Sign up for our newsletter. Promise we'll keep you in the loop but won't fill your inbox (and we value your privacy).

Close

SEL READINESS GAP: Why Emotional Growth Needs a Sensory Foundation – Part 1

SEL Series Overview:

As schools around the world continue investing in Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), one essential question remains largely unasked: Are all students truly ready to access what SEL offers?

This three-part series explores a growing body of research and real-world insights pointing to a foundational gap in many SEL programs: most begin with emotional instruction and self-reflection, but few consider the role of the body and sensory-motor readiness as prerequisites for emotional growth.

Over the next three installments, you’ll learn:

  • Why even the most well-designed SEL programs may be inaccessible to the students who need them most
  • What neuroscience and developmental psychology reveal about the sequence of learning regulation skills
  • How trauma, neurodivergence, and sensory processing challenges impact emotional learning
  • The practical, low-cost strategies that educators, parents, and school leaders can implement to support physiological regulation—first
  • How to build SEL programs that are inclusive, equitable, and actually work for all students

Whether you’re an educator, therapist, school leader, caregiver, or advocate, this series invites you to reframe your understanding of emotional readiness…not as a given, but as a developmental milestone that must be supported before students can truly regulate, relate, and rise.

Alert Program® is designed to be complimentary to SEL, behavioral health, and wellness initiatives and is not intended to replace, but rather support, existing curriculum.

Part 1: Rethinking Emotional Regulation

I. Introduction: Emotional Growth Needs Ground to Stand On

SEL has gained significant momentum over the past two decades as educators increasingly recognize that a child’s academic success is closely tied to their emotional and social development. SEL programs specifically aim to support emotional self-regulation (ESR), a cornerstone of early academic and social success.

This awareness has led to substantial investments in SEL initiatives in schools around the world. In the U.S., federal and state agencies have dedicated extensive resources to SEL-related programs, reflecting an ongoing commitment despite periodic fluctuations driven by shifts in political leadership and policy priorities.

Internationally, SEL initiatives have also expanded considerably, supported by organizations such as the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). These global efforts underscore a widespread acknowledgment that integrating social-emotional competencies into educational frameworks is crucial for holistic student development.

At its best, SEL equips students with essential skills to manage emotions, navigate relationships, resolve conflicts, and make responsible decisions, directly contributing to improved academic outcomes, stronger interpersonal relationships, and reduced emotional distress. 

Yet, despite its successes, a critical gap persists: Most SEL programs begin at emotional reflection and cognitive problem-solving, inadvertently bypassing the fundamental stage of sensory-motor readiness.

This foundational developmental layer is essential for students to effectively access SEL’s intended benefits. Assuming students are ready to engage in emotional and cognitive learning simply because they meet a certain age criterion overlooks critical aspects of neurodevelopment. Similar to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (emphasizes physical safety as a prerequisite for self-esteem and self-actualization), brain-based developmental models highlight the necessity of physiological regulation before higher-order emotional and cognitive functions can be fully and effectively utilized.

Ogden, Minton, and Pain reinforce this biological imperative in their seminal work, Trauma and the Body:

“Children [and adults] cannot reflect on emotional experiences if they have not yet developed the sensory-motor systems necessary to regulate arousal and attention.”

This understanding is not merely theoretical; it is a biological reality. When foundational sensory-motor readiness is overlooked, SEL risks placing emotional expectations on students whose physiological systems are not yet prepared, undermining the very goals these programs aim to achieve.

II. What the Research Says About Emotional Regulation

A wide body of research supports the value of ESR as a driver of positive developmental outcomes. From enhancing teacher–child relationships to supporting independent play and problem-solving skills, the benefits of ESR are well-documented. Documented ESR benefits include enhanced teacher–child relationships, greater independence in play, and improved relational strategies.

According to CASEL, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning:

“SEL programs aim to equip children with the skills necessary for emotional regulation, interpersonal relationships, and problem-solving.”

