What is haptic
Touch generally refers to the nerve cells distributed on the skin of the whole body receiving sensations from the outside world such as temperature, humidity, pain, pressure, vibration, etc. Touch in a narrow sense refers to the skin sensation caused by stimulating contact with the skin, tactile receptors, and the broad sense of touch also includes the skin sensation caused by increasing pressure to deform the skin part, that is, pressure, generally referred to as "tactile pressure".
Touch is one of the most important senses of the human body, and our earliest contact and communication with the world is mainly with the help of touch. Before the child is born, rely on touch to feel the warmth of the uterus and the caresses of the mother; After birth, they rely on touch to feel the different and characteristics of their environment. It can be said that touch is one of the most important ways we can contact the outside world, and through diversified tactile exploration, it helps to promote motor and cognitive development. Therefore, from the fetal period, the sense of touch has begun to affect the development of various abilities of the child. Good tactile stimulation is indispensable for children's growth.
Haptic receptors
Tactile receptors are all over the skin and muscles of the whole body, and the sensitivity of each part is different, and the receptors in the nose, mouth, lips, fingertips, etc. have the highest density and the most sensitive sense of touch; The abdomen and chest are second, and the wrists and feet are the lowest. Of all the sensory systems, touch is the most widely distributed, complex, and the brain's largest information channel.
Classification of tactile abilities
Haptic ability is divided into two parts: tactile recognition and tactile defense.
Tactile recognition: requires the involvement of the central nervous system of the cerebral cortex. It includes depicting the sense of touch, the sense of positioning, the physical feeling of recognizing the shape and size of the object, the sense of weight, etc.
Tactile defense: Most of its information is transmitted to the brainstem that stops, and the function of the brainstem is mainly to judge whether these stimuli are dangerous in order to make an escape response. A small part of the stimulus is then transmitted to the cerebral cortex to distinguish the location and nature of the stimulus.
The three states of touch
Since each child grows up in a different environment and parenting style, the sense of touch develops differently in each child. Each child reacts differently to the same stimuli released by touch. In general, the development of touch has the following three states.
Normal sense of touch: Both very intimate movements can be recognized and accepted, and pain, injury, discomfort can be quickly detected and respond to defense or flight. For example, children will quickly throw away hot food.
Tactile sensitivity: Many external tactile stimuli are unacceptable, such as not liking the touch of others or not liking to touch others. This is mainly due to factors such as caesarean section, insufficient crawling, excessive parental protection or restrictions, and the use of food additives.
Tactile dullness: It is not easy to perceive subtle tactile stimuli or the process of perception is slow, such as not feeling pain when injecting, feeling pain and crying when the needle is removed, mainly because of caesarean section, too tight wrapping, too much holding, less crawling, less touch massage and other factors.
Factors that influence the development of the sense of touch
From a physiological point of view, tactile development is mainly influenced by external stimuli, tactile receivers, and the brain.
External stimuli: different kinds and materials of objects, cold or hot, rough or delicate, hard or soft, this external stimulus belt, to different feelings;
Tactile receiver: internal haptics take the digestive system as the internal receiver, and the external tactile sensation mainly takes the skin as the external receiver;
Brain center: The most important link in the development of touch is the brain, how to receive and process the stimuli received. And these continue to bring new stimuli to the brain and play an important role in brain development.
Haptic development is also affected by the gestation period, production method, feeding method, range of motion, degree of protection, etc.:
Gestational period: during pregnancy, if the expectant mother lacks exercise, it will reduce the initial tactile learning opportunities of the fetus from the shaking amniotic fluid and the massage of the uterine wall;
Mode of delivery: The strong squeeze stimulation from the birth canal is critical to the development of the sensory integration system, and the child who is born by caesarean section lacks this process of awakening of touch cells;
Feeding method: breastfeeding, the mother will keep stroking and patting, and the child will constantly feel various tactile stimuli; Non-breastfeeding, such as using bottles, lacks this experience, which is also a cause of the child's tactile defenses;
Range of activity: tumbling and crawling not only exercise the strength of the child's arm and leg muscles, but also recognize the surrounding environment through tactile stimulation But the use of strollers and scooters is too early, which reduces the scope of children's activities, the country; The urban lifestyle also reduces children's exposure to society;
Degree of protection: Parents "do not allow" too much to keep children unable to move freely, thus missing the sensitive period of tactile development. For example, the clothes of infants and young children have a single texture, the food taste is single, and too many automated products are used... Overprotection by parents will reduce the child's tactile development.
