On Monday the 29th of January I attended a workshop hosted by POPARD (Provincial Outreach Program For Autism & Related Disorders) on ASD and Sensory Differences. The main topic covered was that of senses broken down into side topics of The Seven Senses, Regulation and Sensory difficulty.

This workshop was a wonderful source of basic information surrounding ASD and children who live with sensory differences. It was a great introduction to terminology, and recognising student under-stimulation to over-stimulation.

What are senses? Senses allow us to observe and understand the world around us

Something that I found especially interesting was the introduction to the Seven senses which expands on my previous knowledge of the five senses (touch, taste, sight, hearing, smell). The Seven Senses add the vestibular and proprioception to the previous list of five. Vestibular refers to the vestibule that is found within the ear; the vestibule is connected to the sense of movement and balance. Proprioception refers to awareness of the body such as pressure and positions.

Below I have attached a great learning resource depicting the seven senses.

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Sensory Integration and Regulation

Sensory integration is a skill that all people develop over time and at different rates. My understanding of sensory integration is that it is how we receive information, organise information and then use that information to interact with our environments. Integration is more difficult for some than others, after all, we are all unique individuals, and sometimes we can experience dysregulation or “sensory overload”. Sensory overload can be scary, and triggers are unique to the individual. Some potential triggers may include noise levels, visual stimuli, clutter, transition periods, scents, lighting, personal space boundaries and seating arrangements.

According to Shanker (2013), there are five interrelated domains we can use to better understand self-regulation. Below I have attached the model in which the workshop shared with us.

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Breaking down the 5 Domain Mode:

  • Biological
    • Four neural mechanisms within the brain deal with stress
      • social engagement
      • fight or flight
      • freeze
      • disassociation
        • there is a hierarchy for responding to stressors that typically follows this listing
    • Through being regulated a child develops the ability to self-regulate.
      • a regulated child/person does not mean a managed child
    • A person becomes chronically hypo-aroused or hyperaroused if/when their central control system has become overwhelmed
  • Emotional
    • many students, especially younger students, find it difficult to “monitor, evaluate and modify” their emotions
    • the more hyper-aroused the student is the less capacity they will have to monitor their emotions
    • Young students experience emotions to an intense extent. Reactions to these emotions may be sudden and can feel ‘catastrophic’
  • Cognitive
    • Refers to any of the mental processes involved in knowledge acquisition
      • includes: attention, memory, problem-solving, perception
    • Sustained concentration is a high-cost demand on the child’s auto-nervous system
    • Many if not most attentional problems appear to be due to sensory processing challenges (auditory, visual, physical sensory etc.) which can appear subtly and can easily be overlooked.
  • Social
    • This domain’s problem lies in the arousal created by social engagement.
  • Pro-Social
    • It is not normal for children to display anti-social behaviour (but what exactly is normal?)
    • There are biological mechanisms that result in anti-social behaviours in the right circumstances
    • Stress overload is a leading cause in non-prosocial behaviour

How to best help our students when they get Over-Stimulated

  • Create a Safe and consistent quiet space
    • Some classes rooms I have observed have reading nooks and quiet carpeted corners
  • Take the class outside for a walk
  • Lead the entire class through meditation/ mindful breathing exercises
  • Allow students access to over-ear headphones to cut out loud surrounding sounds
  • 54321 Method
    • Lead your student through a grounding exercises in which you ask them to name
      • 5 things they see
      • 4 things they touch/feel
      • 3 things they hear
      • 2 things they smell
      • and 1 thing they taste

(I have only ever encountered the 54321 method in very rare/minimal circumstances typically involving extreme anxiety)

  1. CEBM. Theoretical Framework SENSORY AND THE OT PERSPECTIVE ↩︎
  2. Shanker, 2013. as cited POPARD ASD and Sensory Difficulties workshop, 2024 ↩︎