The sensory diet may prove to be a great diet for any child. Upon first glance, it’s easy to assume that the word diet is food related. However in the Sensory Processing Disorder ( SPD ), I’ve come to see that this sensory diet is a diet of individualized activities catered to help a child function better in various environments. Typically these diets are created by occupational therapists with the child and family’s needs in mind. The goal of the “sensory diet is a simple way to expose a child a well balanced set of activities to reach an optimal level of engagement.”
Just as the SPD’s diet is used to make sure a child is neither under or overstimulated, any one can uses these categories of activities to keep your child moving with purpose. The diets covers these five areas: vestibular (balance & spacial orientation) , proprioceptive (touch), tactile, visual, auditory:
- dance
- rolling down a hill
- spinning in a chair
- vacuuming (I really like this one)
- listen to calming music
- placing and moving balls in order of size & color
Whether your child has SPD or not, having a sensory diet covering all 5 areas is a great way to keep kids active, healthy and busy! Leave a comment with your thoughts, we’d love to hear them
Source: The Sensory Processing Disorder AnswerBook, Tara Delaney, MS, OTR/L