The function of the sense of haptic
Most of the information provided by touch to the brain is diversified and complex, so the functions of touch cover a wide range. Touch has seven main functions, which affect children's mood, movement, eating, sleep, social interaction, etc., and have an important impact on children's sense of security. The good development of touch is very important and crucial to the development of children.
1. Help children gain life experience: babies know the position of the body in the external world, and moving the body and changing direction start with touch. The size of the muscles and finger dexterity will be exercised and improved with the development of touch;
2. Calm children's emotions: Touch plays an important role in children's emotions and the establishment of attachment relationships between parents and children. When the child is held in the arms or patted a few times by the parent when crying, the situation will be much better, this kind of comfort makes the child's body feel comfortable and the emotions are released;
3. Help children grow up healthily: rich tactile experience gives the impetus to physical development, the vagus nerve will be more active, the secretion of growth hormone and insulin will also increase, which is manifested in significant growth in weight and height. If there is a lack of touching and hugging for a long time, the secretion of various hormones is reduced, which will have adverse effects on the development of the body, in addition, children with a dull sense of oral touch will swallow dates when eating, and children with sensitive oral touch will also be more picky about diet, which in turn affects children's diet;
4. Help form a protective defense ability: tactile sensation is conducive to children's judgment of the degree of danger in the external environment in order to make an evasive response. If you are stimulated by sting, scalding and other stimuli, out of self-protection, the body will instinctively retract, evade, cover and other reactions;
5. Promote the flexibility of children's movements: especially fine movements, the recognition and acuity of hand touch can strengthen the coordination of fine movements of hands, such as touching the palm can cause the baby's grasping reaction, touching the lips can guide the baby's sucking reflex, etc.;
6. Assist the development of visual perception: the baby's vision is very weak after birth, and the compensation of touch has a promoting effect on the formation of visual perception, and the sensitivity of visual perception can be improved through the perception of size and shape by touch;
7. The main way to communicate with people initially: touch is a special way of communication between babies and parents, and parents' hugs, touches, and patting of infants can convey care and love. For the deaf and blind, physical contact can make up for the lack of visual and auditory information;
A critical period for tactile development
Touch is the earliest sensory system that needs to be developed, and 0 to 4 years old is a critical period for tactile development. As early as a few weeks before the baby is in the mother's womb, tactile development begins; From birth to three months, the child's tactile experience can be enriched with a large number of touches, massages, etc.
1. During pregnancy, the fetus touches the uterine wall and its own body through touch, producing the first unconscious sensation of the body;
Second, the child experiences touch through the squeezing of the birth canal during the natural birth process;
Third, after birth, experience the sense of touch through breastfeeding (contact with the mother's nipple) or milk powder feeding (contact with the pacifier), and the sense of touch in the lips and mouth is very good;
4. At the age of 2~3, the child's long-term love can touch the whole body;
After the age of 5 and 3, children will use touch in different ways;
Manifestations of tactile disorders
Tactile hypersensitivity is a kind of "slight neurogenesis hypoplasia", which refers to the brain making wrong judgments and behaviors because the information received from the tactile system may be wrong, so that the body cannot function effectively. Therefore, he will be extremely persistent in behavior, hearing, and vision, and his temper is quite stubborn.
Children with sensitive touch often develop vestibular insufficiency, restlessness, emotional and clumsiness.
There are many factors that lead to excessive sensitivity to touch, such as caesarean section, premature birth, etc., as well as parenting factors, such as overprotection, doting, intimidation, etc.
Hypersensitivity to touch
It usually manifests as:
•Sticky people cry, do not like crowded environments, afraid of contact with strangers.
• Stubborn, withdrawn, short-tempered, mood swings.
•Lots of small movements, can't sit still, especially sensitive to minor injuries and illnesses.
• Partial eaters, picky eaters, who prefer fixed foods and tastes.
