Sensory Under-responsive

Your child may be sensory under-responsive. This means that he or she may have trouble detecting sensations or be slow to respond to sensations, and the amount of stimulus usually needed to activate a certain response may be perceived by your child as too little. Some people call this type of sensory processing "low registration" because many times kids have trouble registering that stimulation even happened. A child can be under-responsive in one sense and display a different pattern in another sense. A child can also be under-responsive one day and display a different pattern in the same sense another day. For under-responders, Alerting Tactile, Proprioception, and Alerting Vestibular activities can be very helpful. Follow the links below for more regulating activities to try with your child.

Visual

If your child appears...

inattentive to detail; to misjudge distances; to require additional light or high contrast to complete tasks; to be slow to process visual information
to frequently bump into objects or other people – perhaps without noticing
to misplace objects or be unable to see them in competing backgrounds

Try Alerting Visual; Proprioception; Alerting Vestibular activities

Auditory

If your child appears...

unresponsive or slow to respond to significant sounds, such as name being called
to vocalize or make unnecessary noises – perhaps without noticing
to be slow to take a conversational turns, to misinterpret verbal directions, or to require increased time or recruitment of other senses to process auditory information

Try Alerting Auditory; Alerting Visual; Proprioception; Alerting Vestibular activities

Olfactory

If your child appears...

to be unresponsive or slow to respond to smells; not to recognize if smells are harmful
to use too much of scented products, such as perfume, aftershave, or lotion

Try Alerting Olfactory; Alerting Gustatory activities

Gustatory

If your child appears...

to be unresponsive or slow to respond to taste; not to notice if a taste is harmful
to show a strong preference for sour, bitter, strong, spicy, and bold flavors

Try Alerting Gustatory; Alerting Tactile; Proprioception activities

Tactile

If your child appears...

unresponsive or slow to respond to touch, pressure, pain, or temperature; not to mind getting messy
to have difficulty identifying objects by touch or have poor oral awareness
to prefer certain fabrics or textures or to be unaware of clothing
to crash or bump into others, stand too close, or hug too hard – perhaps without noticing

Try Alerting Tactile; Proprioception; Alerting Vestibular activities

Proprioception

If your child appears...

unaware of his or her body in space; to struggle to maintain position or posture; clumsy or floppy
to have difficulty coordinating body movements without using vision
to be prone to tripping or falling; to crash or bump into others – perhaps without noticing; not to expend enough energy throughout the day
to use excessive force or pressure when manipulating objects

Try Proprioception; Alerting Tactile; Alerting Vestibular activities

Vestibular

If your child appears...

unaware of or unphased by excess movement
to have difficulty determining appropriate speed for activities and environments

Try Alerting Vestibular; Proprioception; Alerting Visual; Alerting Tactile activities

Interoception

If your child appears...

to struggle to recognize the body’s signals of hunger, thirst, the need to use the bathroom
not to have a sense of heart rate or internal rhythm

Try Alerting Vestibular; Proprioception activities

NEXT: Sensory Seeking/Craving

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