Sensation, what we hear, feel, see, smell and taste gives us information about the world around. Our senses are an important part of how we self-regulate our body and emotions.

Most people know about the five senses; smell, sight, sound, touch and taste, but we have other senses that are important too. Our movement and balance (vestibular sense), our sense of our muscles, tendons and joints (proprioception) and the sense of feeling sensation from our internal organs and skin (interoception).

Interoception:

Interoception connects us with our internal bodily sensations.

​It is the process of sensing signals from the body, such as: ​

• Our heartbeat​
• Breathing ​
• Hunger/appetite signals ​
• Feeling thirsty
• Temperature
• Pain
• Our emotions as physical sensations

It provides an urge to act on the bodily sensation.

The vestibular system:

The vestibular system is how we sense our movement and balance. It explains the perception of our body in relation to gravity, movement, and balance.​ It helps us to sit and stand, balance and move around. It works closely with our eye muscles to help us see how we are moving. ​ For example:​

• Walking up and down the stairs, we keep our balance and adjust to stop us falling
• We use our vestibular sense to go down a slide and not get too dizzy and disorientated.

Proprioception:

Proprioception is our awareness of our muscles, tendons, joints and body movements. This sense is very important as it lets us know exactly where our body parts are. It creates a ‘map’ of our bodies, so we know how we are moving and allows us to plan our movements using enough pressure and force.​ This sense helps us to know how to use our body without looking, for example scratching an itch or writing with enough force to make a mark.

Hyper- and Hypo- sensitivity 

HYPER sensitivity means you may notice sensory things much more easily and need much less sensory information. You may be bothered by it too and try to avoid things.

HYPO sensitivity means having low sensitivity. You may need more sensory input to notice, may miss information or seek out more sensory information before you register it.

There is no one way to be and we often have fluctuating sensory profiles.

The senses and food

Here are some examples of how the sensory differences can impact eating:

• How food feels in your mouth
• The texture of foods or managing mixed textures
• Different food types touching on the plate ​
• Using enough pressure to bite off and chew ​food
• Hearing yourself/others chewing ​
• The smell of food
• The visual appearance of food
• Using cutlery to eat

Your senses may also be impacted by the environment you are eating in, such as bright lights, noises, smells, crowded space and your seating position.

Examples of strategies when eating

VISION- reducing glare with sunglasses/hat. Having food in separate portion bowls to avoid visual overwhelm. Choosing a plain plate.

TOUCH- trying different types of cutlery or eat with your hands.

SMELL- Use a lid and straw to block the smell when drinking.

HEARING- Use headphones, listen to music or the radio.

TASTE- think about your preference for the temperature of your food, add spice or crunchy coatings to help with textures you find tricky.

There are a few ways you can look after your sensory wellbeing. They will be personal to you and different strategies work for different people.