The way tactile stimuli are processed differs per person. The type of stimulus to which you or your child is sensitive or undersensitive is also different. In this article I zoom in on the processing of sensory stimuli and the importance of tactile stimuli on growth and development in children.

Perceiving tactile stimuli

We receive information from our tactile system through our skin (from head to toe) to measure daily sensations, such as temperature, vibration, pressure, itching and pain. Everything in your world is influenced by the way your tactile system interprets it… stuffed animals, clothes, the grass or sand under your feet, the food you eat, the coffee you drink. All these things have one thing in common… namely ‘touching’.

I would like to show you why the tactile system is such an important area that can be developed in all children. After all, the tactile system allows children (and adults) to feel the world around them. A healthy tactile system creates joy and excitement, while problems in tactile information processing can cause a lot of frustration.

When you think of the word ‘tactile’ or ‘touch’, what kind of image comes to mind? Many think of children who, for example, play in the sand, pet an animal or play with water or examine a new toy by touch. Or how about a barefoot path?

Tactile sensitivity

The tactile system helps children to properly coordinate, organize and interpret the touch. When do you talk about a problem in tactile information processing? A problem is when a child reacts too much or too little to the tactile stimuli. For example, one child registers a boy who runs into him in the hustle and bustle, but barely, he is not bothered by it. And may not have even felt it. There may then be tactile undersensitivity.

Tactile stimuli in this child only come in to a limited extent. Imagine that all the information that enters the brain goes through a funnel. This funnel is very tightly adjusted. Few stimuli are transmitted to the brain. As a result, the child receives few sensory stimuli.

Another child may stiffen or scream in the same situation. This shows that touch is registered immediately and it also comes in hard. There is a tactile hypersensitivity in this child. Imagine that all the information that enters the brain goes through a broken funnel. Then all sensory information (stimuli) enters the brain at the same time. The child is, as it were, overwhelmed by this flood of information.

Tactilely undersensitive?

I remember the moments when my son, when he was 3, regularly grabbed other children and hugged them tightly, which the other person could not always appreciate at that moment. Also, food was done with the fingers for a very long time. His tactile system needed tactile stimuli as input at such a time. He recently started wearing the Texture pants from SAM. These pants contain all kinds of fidgeting elements.

My son is often looking for tactile stimuli and seems to be undersensitive to tactile stimuli. By undersensitive, I mean that the information only comes in sparsely through touch. He likes to use a chewing jewelry during the day to receive extra tactile stimuli.

He also loves to hug and touch others. And he enjoys sensopathic playing and fidgeting material. The chew chain ensures that he now has less of a tendency to touch other children in the classroom, which brings more peace for his classmates, the teacher and himself.

Tactilely hypersensitive?

And my daughter, as a young child, she regularly cried, screamed and panicked before going to school. Often a sock that didn’t feel good or pants that were too tight or a sweater that ‘stung’. At first, I thought she was setting herself up.

Later I started to delve more into sensory processing problems and I was able to put her behavior in a different light. So is the pain she experiences when she bumps herself a little, there is screaming murder and fire.

I now know that’s her pain experience. It’s easier for me to stay calm and know that fortunately there is nothing serious going on, but she needs comfort. She has a hypersensitivity to tactile stimuli. That is, a small stimulus enters her strongly and can already throw her off balance.

In the overview below you can see whether your child has hypersensitivity or undersensitivity to sensory stimuli. And sometimes you will see that your child is undersensitive in some stimuli and hypersensitive in others.

Deep pressure and various textures as tactile stimuli

The brain learns to accept and process tactile input in a certain order. The tactile system covers the entire network of skin, including the inside of the mouth. The tactile system is quite complex, and the nervous system processes different types of tactile input through different pathways to the brain. It is therefore possible that a child can tolerate one form of tactile input just fine, but is immediately upset by other tactile input. Deep pressure touch is the most accepted form of tactile input in general which helps calm children and adults.

Deep pressure tools

Deep pressure can be achieved through various sensory aids, such as the use of weighted vests, weighted cushions or weighted hugs. But also certain swings and certain stretch products such as the move bag can offer deep pressure. [ Read more about deep pressure ]

Learning to get used to different textures

When you talk about the touch system you are talking about the light to deep touch, but you also have the variety of textures and the place on the body where the stimulus is offered. For example, a child can deal with sand on the hands, but does not want to touch the sand with his feet. In other words, the brain experiences the touch stimulus differently based on where the input is received… such as the hands or feet, the back, the face, the whole body or a combination in between.

The brain learns to accept and process the tactile input (i.e. the incoming tactile information) in a certain order. It’s incredibly important to assess this and follow this process to avoid uncomfortable and potential setbacks for a tactile stimulus processing. This is especially important for children who already show a tactile defense. Think of the picky eaters and people with nutritional challenges.

What can you do to help your child cope with tactile stimuli?

Do you have a child with problems in tactile stimulus processing? It’s best to gently expose your child to tactile stimuli. Proceed with caution. Follow the steps below and observe how your child reacts to any other type of texture offered.

• Start offering DRY textures (rice, pasta)
• Observe your child while playing with rice or dry pasta. See if your child accepts and tolerates at least 3 different dry textures on the hands and feet.
• Then proceed to the INTERMEDIATE textures such as kinetic sand, clay, water beads or playfoam.
• Then get started with MESSY textures such as slime, happy senso, glibbi, shaving cream or paper mache.

Full body tactile activities are incredibly powerful and therapeutic for the tactile system and sensory integration in general. Only try new textures with your child when your child is ready… This is even more important when it comes to ‘messy play’. For therapists, the set of rainbow river stones from Weplay, the Muffik sensory Puzzle Mats and the feel / touch circles from Silishapes are a nice addition to practice.

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