Making Sense of Behavior: The Basics of Sensory Processing
Children’s behavior often reflects sensory needs that haven’t been met yet. This module covers the eight sensory systems, the four sensory processing profiles, and the difference between threshold and tolerance — then gives caregivers and practitioners a practical framework for identifying the sensory causes behind what they’re seeing.
Kelsie Mick Olds, MOT OTR/LEnrollment Options
Professional Track
Provides a certificate of completion for 1.5 continuing education contact hours. Designed for social workers, educators, and early childhood educators looking to earn CE credit for professional development.
This course provides 0.15 General CEUs or 1.5 Contact Hours
Personal Track
Designed for parents, caregivers, and educators looking to deepen their knowledge and understanding and learn practical strategies for supporting neurodivergent children.
Professional Track
- Big Talks Little Talks video course
- PDF Companion Notes
- Learning outcome assessment
- Certificate of completion for 0.15 General CEUs
Personal Track
- Big Talks Little Talks video course
- PDF Companion Notes
Meet Your Instructor
Kelsie Mick Olds, MOT OTR/L
Mick is an occupational therapist working both on- and offline to share knowledge widely about the ways that children grow, develop, and learn. Mick is passionate about play as the core meaningful occupation that underlies childhood, and about equipping adults with the education and practical tools they need to defend children’s right to play.
Mick has a Master of Occupational Therapy degree from the University of Oklahoma and has worked primarily in schools, as well as consulting with teachers, therapists, and parents to advocate on children’s behalf. Mick blogs as The OccuPLAYtional Therapist.
About This Course
What Is Sensory Processing?
Every child takes in information through their senses and responds to it in their own way. But sensory processing isn't just about the five senses most people learned in school. There are eight sensory systems at work, and each person has a unique profile for how they notice and respond to input across all of them.
That profile shapes behavior in ways that aren't always obvious. A child who can't sit still, dislikes certain textures, seeks out lots of movement, or seems not to notice things that bother everyone else isn't being intentionally difficult. They're responding to what their nervous system is telling them.
Understanding the basics of sensory processing gives caregivers and practitioners a different lens for reading behavior, one that opens up more useful responses.
Why Behavior Is Easier to See Than to Understand
Most people are pretty good at noticing when a child's behavior is a problem. What's harder is understanding what's driving it. When a child melts down, shuts down, or pushes back, the behavior is visible but the cause isn't always clear.
Sensory needs are one of the most common and most overlooked causes behind challenging behavior in children. Without a framework for understanding sensory processing profiles, it's easy to respond to the behavior itself rather than what's underneath it.
This course gives you the foundational knowledge to start asking different questions: not just "what is this child doing?" but "what might their sensory system need right now?" That shift changes what you do next.
Big Talks, Little Talks
Understanding How Kids Think, Feel, and Behave — One Talk at a Time
Making Sense of Behavior: The Basics of Sensory Processing is one of eight modules in Big Talks, Little Talks, a video course series by Kelsie Mick Olds covering key topics in neurodiversity and child development. Modules can be purchased individually or as a complete bundle.
Every module in the series includes two videos:
The professional development component. Kelsie walks through the topic in depth, giving you the knowledge and language to understand what's happening and how to respond. Big Talks run approximately one hour and qualify for continuing education credit.
A kid-friendly video that gives children accessible language to understand what's going on in their own bodies and brains. You can show it directly to a child, break it into shorter chunks across multiple sessions, or watch it yourself to pick up language you can use in your own conversations.
Who Is This Course For?
This course is designed for therapists, parents, caregivers, educators, early childhood educators, and anyone who works with or lives with children whose behavior doesn't always make sense on the surface.
Whether you're trying to understand why a specific child struggles in certain environments, looking to build your foundational knowledge of sensory processing, or searching for a framework you can actually use in real moments, this course gives you a practical starting point.
Course Details
Select a track to view what's included.
Course Modules
Making Sense of Behavior: The Basics of Sensory Processing
1:12:03This Big Talk introduces the foundations of sensory processing and how it shapes children’s behavior. Presenter Kelsie Olds, OTR/L, explains the four sensory processing profiles and the eight sensory systems, and introduces a two-axis model for understanding sensory profiles.
