Creating a Personalised Sensory Profile: Why It Changes Everything
You know that moment when a child suddenly bites their sleeve, runs out of the room, or curls up under a table?
Often, people jump to behaviour plans or consequences.
But here’s the truth:
✨ It’s not about behaviour. It’s about sensory needs.
Before we create interventions, we need to ask:
👉 What sensory information is this child receiving?
👉 And how are they trying to cope with it?
A Sensory Profile helps you answer those questions — and when you do, everything else starts to fall into place.
Why Sensory Behaviour Is Often Misunderstood
Many children (especially those with autism, ADHD, LD, PMLD or SEMH needs) have sensory systems that respond very differently to everyday experiences.
This might look like:
- Covering ears when the vacuum is on (over-responsive to sound)
- Chewing everything at school (under-responsive to proprioception)
- Hating socks or seams (over-responsive to touch)
- Never noticing pain or hunger cues (under-responsive to interoception)
It’s not “defiant.” It’s not “dramatic.” It’s not “lazy.”
It’s the nervous system doing what it can to stay regulated in an overwhelming world.
What’s in a Sensory Profile?
A full sensory profile looks at 8 sensory systems — not just the five we’re taught in school:
- Auditory (hearing)
- Visual (sight)
- Tactile (touch)
- Olfactory (smell)
- Gustatory (taste)
- Vestibular (movement, balance)
- Proprioception (body awareness)
- Interoception (internal body signals like hunger, thirst, toileting)
Each system can be over-responsive (hypersensitive) or under-responsive (hyposensitive) — and the impact on learning, behaviour and wellbeing is huge.
That’s why a one-size-fits-all strategy won’t work.
Why This Tool Matters
Too often, we respond to the symptom instead of the root cause.
A Sensory Profile helps us ask better questions:
- Is this a meltdown or a sensory overload?
- Is this child avoiding the task — or avoiding fluorescent lights?
- Are they dysregulated because they’re being asked to sit still, or because they haven’t had enough proprioceptive input today?
Once you identify patterns, you can build support around that child that’s actually effective.
Not a sticker chart. Not a “calm down” corner they won’t use.
💡 Real, proactive, sensory-informed strategies that help them thrive.
Try This First Step:
Choose one child in your care and ask:
- What sensory behaviours do I notice most?
- What time of day do they happen?
- What might this behaviour be communicating?
Then ask: what kind of input could I offer before this happens?
Movement? Deep pressure? A visual break?
This small shift — from reaction to prevention — is powerful.
Want a Complete, Editable Profile You Can Use Again and Again?
👉 The Sensory Profile Tool includes:
✔️ 54-page downloadable assessment and training guide
✔️ Printable sensory system tick sheets
✔️ Clear definitions of over- and under-responsivity
✔️ Suggested interventions for each system
✔️ Editable and dyslexia-friendly versions included
Designed for use across home, school and therapy settings — and fully reusable.
If you’ve ever felt stuck managing “behaviour,” this is your roadmap to understanding it instead.
Final Thought:
📣 When a flower doesn't bloom, you don’t fix the flower —
You fix the environment in which it grows.
A sensory profile helps you do just that.
Let’s meet needs before we manage behaviours.
Dunn, W. (1997). The impact of sensory processing abilities on the daily lives of young children and their families: A conceptual model. Infants & Young Children, 9(4), 23–35.
Introduces Dunn’s Sensory Processing Framework, which underpins many sensory profile tools used in occupational therapy.
Dunn, W. (1999). Sensory Profile: User’s Manual. Psychological Corporation.
Foundational manual for the Sensory Profile assessment, widely used to identify sensory processing patterns and guide intervention.
Dunn, W. (2014). Sensory Profile 2: User’s Manual. Pearson.
Updated assessment tool providing standardised measures of sensory processing patterns across home, school, and community contexts.
Brown, C., & Dunn, W. (2010). Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile: User’s Manual. Pearson.
Extends sensory profiling to adolescents and adults, supporting lifespan OT practice and self-regulation understanding.
Miller, L. J., Anzalone, M. E., Lane, S. J., Cermak, S. A., & Osten, E. T. (2007). Concept evolution in sensory integration: A proposed nosology for diagnosis. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 61(2), 135–140.
Clarifies terminology and diagnostic considerations related to sensory modulation and regulation.
Schaaf, R. C., & Mailloux, Z. (2015). Clinician’s guide for implementing Ayres Sensory Integration: Promoting participation for children with autism. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69(5).
Connects sensory assessment data to intervention planning and functional participation outcomes.
Pfeiffer, B., Koenig, K., Kinnealey, M., Sheppard, M., & Henderson, L. (2011). Effectiveness of sensory integration interventions in children with autism spectrum disorders: A pilot study. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65(1), 76–85.
Demonstrates how sensory assessment informs targeted OT intervention for regulation and engagement.
Ben-Sasson, A., et al. (2009). A meta-analysis of sensory modulation symptoms in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39(1), 1–11.
Provides evidence that sensory modulation differences are prevalent and impactful, supporting the use of sensory profiling.
Leekam, S. R., Prior, M. R., & Uljarević, M. (2011). Restricted and repetitive behaviors in autism spectrum disorders: A review of research in the last decade. Psychological Bulletin, 137(4), 562–593.
Highlights links between sensory processing, regulation, and behaviour, relevant to interpreting sensory profiles.
Case-Smith, J., & O’Brien, J. C. (2015). Occupational Therapy for Children and Adolescents (7th ed.). Elsevier.
Comprehensive OT textbook outlining assessment, including sensory profiles, and their role in understanding regulation and participation.
Bundy, A. C., Lane, S. J., & Murray, E. A. (2002). Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice (2nd ed.). F.A. Davis.
Core OT text providing theoretical grounding for sensory assessment and intervention.
Kinnealey, M., Koenig, K. P., & Smith, S. (2011). Relationships between sensory modulation and social supports and health-related quality of life. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65(3), 320–329.
Explores how sensory modulation patterns relate to wellbeing and daily functioning.
Little, L. M., Dean, E., Tomchek, S., & Dunn, W. (2018). Sensory processing patterns in autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and typical development. Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 38(3), 243–254.
Supports differential understanding of sensory regulation using profile-based assessment.
RCOT (Royal College of Occupational Therapists). (2021). Sensory Integration and Sensory-Based Interventions: Evidence Summary.
UK professional guidance summarising evidence for sensory assessment and intervention in OT practice.
Schauder, K. B., & Bennetto, L. (2016). Toward an interdisciplinary understanding of sensory dysfunction in autism spectrum disorder. Autism Research, 9(9), 920–934.
Provides a multidisciplinary perspective supporting sensory profiling as part of holistic understanding.
