4 Touch

Touch

‘I was amazed to learn that the skin is the largest organ in the human body!’

Whilst it might not be the most obvious sense to help with learning, the touch sense is just as important as hearing and vision. The touch sense also supports coordination. In order to hold a pencil, cut with scissors and do up their buttons, a pupil must have a well-developed sense of touch.

An important thing to understand about the touch sense is that it receives sensory inputs from the skin. Anything that touches the skin will activate the touch receptors. In addition, the skin also receives information about pain, temperature, touch pressure and vibration. Different parts of the body have a different number of receptors, the cells in the body that receive the sensory information. The hands, face and mouth have more receptors than the face and back. This explains why some parts of the skin are more sensitive than others. Touch receptors in the mouth help with chewing, swallowing food and talking. The touch sense is very important for a number of reasons. Firstly, like the other senses, it plays a protective role. Secondly, it helps with soothing and calming. For example, a baby will usually stop crying when it is held. Finally, the touch sense is essential for pupils to be able to use their hands and to use tools. This might be a pencil or scissors or cutlery. Pupils who are slower to process touch sensory inputs are often clumsier than their peers. Dr A. Jean Ayres, who developed the theory of sensory integration, found a link between dyspraxia (Idea 10) and the touch sense. Some individuals are more sensitive to touch than others. This is called tactile defensiveness (see Idea 14).

Taking it further

If you want to understand more about the protective and discriminative touch sense, they are explored in more detail in the GriffinOT online introduction to sensory processing. See: www. GriffinOT.com/100ideas.