2. Senses
• Sensation is the stimulation of the sense organs.
• Perception is the ability to take in and organize
this sensory information.
• Neural Pathways are made stronger from
sensory experiences.
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3. Senses
• Sensory Integration:
– Is the process of combining and integrating information
across the senses
– Is critical to the development of perception
– Helps children apply information learned from one
sense to another sense
How do children
demonstrate sensory
integration?
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4. Senses
• Early sense experiences
– The brain can process tactile sensations by the 4th month in utero.
– Vision is the slowest sense to develop.
– As early as 7 weeks after conception, 10,000 taste buds appear
on the tongue.
– By 28 weeks in utero, the auditory cortex can perceive loud
noises.
– At birth, infants can distinguish their mother’s smell.
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5. Hearing
• Young babies are especially responsive to a
high-pitched, expressive voice.
• This voice is called parentese.
– Parentese used to be known as baby talk.
• Infants need exposure to a variety of sounds and
quiet time to appreciate differences in sounds.
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6. Hearing
• The optimum noise level varies with each child.
• Some children are over stimulated by excessive
noise.
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7. Smell and Taste
• Newborns can distinguish their mother’s scent from other
scents.
• When encouraging smell and taste development:
– Don’t make things that aren’t edible smell delicious.
– Be careful not to condition infants to the taste of salt.
What scents do you find unpleasant? What scents do you find enjoyable?
6-7
8. Touch
• Individual babies vary in their sensitivity to touch.
• Where and how we touch is bound up in culture.
• Tactile perception:
– Relates to motor skills.
– Is encouraged by a touchable and mouthable
environment.
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9. Touch
• Give toddlers words for their tactile sensations:
– Soft, warm, fuzzy, rough, smooth
• To encourage tactile experiences:
– Provide a sensory tub.
– Use sandboxes, water play, and dress-up activities
with a variety of material.
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10. Touch
• Be aware that some toddlers do not want to get
messy.
– This may be due to family influence.
– This may be due to the child’s personality.
– This may be due to the child’s stage of development.
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11. Sight
• Infants can distinguish light from dark at birth.
• At a few weeks of age, infants can discriminate among
colors.
• The human face is the most interesting object to look at.
What kind of problems might result from too much
visual stimulation?
6-11
12. Sight
• To reduce visual stimulation and encourage
beneficial visual interest:
– Put up low barricades to block areas of the toddler
room.
– Put photographs of familiar objects or people at
children’s eye level.
– Promote aesthetics.
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13. Multi-Sensory Experiences and the
Outdoor Environment
• Outdoor settings positively support all the
sensory and perceptual domains.
• Natural light, fresh air and the sights and sounds
of nature contribute to a young child’s sensory
integration.
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14. Multi-Sensory Experiences and the
Outdoor Environment
• To plan more sensory experience outdoors:
– Allow for individual experiences.
– Follow indoor planning guides for outdoor spaces.
– Encourage children to observe changes in nature.
– Plan sensory-motor activities such as moving and
building with rocks.
– Provide hands-on activities using natural materials.
– Create outdoor spaces with vegetation that will
encourage the presence of insects, birds, or animals.
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15. Children with Special Needs
• Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP)
– Must include:
• The child’s present level of physical, cognitive,
communication, emotional/social, and adaptative
development.
• Family information (with consent) including resources,
priorities, and concerns.
• Major outcomes expected to be achieved.
• Specific early intervention services necessary.
• The natural environments to provide early intervention
services.
• A written projected timeline.
• The steps to be taken to support the child’s transitions.
6-15
16. Children with Special Needs
• Early warning signs of sensory impairment
– Frequently rubs eyes or complains eyes hurt
– Avoids eye contact
– Easily distracted
– Often bumps into things or falls frequently
– Talks very loudly or very softly
– Shies away from touch
– Uses one side of the body more than the other
– Usually turns the same ear toward a sound to hear
– Reacts strongly to the feel of certain substances or textures
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17. Online Learning Center
• See Chapter 6 of the text’s Online Learning
Center for chapter quizzes, Theory Into Action
activities, Video Observations, and more.
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