What are sensory processing difficulties?
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The term 'sensory integration' refers to the processing, integration, and organisation of sensory information from the body and the environment. Simply put, this means how we experience, interpret and react to information coming from our senses.
Sensory integration is important in all the things that we need to do on a daily basis, such as getting dressed, eating, moving around, socialising, learning and working.
Sensory information is received from our senses, which include:
- Sight (vision)
- Hearing (auditory system)
- Touch (tactile system)
- Taste (gustatory system)
- Smell (olfactory system)
- Proprioception (senses of body awareness and position)
- Vestibular (awareness of movement, balance, and coordination)
- Interoception (our internal sensory system that tells us what is happening inside our body, for example, hunger, needing the toilet, fatigue, emotions, etc)