Page 26 - Coping With Students Challenging Behaviour

36. SENSORY DIET
Sensory diet is defined as a type of therapy that involves a planned and scheduled activity programme implemented by an occupational therapist. Each diet is designed to meet the needs of each particular child’s nervous system. Just as the five main food groups provide daily nutritional requirements, a daily sensory diet fulfils physical and emotional needs. A sensory diet stimulates the “near” senses in combination of alerting, organising and calming techniques. (Bogdashina, 156).
A sensory diet does not simply indiscriminately add more sensory stimulation into the child’s day. Additional stimulation can sometimes intensify negative responses. The most successful sensory diet includes activities in which the child is an active participant. The sensory diet can be a powerful behavioural tool. If the sensory diet is properly designed and implemented, it can help prevent many challenging behaviours, including self-stimulatory and self- abusive behaviours. A child can feel less anxious when he feels more comfortable and in control. (Aquilla, Yack, Sutton, 2015)
A sensory diet includes a combination of alerting, organising and calming activities. Example table of sensory diet plan seen below.
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