Humans rely on their five senses for sensory processing and development, which begins during gestation. Infants explore their senses, with touch being critical for bonding, taste developing through exploration, hearing and smell developing in the womb, and vision slowly developing after birth. Sensory integration dysfunction can occur, but therapy can help.
Like most animals, humans rely on their five senses to experience the world around them. These senses – sight, taste, touch, smell and hearing – allow each individual to interpret their environment; this is called sensory processing. The growth of these senses is known as sensory development.
This process begins during gestation. From birth, a baby can begin to explore each of her senses. All five senses are not fully developed yet; vision in particular is very limited after birth. It is during this period of infancy that childhood sensory development begins to progress.
Because the sense of touch is critical in the bonding process between infant and caregiver, the sensory development of touch is normally well developed during infancy. Newborns often respond to touch in a similar way to adults. Babies vary in the amount of touch they can tolerate. In infancy, babies often explore their sense of touch through their sensitive tongue, which is why so many babies put objects in their mouths.
Exploration through the mouth is also a form of sensory development of taste. Babies are typically born with a preference for slightly sweet tastes, such as mother’s milk. As they explore more tastes, their tolerance for various flavors develops.
Sensory development of hearing is usually well underway in the womb. Fetuses can hear the mother’s bodily noises as well as loud noises, such as car horns, outside her body. The sound most familiar to a baby is usually its mother’s heartbeat, which often provides a calming effect during times of distress.
A baby’s sense of smell also develops inside the womb. Fetuses recognize the smell of the mother’s amniotic fluid. As with touch, a baby can recognize its mother through smell. The smells of other family members that the child comes into daily contact with also become familiar quickly, helping the child to identify different people.
Vision development occurs slowly at first. As a newborn, a child can see objects within 20-25 centimeters of their face. The first sight a child normally learns is the face of its primary caregiver. Although other colors remain vague during the first few weeks of life, white, black and red are easily distinguishable. As your child grows, their vision range also increases.
While sensory development is a natural process for most children, complications can sometimes occur. This is known as sensory integration dysfunction. Various circumstances, such as prematurity, can lead to this dysfunction. Sensory integration dysfunction usually results in too much or too little sensory input from its environment. Physical and occupational therapy can be used to help improve, or even correct, this condition.
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