This goal is undoubtedly worthy. But these programs often carry with them an unspoken assumption: that students are already prepared to access these emotional and cognitive skills. 

The question that is rarely asked is…what if they aren’t?

A meta-analysis by Chen and Yu reviewed the effectiveness of SEL programs and found that while such interventions significantly improved SEL skills and reduced emotional distress, they did not show significant improvements in conduct problems. This is a revealing outcome. It suggests that although children may learn to talk about emotions and demonstrate some surface-level improvements, deeper behavioral changes may not take root if physiological readiness is not addressed. In other words, SEL programs may be functioning like teaching advanced algebra to a child who has not yet mastered addition.

This is especially concerning when we consider the populations that need SEL the most. In Stark’s article, it is highlighted that if SEL programs are to be truly universal, they must avoid excluding students with disabilities by failing to meet their unique social and emotional needs.

For students dealing with neurodevelopmental delays, trauma histories, or sensory processing challenges, traditional SEL activities may not only be ineffective…they may actually be overwhelming.

“Although SEL improved emotional well-being and social behavior, intervention studies found no significant improvement in conduct problems…”

“If SEL interventions are to be truly universal…program design must not exclude [students with disabilities] by failing to address distinct social and emotional needs.”

These findings force us to ask: are we truly reaching the students who need SEL the most, or are we skipping over the foundational readiness that makes these skills usable? Effective emotional regulation relies on accurately interpreting internal sensory states, an impossible task without foundational sensory-motor readiness.

III. The Missing Link: Sensorimotor Readiness Before Emotions

Emotional regulation isn’t just psychological…it’s built upon lower-order processes, including body awareness, sensory integration, and maintaining physiological calm. And it is not just a matter of mindset or willpower…it is a higher-order brain function that rests squarely on lower-order sensory and motor functions. In a regulated system, the body is organized enough to allow the prefrontal cortex—the area responsible for executive function and reflection—to operate effectively. But for many, especially those with sensory processing challenges, that regulated state is hard to come by.

Imagine a child in a classroom who appears inattentive, disruptive, or withdrawn. The teacher tries conflict resolution strategies, asks them to name their feelings, or encourages deep breathing. But the child doesn’t respond. It’s easy to interpret this as oppositional behavior or a lack of emotional intelligence. Yet the real issue may be more fundamental: the child’s nervous system is dysregulated. They are not willfully choosing to misbehave; they are reacting to internal chaos.

Common sensory processing challenges include sensitivity to noise, difficulty interpreting where the body is in space (proprioception), trouble with balance and movement (vestibular confusion), and fluctuating alertness levels throughout the day. A child in a heightened state of alert might be jittery, loud, and impulsive. A child in a low-alert state may appear sluggish, unmotivated, or shut down. Neither of these states is conducive to cognitive or emotional learning.

As O’Grady put it:

“Many interventions assume children already have these self-regulation skills.”

Ng echoes this concern, noting that emotional regulation relies on the ability to recognize internal states and adjust them accordingly. But that recognition is impossible if a child cannot reliably interpret the signals coming from their own body.

To bridge this gap, the Alert Program® offers a simple metaphor: the engine. Children are taught to think about their bodies like car engines—running in high gear (high alert), low gear (low alert), or just right. This analogy provides language for internal states that children can understand and act upon.

Caregiver Tip: 

Next time a child seems overwhelmed, don’t skip straight to the “use your words” prompt and consider trying: 

“Is your engine running in high or low gear right now?” 

You may be surprised by the clarity of their response.

Subscribe now so you do not miss Parts 2 and 3. In the meantime, explore the Alert Program® Online Course and Your Best Self: The Alert Program® for All, or contact us for group discounts.

References:

EITP Logo

The Illinois Early Intervention Training Program has approved these courses for EI credential credit.

CEBC Logo

TherapyWorks, Inc. is listed as an approved provider on the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare. For more information, visit www.cebc4cw.org.