Dante Carrillo
A sensory diet is a treatment strategy that includes activities tailored to meet an individual's specific sensory processing issues. It is not a food diet but a program of sensory activities that individuals can perform during the day to ensure they are getting the right amount of sensory input. The goal of a sensory diet is to achieve an appropriate level of arousal and reduce sensory defensiveness to help the individual in daily life. For example, if an individual is sluggish, a sensory diet might include activities that help them feel more alert.
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What You'll Learn
To help children with sensory processing issues
A sensory diet is a treatment strategy used to manage sensory processing dysfunction in children. It is a list of sensory activities tailored to meet a child's specific needs. An occupational therapist (OT) usually designs a sensory diet, which parents and caregivers can then implement at home, and teachers or educational assistants can use at school.
The activities included in a sensory diet depend on the sensory issues the child has. For example, a child who feels sluggish or has low arousal may benefit from a sensory diet that includes a routine of physical activities such as somersaults, log rolling, hopping, and push-ups. On the other hand, a child who tends to get overstimulated may need activities that help them calm down and come down from an overloaded state. The intensity, duration, and timing of the activities are also important factors in a sensory diet. For instance, it is beneficial to use calming strategies in preparation for a challenging activity, especially in the 10 minutes leading up to it.
The goal of a sensory diet is to achieve an "appropriate" level of arousal and reduce sensory defensiveness, helping the child in their daily life. It provides the sensory input needed to stay focused, calm, and organized throughout the day. This, in turn, helps children with their attention, learning, behaviour, and interaction with others. For example, a child who has difficulty following instructions or understanding instructions may benefit from a sensory diet that includes activities to improve their attention and behaviour.
Sensory diets can also be used as a preventative tool, helping children prepare for known triggers, certain times of day, or specific environments that may cause sensory overload. This may include creating a quiet space for the child to retreat to when they feel overwhelmed, or incorporating sensory experiences into their daily routine, such as chewing gum or using a fidget toy.
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To improve attention and behaviour
A sensory diet is a strategy to address sensory needs and manage sensory processing dysfunction. It is a program of sensory activities that a child can perform during the day to ensure they receive the right amount of sensory input. The activities are tailored to meet the individual needs of the child and are modified over time as their sensory processing abilities change.
The main goal of a sensory diet is to prevent sensory and emotional overload by meeting the nervous system's sensory needs. It can also be used as a recovery technique when a child feels overwhelmed and out of control. For instance, a child with sensory needs may need to work harder to remain focused. Their mental or visual attention may differ from other children. Sensory input from an outside source as part of their everyday routine can help those who struggle.
Children with sensory processing issues respond to sensory input differently than other children. Their sensory responses affect their behaviour, and they may demonstrate behaviours indicating they need more input to their sensory systems. A sensory diet can help improve a child's ability to think clearly, manage their emotions and behaviours, and give them the tools to navigate their day's challenges calmly. As a child learns to self-regulate sensorily through a sensory diet, skills such as concentration, sharing, and taking turns also mature more quickly.
The term "sensory diet" was coined by Patricia Wilbarger in 1984 to explain how certain sensory experiences can improve occupational performance and remediate disruptions in the sensory processing systems. Just like the body requires a nutritional diet of healthy foods, a sensory diet supports a person's sensory needs. Without adequate and appropriate sensory input, people can feel out of sorts and have difficulty remaining alert and attentive. This means that learning, participating in social situations, and functioning in everyday tasks can be challenging.
Examples of sensory diet activities include:
- Using torches to look at books, or dot-to-dots or mazes to narrow visual attention
- Chew toys or chewy foods for oral stimulation
- 'White noise' or favoured music for auditory stimulation
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To help children stay calm and organised
A sensory diet is a carefully selected and structured set of activities designed to meet a person's sensory needs and help them stay regulated throughout the day. It is a therapeutic approach commonly used for children with sensory processing difficulties, including those with autism, ADHD, or other developmental differences. The aim is to provide the right type and amount of sensory input at the right time to help them stay calm, focused, and organised.
