The Sensory System and its role In Developing Language and Communication

 

In language development, our sensory system plays a very important role, something we have been using so extensively but totally missed noticing.

A flower evokes the sense of sight, when we notice the colours, the sense of smell, when we smell the fragrance, and the tactile sense when we touch the soft petals. We may not say these things loudly, but all the time our mind plays out this vocabulary, the soft touch, the fragrance, the beautiful colours. When we notice these, at times there is a desire to share these information with others, or at times we just enjoy it ourselves, basking in that happiness. This evokes a lot of emotions and feelings in us, too. This is also building our language in the emotional or social context. Again, so important when we are sharing our feelings or emotions.

The visual intelligence and the auditory intelligence are two of the primary senses that play a vital role in language. In the cacophony of various sounds, is the child able to filter out unnecessary information and listen and respond to the necessary things narrated by the teacher or parent? Similarly, while looking at a picture with lots of visual information or clutter, is the child able to sieve all the unnecessary details and only focus on what is required?

When a child or an adult with autism or language delays can understand the environment by the smell of it, the taste, the sound, the visuals, and the touch, and create a visual image in his mind, that is a breakthrough. This is required to basically create a lot of memories in his mind, a prerequisite for the child to match those memories with the current scenario and then talk or initiate a conversation about it.

A long and lengthy process that we, the neurotypicals, can do in a fraction of a second. This is one reason autistic adults or children don't initiate conversations too, as those memories are not triggered this easily as they are for us.

So, the solution is to expose your child to all the words related to our senses, make them actually feel them, build their vocabulary, and then, hey! presto see the magic...

 

How to introduce the sensory vocabulary?

1. Pick up each sense-related vocabulary, show the children items related to it, and make them smell, touch, feel, hear, and taste the items related.

2. Play games like sound bingo. Make a list of items, like an ambulance siren, a dog, a bell etc. Play the sound of each item, let the children identify the sound, and circle the relevant picture or name related to the sound. 

3. Put 4 or 5 items in a pillow case, let the children put their hands inside the pillow case and identify them just by feeling or touching them. Some examples include,  a scotch tape, an eraser, a triangle, a ball, a key, etc.  

4. Check YouTube and channels like Sesame Street. They have a word-of-the-day series, and they teach children new vocabulary in a fun way. Here is a link to the word “Prickly.”

https://youtu.be/kC_2XpcyFfE?si=MGb_POn0IsCZR7jc

5. Let the children taste or smell each item and then explain to them how it tastes or smells.