What is a sensory diet?

A sensory diet is a set of compensatory strategies and activities created by an occupational therapist to help a child better cope with sensory processing difficulties, according to Dr. Marielly. “It’s like food for the nervous system to help it operate better,” she says.

“The real idea behind the sensory diet is self-regulation and to find that just-right place for our children [sensorily] so they can actually function,” occupational therapist Kelli Smith says.“It’s really to help our children understand why they may like something or not like something.”

Some sensory diets take the form of a daily schedule of preplanned activities to regulate the nervous system, while others operate more as a toolbox of ideas to draw from on an as-needed basis.

To learn more and see examples, see our article Sensory Processing Disorder and Sensory Diets.