My Framework for Identifying Disconnects in Sensory Perception
Consideration should be given to three distinct but interconnected layers of sensory perception; physiological perception, motor coordination, and neurological processing.
(4 min read)
We explore and take in the world through our senses. The first seven years of a child’s development are centered around physical or motor exploration and the processing of sensory information. However, some children (and adults) have trouble handling or processing the signals their senses take in. Though the special senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch may be the most familiar, there are three lesser-known general senses related to our somatosensory system:
Proprioception governs body and spatial awareness and is a part of exteroception, the sensing of external sensory stimuli, which also includes the five special senses.
Interoception governs internal body awareness or internal sensory sensing, signaling thirst, hunger, hot/cold temperature, pain, and that nervous pit in our stomach.
Equilibrioception (or the vestibular system) is associated with motion and balance. It is our body’s gravitational orientation and is integrated into many other sensory systems. It guides whether or not we experience dizziness or motion sickness.
These lesser-known systems support important balance, movement, and spatial experiences. They enable you to flick on light switches around a familiar house without looking or paying much attention, feel an elevator’s gravitational pull of up or down when you can’t see the motion, give you a felt sense of where your arms and legs are moving spatially when your eyes are shut; and provide feedback to the body to find its ideal posture.
These respective sensory areas overlap and interconnect in ways that can significantly impact a child’s development, including their regulation, sense of harmony within the environment, and ability to socialize and learn. While we all have sensory preferences and idiosyncrasies, what is critical is the extent to which these sensory sensitivities impact or disrupt daily life. Children can be over-sensitive, under-sensitive, or both to proprioceptive and vestibular stimuli and the signals of our special senses. This is why neurodivergent individuals are more susceptible to subtle shifts in sensory stimuli within the environment and more prone to anxiety.
With each sensory category, I like to consider three layers:
physiological perception - the physical components that detect sensory stimuli/signals
motor coordination - the mechanical control and discrimination in response to sensory stimuli/signals
neurological processing - the efficient processing and interpretation of sensory stimuli/signals from these other layers in and out of the brain and nervous system
Disruptions at any of these layers can have compounding effects. For example, let’s consider a child who might exhibit behaviors due to visual differences*:
Physiologically, there could be a problem related to the shape or parts of the eye(s) responsible for capturing visual stimuli, for example:
a child is color blind and has trouble learning colors, or is near-/far-sighted, so they have difficulty navigating or picking up visible details without corrective lenses.
Motor coordination issues are mechanical challenges, such as strabismus and eye teaming, allowing the two eyes to coordinate precisely with one another. For example:
Binocular vision is where visual images from both eyes fail to converge into a singular image.
Visual instability makes coordinating eye movements to track and scan the environment tiring and good hand-eye coordination challenging.
Poor visual stamina may result in inattention, fatigue, or headaches. Incidentally, these children may nap past the typical developmental ages for doing so.
An inefficiency in the neurological processing of visual information may result in:
visual discrimination challenges, including trouble distinguishing between letters, numbers, symbols, size, shape, color, and textures, as well as depth/distance; or
visual memory — the ability to remember the sequencing of letters or numbers in a series — impacts math and literacy skills.
Each sensory perception layer needs consideration. Developmental and medical screenings usually cover physiological aspects of exteroception (e.g., standard hearing and vision tests). However, if the breakdown is in motor coordination and neurological processing, as well as interoception or equilibrioception, a specialist (often a less-familiar one) is needed to diagnose and provide treatment (if available).
Sensory systems are complex, so the above-mentioned sensory areas are often studied and assessed discreetly to give insight. However, these sensory systems do not operate in isolation from one another. Pulling on one thread eventually leads to the underlying issue though sometimes there are needs at various levels.
Sensory perception challenges can elicit extreme behaviors in children because the physical sensations are neurologically unsettling, resulting in surprisingly wild mood swings. What may appear to others as a slight environmental change feels like an assault. A child may dysregulate from a sensory overload, shutting down or lashing out with aggression. These children often reside in their sympathetic nervous system, reverting to a fight-or-flight response as they struggle to access the parasympathetic nervous system that allows their bodies to relax and access higher-level thinking and problem solving. The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are a part of the autonomic nervous system, the involuntary part of the human nervous system. Consequently, it is crucial to understand a child is not choosing or in control of their nervous system response. They are also unlikely to be able to tell you what is getting in their way, so identifying the function behind their behavior — the pattern of their avoiding, resisting, reacting, and quirky activity — is a good starting point for empathy and support.
Sometimes people are familiar with sensory issues because of their relation to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, many children with sensory issues are not on the spectrum. It should not be assumed that a child has ASD based on sensory issues alone. Only a trained clinician, like a Pediatric Neuropsychologist or a Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician, can diagnose ASD. Sensory issues can also be found in developmental delays (e.g., ADHD or Anxiety) or other cases without any developmental diagnosis. A Pediatric Pccupational Therapist (OTR/L) can also help evaluate significant sensory differences.
*Good vision is more than 20/20 acuity. As with all sensory areas, efficient vision integrates many sensory layers and systems. It also includes our ability to understand or make sense of what we see. Approximately 75 percent of learning occurs through visual pathways, and an estimated 40 percent of the brain processes visual information. If a child is experiencing any visual perception difficulties, a child’s learning will most likely be impacted. Additionally, children with ADHD are three times more likely to have visual perception challenges. If you suspect visual issues are a part of your child’s puzzle, seek a functional vision assessment by a developmental or functional optometrist.
