J
oe is a charming, fun-loving and
super-smart six year old with
whom my children love to play.
Imagine my surprise then when
his mother, Rebecca, told me that
Joe was previously perceived to be
an uncontrollable, unhappy and
overpowering tantrum-thrower who
was often excluded from playdates.
Rebecca explains that Joe has
sensory processing disorder (SPD), a
condition that significantly impedes
the daily lives of 16 per cent of all
schoolchildren, according to a 2009
study by the Sensory Processing
Disorder Scientific Work Group, a
group made up of research scientists in
the US.
What is SPD?
Virginia Spielmann, occupational
therapist and clinical director
of SPOT HK Children’s
Interdisciplinary Therapy Centre,
speaks passionately about the vital
role that sensory processing plays
in our lives. She explains, “Every
waking moment we are processing vast
amounts of information: externally
from the environment, and internally
from within our own bodies. Every
sound, smell, touch and visual stimuli
need to be registered and then
prioritised for importance. We also
have to process our position sense
(how you know where your hand is
even when you can’t see it) and our
equilibrium sense (how you know
when the lift is moving, where your
head is in relation to gravity) and all
the sensations of our busy bodies –
empty stomachs, fluttering heartbeats,
twitching muscles. We then have to
process the data that we decided is
important and make an effective plan
with the data received.
“All of us vary in our ability to
complete this complex processing task,
but for some people their difficulties
are so profound that they interfere
with their ability to function in daily
life,” Virginia explains. “They may
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