The  moving is necessary.  The flapping and the spinning helps shake free new thoughts and calm emotions.  Or so I'm told, by young adults who are my clients.  And by older adults, who were once children told to stop spinning, flapping and pacing.

What we call sensory processing differences are felt by many children and adults as a numb sensation (under sensitivity) or a pain sensation (over sensitivity).  Many have a mixture of the two sensations-sounds are too loud but feet need to stomp to be felt.

Can you imagine conducting your life with that set of rules?

When we jump or spin or hang upside down, our body sends messages to our brain about where we exist in that moment.  Where our body "is" right then.  My friends and clients with sensory processing differences might seek out  movement to help them feel comfortable in their own skin.  Or, they might sit on the bed in the dark because the full-pace world is too much to process.

So many of the children I know can only look, play, learn and laugh when they are not too "over" or not too "under" alert. Right in the middle is best. I don't think our goal should be to stop these movement "behaviors" when helping children with processing differences, but to understand their purpose. Helping children reach and stay in the middle.