What does Sensory Comfort Mean?

Sensory comfort refers to providing for student needs related to sounds, light, smells, textures, and tastes.

Why Sensory Comfort is Important in a Tutoring Session

Setting the stage for the best possible tutoring session involves helping the student become aware of his or her sensory environment. Sights or sounds that the tutor doesn’t even notice may make it difficult or impossible for the student to concentrate. A tag on a shirt, or a wrinkle in a sock pose difficulties for some children. Lights and shadows impinge on some students’ ability to concentrate. Music sounds provide background noise for some people while riveting the attention of others. Adults often take charge of their own sensory environment when studying, but children need assistance to think about and adjust things that affect their ability to do mental work. This is difficult to achieve in a classroom, but a tutor works one-on-one and therefore benefits from more freedom to adjust to the student.

How to Attend to Sensory Comfort in your Students

Explain that everyone learns best when they are comfortable. Give examples of things that might distract or bother the student. Ask the student what he or she needs in order to be comfortable right now. Give the student permission to make the needed adjustments. First find out if the student needs a drink of water, needs to go to the bathroom, or is hungry. It’s hard to learn when those basic needs aren’t met!

Lights and Shadows

Next, talk about the lighting with your student. Fluorescent lights cause distress for some students because of a rapid flicker that most of us can’t see. Allow the student to dim or turn off lights, or wear a baseball cap to lessen glare. If necessary, allow the student to move to a place that feels better. Even subtle lights can be a sensory comfort issue. Some students can’t think if there are reflections from passing automobile windshields flashing into their space, or if sunlight through leaves causes a flickering light pattern. Adjust the light to the student’s needs, not yours.

All Manner of Sounds

Draw the student’s attention to the ambient sounds in the workspace. Ascertain whether any of the sounds are distracting or painful for the student. One example is a TV or computer monitor left on, even though nothing is currently showing on it. Certain older monitors emit a high-pitched whine, above normal human hearing, which some students can hear. Other sources of high-frequency noise are sonic rodent barriers, security systems, and deer whistles. Even though the parent or teacher may not be able to hear anything, the student could be in actual pain from sound sources like these, so give him or her a chance to tell you and follow up by moving away from or shutting off the noise. Soft sounds such as beeping, talking, or music can be as distracting as loud ones.

Smells Can Be Good or Bad Depending on the Smeller

Smells are powerful learning aids. One great involves having a student study with a particularly pleasant smell at hand – perhaps lavender hand lotion or cinnamon gum. Then have the student use the same hand lotion or gum on the day of a test. The olfactory response will help recall what was studied! But smells often impede learning as well. If the student is allergic or finds a smell unpleasant, it makes learning more difficult because it’s paired with an unhappy feeling. So astute tutors avoid perfumes, hairspray, after shave, body odor, or any smell that puts up a barrier to the best learning environment. Invest in some scent-free deodorant as part of your tutor tools! And please avoid perfume and aftershave. Never assume that because you like a smell the student will also like the smell. Before telling a student to write on a whiteboard, ask if the smell of the markers is offensive to them. Before playing a game on the floor, determine if the carpet smells bad to the student.

Tasty Lessons

Taste sometimes plays a part in a successful lesson. If snacks are served, be sure the student likes them. If it’s ok with parents, offer gum. The pleasant taste is a good thing to pair with learning, and the chewing actually serves to “wake up” the brain by providing joint feedback (proprioceptive input). If apples can be cut up to teach fractions and then eaten, the taste reinforces the learning.

Touchy, Feely Lessons

Don’t forget the sense of touch. Many good lessons have been ineffective because a student was so irritated by a tag on his or her shirt, shoes that hurt, or a runny nose, that listening and focusing on the lesson was impossible. Is the room too cold or too hot? Are the items the student touches pleasant to him or her? We use wooden dominos for math because some students react negatively to plastic ones. We use real money to count because plastic play money doesn’t have the same weight and surface feel. How does the pencil or pen feel in the student’s hand? Picking a writing instrument that feels nice is crucial to handwriting success. Some students cringe from the scratch of a pencil on paper, while others love that tactile feedback. Some “writing-phobic” students will happily practice handwriting if given a smooth flowing pen, especially if it’s paired with colored paper that doesn’t glare. The tactile sense is often the make or break issue when a student’s sensory comfort is compromised.

Alert Level

If the student appears too sleepy, too agitated, or otherwise not at optimum alertness level, spend some time exploring the environment with them. Not only will your session be more productive, but the student gains valuable insight into ways to self-adjust the environment to make learning easier. For more detailed information on sensory comfort, see Understanding Your Child’s Sensory Signals: A Practical Daily Use Handbook for Parents and Teachers, by Angie Voss.

by Yvonna Graham, M.Ed.

www.dyslexiakit.net

@GrahamYvonna