ABSTRACT
Because the 'distance' senses of sight and hearing reach out and collect so much information at our conscious level, we regard them as primary and cannot imagine life without them. Typical children constantly develop sensory integration as they are engaged in physical activity. They develop neural pathways and a fund of subconscious knowledge that can be called on for conscious or subconscious actions that very often occur alongside adult commentary as they are engaged in 'serve and return' communications together. There are many ways that sensory problems affect learning, not only easily observable sensory impairments such as vision or hearing, but also more hidden conditions. Not usually listed in education diagnoses of special needs are the internal senses, particularly pain, which may actually have powerful effects that can disturb learning, particularly through affecting attention.
