Tightrope Pt. 3D; sensory integration
His tastes in food have changed. There is no way to sort out which sorts of cravings are responses to deficiencies in the body, & which are driven by changes in sensory processing, but sensory processing is certainly part of the equation.
His tolerance for hot & cold foods is reduced -- he often microwaves cold drinks for a few seconds to make them less cold, or lets hot food cool a bit before he eats it. (This is a change in his parameters for what is comfortable.)
Things like finding your balance to stand upright are also affected by your sensory system. Chester has complained of odd sensations in the right side of his body -- his right arm & leg are still sending him sensory information, but it is much changed from what it used to be. His balance is impaired by the physical inability of the right side of his body to adjust his posture, but also by the disruption of his previous sense of proprioception -- his sense of where his body is in space has been disrupted. (He occasionally loses track of his right hand.)
All of this means that life in general is harder work for him than it used to be. He may get tired more easily than he used to -- especially in highly stimulating situations where there are a lot of people, a lot of noises, etc. He has to work harder to filter out the unimportant stimuli. This work is invisible to other people present -- he is not always conscious of it himself.
It also means that he has to bring more of his sensory processing to consciousness, instead of letting it be handled unconsciously. An odor, for example, may bother him until he tracks it down, verifies what it is, & assures his brain that it is "not a problem." (Smells, after all, can be an important indicator of whether the meat is safe to eat, or whether the house is on fire, among other things. Any odor outside the brain's comfort zone could be an important warning. If you are conscious of more odors, you have to check for more potential dangers.)
His tolerance for hot & cold foods is reduced -- he often microwaves cold drinks for a few seconds to make them less cold, or lets hot food cool a bit before he eats it. (This is a change in his parameters for what is comfortable.)
Things like finding your balance to stand upright are also affected by your sensory system. Chester has complained of odd sensations in the right side of his body -- his right arm & leg are still sending him sensory information, but it is much changed from what it used to be. His balance is impaired by the physical inability of the right side of his body to adjust his posture, but also by the disruption of his previous sense of proprioception -- his sense of where his body is in space has been disrupted. (He occasionally loses track of his right hand.)
All of this means that life in general is harder work for him than it used to be. He may get tired more easily than he used to -- especially in highly stimulating situations where there are a lot of people, a lot of noises, etc. He has to work harder to filter out the unimportant stimuli. This work is invisible to other people present -- he is not always conscious of it himself.
It also means that he has to bring more of his sensory processing to consciousness, instead of letting it be handled unconsciously. An odor, for example, may bother him until he tracks it down, verifies what it is, & assures his brain that it is "not a problem." (Smells, after all, can be an important indicator of whether the meat is safe to eat, or whether the house is on fire, among other things. Any odor outside the brain's comfort zone could be an important warning. If you are conscious of more odors, you have to check for more potential dangers.)
posted by Anne Seals at 12:41 PM
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