Sensory Profiling Occupational Therapy
Sensory profiling is a term for the measure of a person’s responses to sensory stimuli that occurs in daily life.
Occupational Therapists use sensory profiling to achieve a greater understanding of the way people react to their environment, so we can implement strategies and changes for people to live their safest, happiest and most independent lives!
Total Health Choice offers an elite sensory profiling service that is delivered by our compassionate Occupational Therapists, this is often combined with individualised support.
We are mobile across Melbourne and serve adults and teenagers (over 13) living with a disability.
Home Visiting OT Service in Melbourne
Who Requires Sensory Profiling?
Sensory Profiling is most commonly accessed by people living with neurological disorders, notably autism and cases of mental illness.
Sensory profiling identifies the patterns which may be contributing to a person’s barriers or performance in their daily life.
An example may be for someone who feels fatigue or discomfort in a busy room, then relief from this sensation when they enter a quiet, isolated room.
Sensory profiling takes into account all environments, such as home, work, school, university, transport or in the general community.
An Occupational Therapist would attend the locations of concern, to ideally, help that person establish strategies to help them in those situations.
What Happens During Sensory Profiling?
A clinician will visit your home or other location at a mutually beneficial time.
We will ask you a series of questions that assess a person’s sensory profiling patterns.
What are examples of questions in the Sensory Profile Assessment?
- I enjoy being close to people who wear perfume – true/false
- I trip or bump into things – true/false
- I like to go to places that have bright lights and that are colourful – true/false
- I don’t like particular food textures – true/false
- I avoid going to unfamiliar places or being around people I don’t know – true/false
- I have to ask people to repeat things – true/false
Who We Work With
Total Health Choice is a compassionate mobile healthcare provider in South-East Melbourne, Victoria. We visit people in their homes, however particularly for sensory profiling, our sessions may be out in the community together.
Our caring services can be accessed by NDIS participants (over 18 years of age) who are self or plan-managing their NDIS plan.
Please contact us if you are not an NDIS participant and would like to enquire about this service.
Total Health Choice is Ready to Help
We are a great provider to consider because we really care, and see your goals as our goals!
- Our values are Trust, Compassion & Care
- Our OTs are in-house, university trained and highly professional
- We are NDIS registered
- There is no patient or case too small to matter
To book your sensory profiling, please use our contact or referrals pages to get in touch.
We’d love to listen to your story!
Sensory Profiling FAQ
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What senses does sensory profiling take into account?
There are 5 primary senses:
- Vision
- Hearing
- Smell
- Taste
- Touch
However, the amount of senses we have is constantly debated. There are many sensory cells that respond to physical stimuli, which are processed using different areas of the brain.
The definition of senses is best left to neurologists, however, here are some senses that fall outside the traditional five senses, examples include:
- Proprioception – the ability to perceive oneself in space
- Chemical senses – relating to hunger or pheromones, for example
- Nociception – relating to pain or pain thresholds
Total Health Choice is primarily concerned with the traditional senses when conducting sensory profiling.
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Will I be required to simulate certain stimuli? Such as a person with autism who is overwhelmed by certain types of music, lighting, etc. How is this addressed safely?
No, the aim of the sensory profile is to identify hypersensitivity and provide strategies to overcome uncomfortable and unfamiliar environments through regular ongoing therapy.
The sensory profile will also identify sensory areas that are less stimulated and then develop strategies to increase exploration in these areas.
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What are the common strategies or Assistive Technology THP will implement? What is the outcome of the session?
Each participant is different depending on the results.
The results may indicate certain techniques that can be provided to avoid overly sensitive environments in regards to promoting different behaviours.
The results may also include the recommendation of AT such as tinted glasses to help reduce bright environments or noise-cancelling headphones to reduce the surrounding noise.
