Sensor Profile...alarm bells are ringing.

Have you ever seen a meerkat on look out?

The sentry meerkat stands on its hind legs, often using its tail as support, or perch in a bush or tree, scanning for danger.  Alert. Ready to react. They freeze in position, call out and retreat quickly. They can't do anything else when they have this role. It doesn't take much for the alarm bells to start ringing.

While our sensory sensitive children are not exactly like sentinal meerkats, I'm reminded that they may react more quickly and more intensely than others to sensory information. Their internal "alarm bells" are ready to sound at any moment.   They have a low neurological threshold, so it doesn't take much external stimuli to affect this person.  We can use the image of a bucket to consider that this child's bucket is small and is filled quickly.  There is a level of tolerance, however this is very narrow.  The child may react passively and need help to cope with stimuli. They need help to perservere with activities and cope with demands placed on them. 

Sensory Characteristics

hThese are some examples that may be seen in children who have sensory sensitivities. Not all children will have all characteristics.  They may different levels of coping for different sensations.  Parents, teachers, friends and family may have already made adjustments to help this child. 

Visual System:
This child may be sensitive to visual stimuli such as indoor or outdoor (sun) light.  They may stare intensely at objects of people.  They may watch everyone when they move around the room.  They may be aware of changing visual information.

In the classroom; this may mean that the child is aware of all the visual information on the walls, hanging across the room, on the teacher's desk, on their own desks.   They may be visually aware of other students; where they are sitting, who they haven't sat with before, when they go to the bathroom, etc. They may notice the birds in the playground.  They may see when the principal has sat in their regular seat on the stage. It may be distracting or overwhelming for them as they try to organise this information in their minds. 
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Auditory System:
This child may be sensitive or respond negatively to loud sounds or environments.  This may include loud items like vaccum cleaners, hair dryers, lawn mowers, blenders or places like classrooms, swimming pools and shopping centres. This may also include items or places that others do not find noisy. 

In the classroon, children may have difficulty with multiple people speaking at the same time.  They may also be sensitive to one person speaking.  This child may have difficulty with background noises like appliances (fans, heaters, clocks). 

This child may not be affected by the noises and sounds that they themselves make. They may say things repeatedly to organize and make sense of information.

Tactile System:
This child may be sensitive to touch (being touched or touching certain things) and this may result in aggressive or emotional reactions.  This is usually a fight/flight/freeze response which is automatic rather than a planned action.  Light touch pressure can be highly sensitive.

At school, this child may have difficulty standing in line or sitting on the floor with other children.  They may refuse physical help (Eg. a hand to hold when walking on uneven ground, or hand over hand assistance to hold scissors). They may strongly dislike messy activities such as painting. 

At home, this child may be sensitive to clothing tags and seams. They may have preferences with soft furnishings like bedsheets and blankets.  They may dislike grooming activities such as hair washing and cutting nails.  

In the community, this child may have difficulty visiting professionals such as the hair dresser, dentist or doctor; with the anticipation of physical touch. 

Proprioceptive and Vestibular Systems:
This child may appear to be hyperactive or easily distractible, as they are drawn to the latest stimuli that presents itself. 

They may also be cautious about various situations, unsure how they will cope with a change in body position.  They may have poor balance and may fear trying new things.  This child may have difficulty participating in playgrounds (swings, slides, balance bridges, etc) which have a variety of sensory input of varying intensities (many outside of the child's control).  

This child may be prone to car or air sickness. They may fear riding a bike or scooter. 

At school, this child may be constantly moving in the classroom to pay attention to things in their environment.  They may prefer to watch sports or children on playground equipment. 

Oral Motor System:
This child may be a picky eater and sensitive to textures, tastes, the colour or smell of food. They may be sensitive to the type of toothpaste that is used of whether someone helps them to brush their teeth. 

Please note that these are general descriptions and characteristics.  A comprehensive assessment will provide individual information on sensory sensitivities, modulation and descrimination. 

There has also been a link between people with sensory processing difficulties (as described by Ayres and Dunn) and Sensitive Processing Sensitivities (genetically determined tempermental or personality trait). "Although temperamental SPS and the different sensory processing patterns and disorders are not the same, they do have a low sensory threshold in common and can thus provide preliminary insight into the association between high SPS and problems in daily functioning" (Boterberg and Warryen, 2016). 

Highly sensitive people have a deep central nervous response to physical, emotional, social and/or sensory stimuli. They can be highly empathetic, caring of others and taking on their problems as their own. ​
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Sensory Supports

In general, the child who exhibits a "sensor" sensory profile benefits from support from others (teachers, parents, therapists, friends) to provide sensory experiences to help a child to continue with a task and manage thresholds.  The instinct is to remove sensory stimuli, however for this profile, the recommendation by Dunn is to increase discriminatory sensory input (rather than arousal input) to help organise patterns of information.  

This children may benefit from focusing attention on the task at hand or being in the moment.  They may find predictability, repetition and routines helpful to plan and organise their brains.  They may benefit from meditation and mindfulness. 

