How senses work
Our senses help provide us with information. This includes collecting information about:
- our environment
- our physical state
- our positioning
- how we feel
This information helps us understand what's going on around us.
We cannot turn this information off, but most of us can learn to filter it. This is called sensory processing.
Some children struggle to filter this information. This can become overwhelming.
What regulation is
Regulation is being able to have the level of energy needed to take part in the activity you want or need to do. Most people can do this by doing something that increases or decreases their energy so it matches the activity.
Some children can regulate themselves. This means that for different activities and environments they can change their:
- energy
- emotions
- behaviours
- attention
Some children will need support with regulating. Effective support will help a child to be able to regulate themselves in the future.
Examples of regulation
When our energy goes ‘too high’ we may need to do something to decrease our energy. During sports day we may get over excited and need to take a drink from our sports bottle or a few deep breaths to get back to being able to run our race or cheer for our team mates.
When our energy goes ‘too low’ we may need to do something to increase our energy. During a maths lesson this might be taking a movement break with some jumping and running, or changing position to standing up to maintain focus.