What on earth is “proprioception”?
So I hear you asking yourself; “what is this new word? It’s unheard of!” Or maybe you’ve heard it being used but not really totally understood what it means. Well hopefully we’re about to teach you something new for the day. Most of us are familiar with the fact that there are seven different senses, with the proprioceptive sense being one of them. This is the sense of where your body is in space, the positioning of your body as well the movement of your body. Proprioceptors are scattered throughout the body and these sensory receptors are stimulated when your body makes a movement which then let’s us know where our external body parts are within our environment. It’s like a loop, constantly communicating to your brain. If we close our eyes and lift our left leg, that is an example of proprioception. If we are walking towards the beach and transition from hard concrete to soft sand, our body will adjust to the change in surface which is another example of proprioception. Proprioception can be used as a calming and regulating activity if a child is over stimulated and on the flip side it can also be used to assist with attention and learning by alerting the sensory system if a child needs increased sensory stimulation.
So what happens if some of our kids are sensory seeking or avoiding? How is there a connection to the proprioceptive system? This system can play a crucial role in regulating an individuals ability to process sensory input.
Examples of what an individual who may be seeking proprioceptive input may look like include:
Enjoys playing rough and tumble and tight hugs
Prefers physical activities
Bites/chews more than just food
Hits body parts on various surfaces for input
Kicks objects
Has poor awareness of their body
Holding items with lots of pressure or exerts too much force
Has difficulty sitting at a table for short periods without fidgeting
Examples of what an individual who is avoiding proprioceptive input may look like:
Can appear tired
Would avoid touch from others (e.g. doesn’t enjoy hugs)
Avoids physical activities or appears to very cautious
Appears uncoordinated
Examples of activities we do in clinic to target the proprioceptive system include:
Animal walks
Scooter board
Bear hugs
Being rolled up in a yoga mat or being the filling in a “sandwich”
Crawling over our mattress foam cubes
Play dough
As you read through this blog entry and you're finding that some of these behaviours in your child are sounding familiar then please don’t hesitate to give us a call and have more of a chat about it.
