What is Sensory Motor

A student with a sensory motor deficit may be struggling with experiencing their environment with their senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. The student may be hypersensitive or hyposensitive to the senses in their environment. For example, the student may become easily distracted or agitated because the ticking of the clock that most people don’t hear sounds abnormally loud to them. 

Every person is different in how they are experiencing the environment around them; the tools they need are unique to each person, even if they have a sensory and motor deficit. By building relationships with the student and getting to know their likes and dislikes you will be able to gain knowledge and a deeper understanding of what they may need to regulate their senses. 

Here is a list of things that your student may need to regulate their sensory system:

• Hard or gentle touch

• Noise canceling headphones

• Weighted vest/blanket

• Chew Necklace

• Swing

• Light covers to dim lighting

• Bubbles

• Sensory bottles

• Varying fabric with different textures

• Gel floor tiles

• Desk bouncy bands

• Tactile seat cushion

• Finger fidgets

• Pressure roller

• Water play

Here is a visual representation of what it may look like for a student:

Image by Reflectionsofabear.com

Above is a visual example of what a student could be struggling with when it comes to a sensory overload of senses. In the picture above you can see that many senses that are usually relatively easy for us to sift through and distractions that we can ignore could be more difficult for students to work through and tune out.

I hope this gave you a good first look at what a student may be working to overcome in the classroom with sensory motor and until next time,

Happy Learning