What Does an Ideal Sensory Regulation Look Like for Children (and Adults)?
While giving the full disclaimer that I am not an occupational therapist, I have come to recognise over the course of my career that sensory regulation accounts for around 85% of undesirable behaviours in a primary or secondary school setting, and around 50-60% of difficulties in a home setting.
If I described an ideal sensory regulation situation, it would be that a child experienced a range of different sensory experiences across their day, meaning they could enter a flow state. A flow state is a state of focus and relaxation where children can play without thinking which is an incredibly healthy place to be in.
As adults, we recognise this as being ‘in to’ a hobby or activity, such as gardening, without noticing how long we have spent on it. Essentially, it’s a state of mindfulness where we are purely enjoying the activity. Many adults will say that they are in this flow state when they are doing an activity such as sailing, horse riding, walking or yoga, the key being a body-mind connection.
It has been evidenced many times that the body-mind connection is fundamental in managing mental health; where activities engaging both the mind and the body such as exercise and bodily movement make people feel better. For children, the same is true of both physical activity and play, where these experiences across their day can allow them to go into a flow state.
What is a Healthy Sensory Diet for the Mental and Emotional Well-being of Children?
These days we so often see children immersed and locked into technology which can seem to be a good thing as though they are playing quietly, learning new skills or to code and getting to grips with the real world. However, this also means that they are exposed to a high level of visual information and visual stimulation which can consequently impact on their mood and sleep if not countered with a range of other opportunities such as sensory experiences and physical activity.
I refer to a healthy sensory diet as one that is varied with many sensory experiences across the day. Of course, I’m not proposing that we roll out dry-slope skiing followed by a deep pressure massage followed by slime making and so on, but I am suggesting that for children who only experience tabletop learning and then game on a device after school, their sensory and play needs are not being met which can be detrimental to their mental health and emotional well-being.
Monitoring Screen Time for Our Children
As a parent of course my children use screens, and I don’t believe many parents would dispute that screen time is helpful for children; allowing them to wind down and acting as a distractor, motivator or reward. The key is that there are different types of screen time, and whilst a child can experience creative narratives when watching an episode of a drama, if children are routinely being overstimulated by visual information, they can really struggle to regulate.
I emphasise to, within your means, try to ensure that sensory experiences are varied for your child, accounting for the fact that our education system (particularly from KS2 onwards) is limited in terms of play and sensory experiences. People like to point out that there are many different reasons for the range of problems causing children’s poor mental health, and I would suggest that these long periods of access to devices designed to be addictive is a key reason. As the saying goes, everything is good in moderation.
Additional resources on the subject:
