Sensory Processing and Trauma

Our ability to absorb and process the sensory information we receive from our environment has an impact on our behaviour, our ability to communicate, our attachments, our coordination and our daily living skills. Children who have suffered abuse or severe neglect in the womb or early childhood may have difficulties coping with stress. These children are often hyper-vigilant and have a tendency to react to seemingly "normal" situations with a fight, flight or freeze response. This can affect their capacity to filter out irrelevant sensory information such as background sounds as they have become sensitised to the possibility of danger.

As a result of this hyper-vigilance, children struggle to regulate their emotional and arousal states and develop behavioural strategies to help them survive. These behaviours will vary from child to child, depending on their early years' experience and the sensory stimuli they're reacting to. Some children may engage in behaviours to maintain their parents' attention, while others may keep an emotional distance as they've learnt not to trust their parents to meet their sensory needs. Children may vary between the two depending on their needs.

Below is a list of resources detailing the different sensory systems and giving more information on Sensory Attachment Intervention Theory. These documents outline some behaviours you may see in your child and explain the cause of those behaviours. 

Resources