What do we mean when we talk about children having sensory attachment needs?

Sensory attachment needs develop when a child’s early sensory experiences become linked with traumatic events in their lives.

When babies are developing in utero and when they are new born they begin to understand the world through their senses. This why we interact naturally with babies when they are pre-natal (stroking bump, playing music etc.) and when they are born through sensory input i.e. rocking, stroking, singing, cuddling. If abuse or physical trauma interferes with this sensory learning pre-natally and/or post-natally this can lead to sensory attachment difficulties. Children’s brains can become ‘wired up’ to understand sensory input as a sign of danger.

Infants and toddlers have not yet developed language to make sense of their experiences. All of their memories are therefore sensory memories; and the baby operates mainly out of their brainstem – the bottom part of the brain which is responsible for basic functions such as heart rate, temperature and behaviours which aim to keep them alive.

Memories before language are known as ‘implicit’, which means that while the child cannot later recall and talk about them, their body has stored the memories in its sensory systems. Because traumatised children are stuck in ‘fear mode’ as they grow up, their hyper-vigilance to signs of danger reduces their ability to filter out "irrelevant" sensory experiences such as background sights, sounds and textures. This can mean that the child’s sensory system becomes overloaded and overwhelmed, and they feel there is danger imminent, even when they are completely safe. This is what we call dysregulation.

When a traumatised child is feeling stressed, they may have a sensory flashback which means that they re-experience the bodily feeling of immediate danger, with no way to make sense of it or communicating it verbally as the memory has no language ‘attached’ to it.

Children will often either over respond or under respond to incoming sensory information because their brain cannot find the ‘middle ground’ of working out what information is needed, and what information means ‘danger’. They may also struggle to know how much force to press on things; find it hard to recognise the nature of textures (e.g. rough, smooth, heavy, light) and they may struggle to find good balance and co-ordination.

In summary, many traumatised children with sensory problems cannot regulate their fear response or their body’s reaction to fear; nor can they regulate their primitive bodily functions like heart rate and temperature. 

Image or information courtesy of Beacon House Therapeutic Services & Trauma Team | 2019 | www.beaconhouse.org.uk

What do we mean when we talk about sensory regulation?

Children's brains organize from bottom to top, with the lower parts of the brain (brainstem aka "survival brain") developing earliest, and the cortical areas (thinking brain) much later. Traumatised children's brain become stuck in the brainstem, and they therefore swing between their survival modes of fight/flight/freeze/collapse.

One of the most helpful ways to move children from these super-high anxiety states, to their calmer ‘thinking brain’, is patterned, repetitive rhythmic activity

Brainstem Calmers (regulating activities)

Brainstem calming activities need to be:

Relational (offered by a safe adult)

Relevant (developmentally-matched to the child rather than matched to their actual age)

Repetitive (patterned)

Rewarding (pleasurable)

Rhythmic (resonant with neural patterns)

Respectful (of the child and family)

Image or information courtesy of Beacon House Therapeutic Services & Trauma Team | 2019 | www.beaconhouse.org.uk

Below is a list of brainstem calming activities:

Walking - being asked to do jobs for others where there are walking breaks in between tasks. This can also create connection with a teacher or parent and enable the child to engage in positive interaction.

Dancing – This is feel good energy boosting movement. It can also create opportunities to be part of a club.

Running - This is also feel good energy boosting movement. It can also create opportunities to be part of a club.

Trampolining and skipping are also helpful repetitive movements.

Drumming – a playful activity between tasks, can be done on own or with others.

Tapping – self tapping whilst breathing, or engaging in fun.

Singing – can be done on a one to one basis or with a group, or maybe listening to calming singing.

Breathing – partnership breathing with another adult, 3 deep breaths before each task, blowing bubbles, blowing through a straw.

Movement – rocking, yoga, tension stretch, chair aerobics.

Music – listening to music with rhythmic beats either on own or with others.

Image or information courtesy of Beacon House Therapeutic Services & Trauma Team | 2019 | www.beaconhouse.org.uk

How does sensory regulation link to PACE and Therapeutic Parenting?

Creating a therapeutic web of relationships around the child together with regular brainstem calming activities can, over time, help a child’s brain and body to learn that they are safe.

Dr Bruce Perry has shown us that to help children to learn think and reflect, we need to intervene in a sequence that involves Three R’s:

Regulation – sensory intervention/activity (see brainstem calmers)

Relate – creating an emotional connection with your child/ use PACE

Reason – reasoning with your child can only take place effectively if your child is NOT in fight or flight. Regulation and emotional connect soothes the primitive brain and work towards helping your child move away from survival strategies and into the learning parts of their brains.

This is called “Bottom Up Parenting”