• Love to suck fingers, quit pacifier difficulties.
As a parent, we must learn to gradually let children contact more people or objects, and slowly reduce their defensive behaviors or disgust emotions in the process of contact. When guiding the child, you can first demonstrate it to the child, then explain it to the child, let the child understand that this is a safe process, and then encourage the child to participate. The child cannot be forced to touch anything that he does not want to touch, otherwise it will backfire.
Low sensitivity to touch
Low sensitivity to touch is divided into two situations: passive touch and tactile craving.
Passive tactile: Children with passive touch seem quiet, leisurely, a little lazy, and more "well-behaved", but because the speed of processing sensory input is not fast enough, such children are prone to learning disabilities.
It usually manifests as:
•Higher tolerance for minor injuries and pain; possible self-harm;
• Difficulty with fine movements, such as buttons, zippers, etc.;
•It is difficult to distinguish the physical properties of objects, such as shape and texture, by relying only on touch;
• In the case of not seeing, it is difficult to identify objects with touch sense, may be afraid of the dark, and do not realize that the clothes are not neat;
Tactile cravings: These children like to jump up and down, run around, and like to spin in circles on their own, and they are often defined as naughty or "bad" children.
• Eager to touch, likes to touch things around him, often hurts pets;
•When getting along with children, it is easy to hit, pinch and bite other children;
•I like to touch the surface or objects with rough texture;
• Love to play games that will "dirty" yourself;
• Eating tastes are heavy, such as spicy, sweet, and sour;
• I prefer to wear tighter clothes
A common game based on tactile training
01 Squeeze the tweezers
Children over 4 years old
1. Several children stand side by side with their backs against the wall;
2. Children on both sides squeeze hard into the middle, trying to squeeze out the people in the middle The people in the middle also try to squeeze out the people around them;
3. The squeezed child immediately runs to the side and squeezes in the middle, and so on;
02Make pizza
Children over 0.5 years
1. Children lie on their backs or tummies. Prepare a sunshine tunnel to place next to it;
2. The teacher or parent kneads the child's parts with both hands (kneading dough);
3. Parents tap the side of the child's body (facet) with the side of the palm;
4. Parents pat each part of the child's body with the palm of the hand (pat the face);
5. Parents tap all parts of the child's body with the tip of their fingers (put the filling);
6. Children crawl through the sunlight tunnel (into the oven);
7. The child climbs out, and the parent picks up the "bite" and says, "Delicious;
03 Woodpecker
Children over 1 year old
1. The child lies on his back or prone on the bed;
2. Parents "peck trees" with their fingertips on their children;
3. Parents climb up and down on the child with their fingers, indicating "looking for bugs";
4. Parents use the method of "creaking" children to mean "catching insects";
04 Suction and blowing
Children over 0.5 years
1. Prepare the vacuum cleaner, wash the straw and disinfect it;
2. Children either lie or sit;
3. Parents turn on the vacuum cleaner and suck in all parts of the baby's body;
4. Use a hair dryer, such as hot air in winter, and keep an appropriate distance (to avoid liquid injury) to blow all parts of the child's body;
05 Brush brush
Children over 0.5 years
1. Prepare a variety of materials with different tactile sensations and thicknesses (such as: silk, cotton, loofah, leather, linen, etc.);
2. Turn on the air conditioner to ensure that the room temperature is adapted to the baby;
3. The baby is naked. Parents use various tactile materials to alternately rub all parts of the baby's body, especially the areas where the baby feels itchy;
4. This game can also be played while the baby is bathing;
06 I draw you guess
Children over 4 years old (depending on the child's ability)
1. The child faces away from the trainer, or stands, or sits;
2. The trainer draws geometric figures or animal diagrams familiar to children on the child's back, and the child can write letters, numbers, Chinese characters, etc. for the child who can read words;
3. For each picture or word, let the child guess what picture (character) was drawn (written) just now;
07 Road roller
Children over 2 years old
1. Irregularly place many waste cartons on the ground (pay attention to hardness and sharp corners);
2. Let the child lie on the ground and roll. Flatten all cartons;
3. The trainer personally operates or the trainer instructs the child to restore the flattened carton to its original state;
4. Repeat the same game;