Children with sensory processing difficulties may struggle to process and integrate sensory information from their environment effectively. They may be oversensitive or undersensitive to certain sensations, such as touch, sound, taste, smell, or movement. This can lead to challenges with self-regulation, affecting their ability to maintain an appropriate level of alertness and attention, manage their emotions, and respond appropriately to sensory stimuli in their surroundings.
By implementing a sensory diet, children can receive the specific types of sensory input they need to stay regulated. This might include a range of activities such as
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To help children stay alert and focused
A sensory diet is a series of personalized, sensory-based activities and strategies utilized at specific times to help children with their sensory processing issues. It is designed to give children the right amount of sensory input they need to stay alert, focused, organized, and regulated throughout the day.
Children with sensory processing issues may have difficulties with following and understanding instructions, working memory, getting to sleep, taking risks in play, accessing the school curriculum, and academic performance. They may also respond to sensory input differently than other children, and their sensory responses can affect their behavior. For instance, children who constantly hum, yell, or make other noises may need more auditory input. Similarly, children who require more visual input may look closely at objects or seek out moving or spinning objects.
The activities in a sensory diet need to be fluid and changeable, providing a consistent kind of input in a different form. Physical activities are the easiest to start with as most children tolerate movement better than any other type of sensory input. For example, activities that use large core muscles result in greater sensory stimulation and may include wearing a heavy backpack while scooting or playing with weighted items. Tactile activities can include playing with play-doh, gloop/slime, kinetic sand, shaving cream, bird seed, rice, or other tactile products.
The frequency of sensory activities will vary for each child and will be guided by observations of the child before and after the activities. The more often a child engages in these activities, the better, to ensure that once a child obtains a "just right" state of organization and attention, they can maintain this state longer over the course of the day.
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To prevent sensory and emotional overload
A sensory diet is a treatment strategy used to manage sensory processing dysfunction. It is a list of sensory activities tailored to meet a child's specific needs. The activities included depend on the sensory issues the child has. For example, a child who feels sluggish or lethargic (occupational therapists call this low arousal) will be given activities to help them feel more alert. On the other hand, a child who is overstimulated will be given activities to help them calm down.
The goal of a sensory diet is to achieve an "appropriate" level of arousal and reduce sensory defensiveness to help the individual in daily life. It provides the sensory input needed to stay focused and organized throughout the day. For instance, some people may feel overwhelmed or overloaded and need to get to a calmer state; a sensory diet will include activities that help them come down from an overloaded state and feel calm.
The activities that are part of a sensory diet address specific sensory systems. Vestibular input (sense of movement) is created by any type of movement such as spinning or swinging. The tactile sense detects light touch, deep pressure, texture, temperature, vibration, and pain. Auditory input is what we hear and how we listen. Some environments can be too visually stimulating, such as classrooms with busy bulletin boards, brightly lit rooms, bright colors, or busy patterns on the walls or curtains. To reduce visual stimulation, parents and caregivers can provide a hide-out or comfy place for the child.
The effectiveness of the sensory diet is influenced by the frequency, intensity, and duration of the activities, as well as the 'goodness of fit' of the activities to the child's actual sensory needs. The timing of the activities is also important. The sensory strategies are best used before, as well as during, activities that are known to be challenging for the child. For example, in the 10 minutes leading up to a task that requires sitting and listening in class, attending an assembly, or playing in a settled manner, the child’s nervous system needs to be calm. To achieve this state before the task, it is helpful to use the strategies in preparation for the activity.
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Frequently asked questions
A sensory diet is a program of sensory activities tailored to meet an individual's sensory needs. It is not related to food.
Sensory diets are usually designed for children with sensory processing issues. However, adults with sensory processing issues can also benefit from the types of activities in a sensory diet.
A sensory diet can help individuals feel calm and organised, which then helps them to obtain an optimal state for learning, attention and behaving appropriately. It can also be used as a recovery technique.
A sensory diet is usually designed by an occupational therapist, who will take into account the individual's sensory profile and specific needs. The activities included depend on the sensory issues the individual has.
