What is Sensory Processing?

Sensory processing is a term that refers to how a person’s brain interprets and responds to sensory input from their own body and the world around them.

The 7 Senses

Most people are familiar with the five senses, but in actuality there are seven:

Touch (tactile)
Proprioception (awareness of body position and input to muscles and joints)
Vestibular (awareness of head position and movement; important for balance)
Sight
Sound
Taste
Smell

Efficient sensory processing is an important part of everything we do in our daily lives. We rely on accurate information from our senses to learn new things, to do our daily activities at school, work and home, and to know whether or not we are in danger. Sensory processing is a foundation for all of our other skills.

Sensory processing can be characterized as the “foundation” of a house. If your foundation is not stable, you may have structural problems in the other areas of your house. Therefore, problems with sensory processing can cause difficulties in other areas of functioning, such as behavior, learning, motor skills, play and social skills, attention and speech-language development.

What is Sensory Processing Disorder?