems you observe.

• 2

  Review results of tests the psychologist gave your child. Also review the psychologist's recommendations. If a sensory modulation disorder exists either alone or as part of another disorder such as autism, ask the psychologist to recommend an occupational therapist. Because occupational therapy is often offered in schools, ask your child's school staff if the school provides occupational therapy. Occupational therapy can help a child learn to understand, tolerate and integrate her senses.

• 3

  Explain the purpose of occupational therapy to your child in a way he can understand. Use a specific example such as, "It will help you get used to loud noises that sometimes bother you."

Occupational Therapy at Home

• 4

  Follow the recommendations given to you by a licensed occupational therapist for home treatment of the child. Depending on the child's sensory-related problem, the treatment may include using toys, fabric, sounds and food. Touch and sound are the most common sensory modulation problem areas. Ask the occupational therapist about books to read to further your knowledge about the topic.

• 5

  Address the child's specific sensory problem with occupational therapy-related toys. For example, a child who cannot tolerate specific textures may benefit from interactive books that involve touching items such as lizard scales and fur inside the books. Allowing the child to handle and mold clay, gelatin desert or other malleable substances for long periods of time also can improve tactile problems.

• 6

  Remove heavy furniture and/or take other safety precautions in your home when necessary. A child who can move her limbs effective or walk in a straight line, which are motor coordination problems, is more prone than other children to bump into objects and hurt herself. When working on sound problems, remove objects that may make unnecessary sounds such as clocks until the condition improves enough so that you can reintroducing such items.

• 7

  Maintain patience as you help the child. Sensory regulation and integration do not happen overnight. Collaborate with the child's occupational therapist about activities that will help the child's sensory integration improve.

• 8

  Recognize when the child is frustrated. Because treatment involves asking the child to listen to or touch items that make him uncomfortable, he may not be able to handle a lot of the activity at one time. The first at-home session may last only five minutes. Build up to longer sensory modulation experiences.