What Proprioception is
Proprioception is the conscious and unconscious awareness of body position and movement. The proprioceptive system is the muscle and joint sense that tells the brain:
- when and how the muscles are contracting or stretching
- when and how the joints are flexing, extending or being pulled and pushed
- what the body parts are doing and where they are in space
- the force muscles are exerting
| Potential signs | Potential impact | Strategies to assist with learning |
|---|---|---|
| Child in constant motion (this can also be due to other reasons such as hypermobility) | Difficulties concentrating and making academic progress | Regular movement breaks such as running errands |
| Stiff uncoordinated movements | Lifting and carrying heavy loads | |
| Poor spatial awareness, unaware of obstacles in pathway, difficulty moving | Regularly bumping into things, falling over, resulting in accidently hurting themselves or others | Pushing and pulling |
| Problematic pencil grip | Poor handwriting development | Hanging by the arms |
| Craving deep pressure sensations such as hugging others, learning on others or on the table | Bear hugs, back to back standing up | |
| A struggle to keep their posture for long time while sitting | Practicing movement without visual feedback – with closed eyes |