HOW MANY SENSES DO YOU HAVE?
Melodie de Jager
Without hesitation most people would say we have 5 senses – touch, smell, taste, hearing and sight.
The scientists would elaborate and say the senses of touch, hearing and sight are nerve-based sensesi,
while smell and taste are chemical-based sensesii, while the educators and occupational therapists
would say there are not only 5 senses...iii
WHAT IS A SENSE?
Senses are the doors through which information from the environment enters the brain. They are
nature’s way of connecting a person with the environment so he can be safe and once he feels safe,
to make sense of what is going on around him. We mostly take our senses for granted and hardly ever
think that we rely 100% on our senses for survival, for example before touching something, crossing a
road, or deciding to eat something. But man was not made to only survive, man was made to thrive.
To thrive, ‘man’ needs to learn and to develop.
SENSES HELP US TO SURVIVE & TO THRIVE
Learning and development are simply not possible without the senses. Their role becomes clear when
you take look at the information processing theory that shows us that the senses are step one in the
production line that results in feelings, action and behaviour. The production line has a three step
process: (1) senses pass information on to (2) the brain, which passes information on to (3) the
muscles to respond.iv v
1
SENSES/
INPUT
2
BRAIN /
PROCESSING
G
3
MUSCLES/
OUTPUT
When the production line works well, information flows from the senses to the brain, the brain
processes the information and sends a response to the muscles for an appropriate action. For
example, Mary can listen to her teacher, take out her red crayon and draw a triangle, and teacher’s
response? “You are such a clever girl!” The same applies to Gabe and a maths problem; he copies a
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math problem from the black board, solves it without a glitch and gets a star for great work. But Peter’s
information processing does not follow so smoothly, he takes for ever to write a paragraph and then
it turns out to be mumble jumble, the teacher has her hands in her hair an her response to Peter is
not encouraging. It is clear that there is a gremlin in the production line of Peter’s information
processing, somewhere between (1) receiving the instruction, (2) thinking about it and (3) writing the
paragraph, something went wrong. Behaviour is an output and Peter’s behaviour doesn’t tell us he is
dumb, it is simply telling us he needs support.
CASE STUDY 1:
CASE STUDY 2:
A problem in the production line often leaves
us confused: it is such a clever child, but what
is the matter with him? Pierre illustrates this
when he wants to jump into the pool: LOOK
MY PAPA. You can hardly believe your eyes.
What was he thinking! His thinking was
skewed based on faulty information from his
senses, which left him feeling hurt, unsafe and
scared.
Sophie is a cute four year old girl who would
love to do ballet. She’s got the outfit, now
she needs to get the moves: FIRST POSITION.
While the other girls stand quietly in first
position, open their umbrellas and catch a
raindrop with the other hand, Sophie is
desperately trying to get ‘first position’.
What is wrong with her? She must have
ADHD! If you look carefully you will notice
that she does not have an attention deficit
hyperactive
disorder
Sophie
is
concentrating really hard, she is giving her all
and she doesn’t give up even if it means using
her hands to direct her wayward feet. But
what is clear, is that a gremlin has entered
the production line somewhere between her
(1) senses, (2) brain and (3) muscles.
NOT JUST 5 SENSES
The difference between the challenges that Gabe, Pierre and
Sophie experienced is not due to gender differences, it is due
to sensory differences. Pierre battled to see the difference
between the dark line and where the pool starts – his
challenge was external; while Gabe and Sophie battled to
organise themselves before they could respond to the
instructions, because their challenges are internal.
The five senses: touch, smell, taste, hearing and sight are
called the external (outside)vi or visiblevii senses, because they
enable a person to interact with the outside world - the
environment. The sense(s) that enable a person to know
where your body starts and ends; where the body parts are in
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relationship to each other; if you are moving or stand still; where the ‘answer’ button for the phone is
without looking; how much force is needed to put down a glass; etc. are called the internal (inside)viii
or hiddenix sense(s). The internal sense(s) are the reason that the occupational therapists and
educators say there are more than 5 sensesx. The inside senses are a group of senses that work
together as one integrated system.
There are three parts to the internal senses: proprioception (body
awareness), the vestibular (balance) system1 and kinesis (body sense)1,
but not one part can operate without the other two.