Therefore intervention planning may include:

• Increasing discriminatory sensory input.
• Providing support to continue a task, managing thresholds.
• Focus attention through repitition, meditation and mindfulness.

Some examples of sensory supports may include:

Visual System:

• Reduce visual clutter (in the classroom) or provide a designated place to sit.  Use visual barriers (eg. desk screen divider) to reduce visual information. 
• Provide a predictable visual environment to organise thoughts (eg. the information on the whiteboard is in the same place even though the details of the day, weather, schedule, etc may change).
• Position important items at waist to eye level to reduce the need for alerting head movements (ie. looking down and up).   Position the child so they are looking forward to important information (Eg. the front of the room).
• Organise information using structured visual prompts (eg. Use predictable visual timetables and checklists).

Auditory System:

• Provide predictable patterns of auditory cues (Eg. use the same verbal prompts when forming letters). 
• Prepare the child for auditory input (eg. the bell will ring soon, the hand dryer will be noisy, I am going to use th hair dryer now). 
• Use an auditory countdown (eg. After I give the instruction, I will stop speaking.  or The class can start speaking in 5 seconds; 5 4 3 2 1...).
• Provide noise cancelling headphones to reduce auditory input. 
• Provide a quieter place in the classroom when needed.
• Use music and songs, assigning predictable actions or associated implications (eg. when this song is played, everyone packs away toys). 

Tactile System:

• Provide discriminatory touch input  (ie. firm touch pressure) on the surface of the skin (eg. prior to hair washing/cutting). 
• Purchase seam-free or tagless clothing. Remove tags from clothing. Many sensitive children enjoy bamboo cotton clothing and linen. 
• Provide a graded introduction to textures in play. Provide predictable visual or verbal input together with tactile activities.

Proprioceptive and Vestibular Systems. 

• Provide proprioceptive activities so that they child can experience "heavy work" with feedbak to their muscles and joints. (eg. animal bear walks, hanging on low monkey bar, carry buckets of water/sand).
• Provide linear rhymthic patterns of movement (ie. forward/backward, side to side).  Children may enjoy sitting on a rocking horse, balance air cushion).
• Provide opportunities for the child to manage the amount of input, propulsion and balance. (Eg. Sit on a low playground swing so that their feet can touch the floor initially. )
• Practice weight shifting with a close centre of gravity (eg. standing with legs close together before placing them further away). 

Oral Motor System:

• Provide a gradual introduction to new foods and textures (consider the SOS approach).
• Allow for opportunities to organise food prior to eating (eg. use a divided plate).  
• Provide (or allow the child to apply) firm touch pressure around the mouth and face prior to dentist vists and tooth-brushing.​

With exposure and support to tolerate sensory stimuli, these children may increase their ability to cope. This may be due to cognitive reasoning (eg. I don't like the feel of sand on my feet, however if I tolerate it then I can play with my family at the beach) or a decrease in sensitivity (eg. The sand doesn't hurt as much now because I have gone every day this week).  For some people, they will remain sensitive to certain stimuli and accept that. 

These children may enjoy repetitive play or structured leisure activities. (For example, stacking and unstacking blocks, completing puzzles, knitting, jumping on the trampoline.)  They may also enjoy rhymthic activities such as swimming, dancing or drumming. 

The "Sensor Sensory Profile" and the "Avoider Sensory Profile", share low neurological thresholds for tolerance.  The main difference between these presentations is whether they actively regulate (usually avoiding) or if they are passive with their self-regulation.  They may both REACT but does the memory of a perceived threat or demand, create increased avoidance behaviour?

The "Sensor Sensory Profile" and the "Bystander Sensory Profile", both have passive responses however their neurological thresholds are different.  The Sensor has a small bucket which fills easily and the Bystander has a large bucket that they need help to fill. 

Thank you to everyone has provided feedback on the "Bystander" profile that I shared recently.  Thank you for your patience as I work through creating these visual resources to help explain sensory profiles.  They will eventually be made available as a pdf, so please keep in contact as I develop these. Head back to the overview of Dunn's sensory profiles, take a closer look at the Bystander and stay connected for more. 

Cindy is a registered occupational therapist practising in Sydney, Australia.  She has two growing children who are a constant source of inspiration and learning.  Cindy loves working creatively to help children to reach their potential, finding opportunities in everyday living and making learning fun. She is also addicted to making printables (even when they take a long time to complete).  Cindy is the author of the Occupational Therapy blog Your Kids OT.  Read more articles from Your Kids OT at https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog

Cindy is a contributing author of the Functional Skills for Kids Therapy Team.  They have together published THE HANDWRITING BOOK, THE SCISSORS SKILLS BOOK and THE TOILETING BOOK.

​The information on this site is general in nature. The activities are safe for most children, however, you should consult an Occupational Therapist or health professional to address specific movement, sensory or other medical conditions. Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote recommended products. Your Kids OT receives a small commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. ​​​
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