Sensory Processing: Transforming Theory & Assessment into Strategies & Action

Is the young person you work with difficult, picky or apparently overly sensitive – or could they be struggling with Sensory Processing difficulties? How can you make changes to your practice to understand these children or adults more fully and how Sensory Processing may be impacting on their ability to cope from day to day? Book a Seat today to learn more about sensory difficulties.
Sensory Processing refers to the neurological process that organises the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioural responses. Whether you are biting into a hamburger, riding a bicycle, or reading a book, your successful completion of these daily activities requires processing sensation information.

For many people, Sensory Processing develops in the course of ordinary childhood activities. However, for some people, Sensory Processing does not develop as efficiently as it should and difficulties emerge. This is known as Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and describes the difficulty some people’s nervous systems have with taking in, integrating and making use of sensory information. This changes how the person then responds to changes in their own body, the environment and how they interact with it and others around them. It can influence self-regulation, movement, learning and interaction with others. Difficulties can be seen in isolation or, more frequently, in combination with other diagnoses – including Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit, Learning Disabilities, Developmental Coordination Disorder, Regulatory Disorders or Trauma
A person with SPD finds it difficult to process and act upon information received through the senses, which creates challenges in performing countless everyday tasks. Unfortunately, misdiagnosis is common, because many professionals are not trained to recognise sensory issues, yet research suggests that as many as 1 in 20 children’s daily lives are affected by SPD. Sensory Processing Disorders occur within a broad spectrum of severity. While most of us have occasional difficulties processing sensory information, for children and adults with SPD, these difficulties are chronic, and they disrupt everyday life. Motor clumsiness, behavioural problems, anxiety, depression, school failure, and other impacts may result if the difficulties are not treated effectively.
In this one-day workshop Occupational Therapist Deb Hopper explores the key concepts and interventions of Sensory Processing to provide you with a foundation to identify sensory difficulties in children and recognise when a child is struggling due to sensory issues, understand how these difficulties influence behaviour and emotion regulation, and how best to integrate Sensory Processing approaches into a range of settings such as clinics, schools and home.

You will learn:

• Overview of Sensory Processing and Integration: An overview of the theory of Sensory Processing and how this relates to neurobiology and the link to practice and strategies.
• A review of assessment tools and strategies used in helping adults and children with Sensory Processing Disoders.
• Exploration of the individual sensory systems, and their role in everyday life.
• Sensory Processing Disorders: what to look for, how they impact and suggestions for improvement including when to refer on.
• A framework for developing evidence based practical strategies for use at home and school, including an overview of Deb Hopper’s Model of self-regulation to guide practice.

Deb Hopper is an Occupational Therapist who is passionate about empowering professionals and parents to help children who struggle with day to day tasks and make learning and family life easier. She is the author of “Reducing Meltdowns and Improving Concentration: The Just Right Kids Technique”. She has presents workshops nationally on Sensory Processing. Her career spans the practice areas of mental health in adults and adolescents, and general paediatric practice. She is passionate about linking the mental health, Sensory Processing and paediatrics strands together to connect with and work with both adults and children who experience Sensory Processing and/ or mental health challenges.