The internal and external senses need to work together before Mary,
Gabe, Pierre and Sophie can feel confident and intelligent, but when
these two kinds of senses don’t work well together (no matter if the
problem is in step 1 or 2 or 3), it leads to behaviour and learning
problems.
BABIES & SENSES
All the senses start to develop pre-birthxi xii xiii because a baby needs a developed sense of self (internal
senses) and of the environment (external senses) to be able to adapt to life outside the womb. The
APGAR scorexiv is an indicator of how well a baby is able to adapt to its new environment filled with
space, air, light, noise, smells, tastes and numerous touch sensations. When the internal and external
senses do not work well together a baby gets overstimulatedxv - avoids touch, feels overwhelmed,
anxious and unable to feed or metabolise or sleep, and milestones tend to be delayed. While a relaxed
baby seeks touch, feeds rhythmically, metabolises effectively, sleeps well and thrives in a sensory- and
movement-rich environment.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SENSES
Although the vestibular system is the first of the senses to be fully developed and
myelinated, it is the sense of touch which provides a person with the first source of contact
with the environmentxvi. When the human’s need for touch (and movement) remains
unsatisfied, abnormal behaviour will resultxvii.
The correct number of senses is not important, what is
important is that we need the internal and external
senses to work together as a team, before we can feel
safe, confident, intelligent and eager to explore, to
connect and to love
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MIND MOVES® FOR WIDE AWAKE SENSES
Mind Moves is a movement programme that parents and teachers can utilise on a daily basis to
develop children’s senses:
The following Mind Moves can be done daily, 3 times per day, if possible.
Antennae adjuster
Massage both ear lobes simultaneously from top to bottom using circular
movements.
This move develops the near senses, auditory processing, auditory perception
as well as receptive language ability.
Mind Moves Massage
Child must stand upright and hold both arms 90 degrees to the side of the body. Stand behind the
child and firmly trace the outline of the body from head to toe. Hold the feet and push down for a
moment as if planting the legs before repeating three times.
This move develops tactile awareness, gravitational security and positive sense of self.
Rise and shine
Simulate the reflex by flinging the arms wide open while
breathing deeply and slowly, and then closing the arms
over the chest in a hug, breathing deeply and slowly. The
learner can hug himself, or the parent may hug him
simultaneously.
This move boosts relaxation, rhythmic breathing and a sense of well-being.
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i
Hannaford, H. 2005:23. Smart Moves – why learning is not all in your head. Utah: great River Books.
Lombard, A. 2007:20. Sensory Intelligence. Welgemoed: Metz press.
iii Goddard Blythe, S. 2009:240. Attention, Balance and Coordination. West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell.
iv Hannaford, H. 2005:222-33. Smart Moves – why learning is not all in your head. Utah: great River Books.
v De Jager, M. 2009:6. Mind Moves – moves that mend the mind. Johannesburg: Mind Moves Institute.
vi De Jager, M. 2011:11. Brain development MILESTONES & learning. Johannesburg: Mind Moves Institute.
vii Lombard, A. 2007:11. Sensory Intelligence. Welgemoed: Metz press.
viii De Jager, M. 2011:14. Brain development MILESTONES & learning. Johannesburg: Mind Moves Institute.
ix Lombard, A. 2007:11. Sensory Intelligence. Welgemoed: Metz press.
x Grey: M. 2009. Sensible stimulation. Welgemoed: Metz press
xi Hannaford, H. 2005. Smart Moves – why learning is not all in your head. Utah: great River Books.
xii Lombard, A. 2007. Sensory Intelligence. Welgemoed: Metz press.
xiii De Jager, M. 2011. Brain development MILESTONES & learning. Johannesburg: Mind Moves Institute.
xiv De Jager, M. 2011:46. Brain development MILESTONES & learning. Johannesburg: Mind Moves Institute.
xv Faure, M. & Richardson: A. 2008: 34. Baby Sense. Welgemoed: Metz press
xvi Goddard, S. 1996:45,119. Reflexes, Learning and Behaviour. Oregon: Fern Ridge Press.
xvii Montagu, A. 1986:46. Touching the human significance of the skin. New York: Harper & Row Publishers.
ii
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