And more importantly, why does it matter in kids with trauma?
You may have heard commercials or seen products advertising their service or product promoting sensory needs. Or maybe you’ve recently noticed weighted blankets EVERYWHERE, and it leaves you scratching your head. Is this another trend, brought on by the pandemic? Or is the world catching up to what science and teachers have known for years?
Simply put, sensory processing disorder is when the brain cannot regulate the constant stimulation from sights, sounds, smells, taste and touch. Maybe taking a walk calms you and eating spicy salsa makes you feel alive! Or the smell of fresh cookies brings warm fuzzies at the remembrance of the feeling that you got as a child at your grandmother’s house. Your brain interprets, without your conscious effort, all the senses, all day long. Those senses are often associated with memories, feelings and emotions. How we interpret and respond to this input, in combination with everything it incorporates, helps us to shape our experiences in the world and impacts our feelings too.
Touch, sight, sound, body positioning and movements, internal sensations, smells and tastes all work together to build your own conscious reality. The brain-body interactions are amazing and most of this work happens without parents or caregivers ever giving a thought to it! As a baby learns to hold his head up, roll over, touch objects near or far, taste hot and cold, feel textures of a blanket, his father’s skin or the cold plastic of a carseat, his brain is learning how to integrate, process and learn from them. And just as your sideview mirror warns you that objects may be closer than they appear, our brains learn to also differentiate how near, far, high or low objects are around us; so as a child navigates a crib, the living room floor or grassy yard, he’s learning spacial awareness.
You’re likely piecing all this together. Children that are neglected, left unattended, alone, in the same space day in and day out, their brains are not given the input to help them learn to process the world-and the senses-around them. And there’s an interesting response that we see: they are either overwhelmed or underwhelmed.
Sensory seeking kids need MORE. They will prefer music louder, food spicier, thrills bigger and cars faster. These are the kids who always have an “outside voice”, need to be spinning or climbing or touching everything and bump or crash into walls, stairs and people. Their counterparts, children who are sensory avoidant, will shut down in crowds, be easily startled or frightened, appear to be in pain with hair brushing, nail clipping or the sunshine on their face. And surprisingly, kids can exhibit both behaviors.
So how does this apply to our Imana Kids? What do we do with these behaviors and how do we help kids to regulate the input around them? In America, early interventions like occupational therapy and rehab and simple play, touch and interventions at home are game changers. In Rwanda, we do not have access to therapists and most of our kids do not have a parent or guardian that is in a position to provide the rehab needed. However, our teachers and staff are acutely aware of the day-to-day little things that make a big difference. Here are some examples that we are implementing in our classrooms:
Frequent breaks for dancing, moving and wiggling. Sometimes this looks like standing at their spot and singing, other times it may be recess or a water and bathroom break.
Using items like bubblegum, mints or lollipops when possible.
Allowing kids to stand up, move, spread out on the floor.
Fidgets
Play with sand, rocks, fingerpaint, bubbles
Dance class.
PE
Provide volunteer teams that have sensory activities at the forefront of their brains with every lesson, game and activity.
These are simple, and for the most part, cost effective. When we don’t get caught up in sitting still and staying quiet, and we give kids space to feel what they need to feel, they will often find themselves doing what their brain needs them to do to get through the day.