The video distinguishes between threshold and tolerance, and between passive and active strategies for meeting sensory needs. The talk reframes common “behavior problems” as children’s attempts to meet sensory needs and offers a practical “more of / less of” framework for identifying possible sensory causes behind what children are doing.
How Do My Senses Feel?
This Little Talk introduces kids to the eight senses (the five traditional senses plus proprioception, vestibular, and interoception) and the four sensory processing styles (seeker, avoider, misser, and sensitive). Kelsie explains that people can fit into different categories for different senses or at different times of day, and that none of these styles are wrong. The video gives kids language to describe what is happening inside their bodies and to tell more accurate stories about themselves and others.
What's Included
Course Content
Registration Information
To register, select your preferred course option on this page and complete your purchase. Access to all course materials is granted immediately upon completion of payment. If you require accommodations or have special needs requests, please contact us at ce@thinksensory.com. Groups of 6 or more can inquire about group rates at the same address.
Course Modules
Making Sense of Behavior: The Basics of Sensory Processing
1:12:03This Big Talk introduces the foundations of sensory processing and how it shapes children’s behavior. Presenter Kelsie Olds, OTR/L, explains the four sensory processing profiles and the eight sensory systems, and introduces a two-axis model for understanding sensory profiles.
The video distinguishes between threshold and tolerance, and between passive and active strategies for meeting sensory needs. The talk reframes common “behavior problems” as children’s attempts to meet sensory needs and offers a practical “more of / less of” framework for identifying possible sensory causes behind what children are doing.
How Do My Senses Feel?
This Little Talk introduces kids to the eight senses (the five traditional senses plus proprioception, vestibular, and interoception) and the four sensory processing styles (seeker, avoider, misser, and sensitive). Kelsie explains that people can fit into different categories for different senses or at different times of day, and that none of these styles are wrong. The video gives kids language to describe what is happening inside their bodies and to tell more accurate stories about themselves and others.
What's Included
Course Content
Registration Information
To register, select your preferred course option on this page and complete your purchase. Access to all course materials is granted immediately upon completion of payment. If you require accommodations or have special needs requests, please contact us at ce@thinksensory.com. Groups of 6 or more can inquire about group rates at the same address.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:
- Identify the four sensory processing profiles and describe the behavioral characteristics associated with each.
- Explain how sensory threshold and sensory tolerance create an individual’s window for attention.
- Describe how the two-axis model (threshold/tolerance and passive/active strategies) is used to categorize sensory processing profiles.
- Explain how the “more of / less of” framework can be used to identify possible sensory causes behind children’s behaviors.
Continuing Education Details
Video lecture with slide presentation, optional companion notes document.
To receive 0.15 CEUs (1.5 contact hours) for this activity, you must complete all of the following:
- View all required video content in its entirety.
- Pass the post-activity learning outcome assessment with a score of 80% or higher.
- Complete the post-activity evaluation.
Partial credit is not available. You must complete all requirements listed above to receive CEUs and a certificate of completion.
If you do not achieve a passing score of 80% on the learning outcome assessment, you may retake the assessment. There is no limit on retake attempts.
Mick was paid for their contributions to Goal Writing for Autistic Students. Mick receives commission for the sales of Big Talks Little Talks. Mick is the author of a book, “Your Child’s Point of View: Understanding the Reasons Kids Do Unreasonable Things” and receives royalties for its’ sale. Mick is the owner of The OccuPLAYtional Therapist and receives speaking fees.
Mick is Autistic and has friends and family members who are Autistic.
Think Sensory will issue a full refund to a learner who requests cancellation within 10 calendar days of purchase, provided the learner has not accessed any course content. Once any course content has been accessed, no refund will be issued, regardless of how much of the activity has been completed. Due to the digital nature of CEU-eligible PD activities, Think Sensory does not offer partial refunds after content has been accessed.
If Think Sensory cancels or removes a course from the platform, affected learners will be notified in advance and provided with an appropriate remedy. For full details, see our Terms of Service.
To request a cancellation, email ce@thinksensory.com.