Sensory Integration Therapy
Introduction - Sensory Integration Therapy
Sensory Integration was originated by Dr. A. Jean Ayres, whose research and love for children has inspired many therapists to educate themselves with respect to the neuroscience and influence of environmental stimuli on developing children. Sensory integration has a long history of research and with that, a significant amount of controversy.
It is believed that sensory information is one of the first areas to fully develop in an infant's brain. We rarely stop to think how important our five senses are in terms of providing us with information about the world. For example, our senses tell us when there is a bug crawling up our leg, if we are going to fall, and whether there is smoke in the room. Without the ability to see, hear, touch, smell, and taste we would live in complete isolation, unable to not only sense, but also to think and learn due to a lack of experience with which to develop ideas. When we discuss sensory integration we add to it the two senses of vestibular (responses to movement) and proprioception (body awareness). Each sensory system has its own specific receptor that specializes in optimal responses to a specific type of sensation.
It is believed that sensory information is one of the first areas to fully develop in an infant's brain. We rarely stop to think how important our five senses are in terms of providing us with information about the world. For example, our senses tell us when there is a bug crawling up our leg, if we are going to fall, and whether there is smoke in the room. Without the ability to see, hear, touch, smell, and taste we would live in complete isolation, unable to not only sense, but also to think and learn due to a lack of experience with which to develop ideas. When we discuss sensory integration we add to it the two senses of vestibular (responses to movement) and proprioception (body awareness). Each sensory system has its own specific receptor that specializes in optimal responses to a specific type of sensation.
Sensory integration therapy is driven by four main principles:
• Just Right Challenge (the child must be able to successfully meet the challenges that are presented through playful activities)
• Adaptive Response (the child adapts his behavior with new and useful strategies in response to the challenges presented)
• Active Engagement (the child will want to participate because the activities are fun)
• Child Directed (the child's preferences are used to initiate therapeutic experiences within the session).
Children with lower sensitivity (hyposensitivity) may be exposed to strong sensations such as stroking with a brush, vibrations or rubbing. Play may involve a range of materials to stimulate the senses such as play dough or finger painting.
Children with heightened sensitivity (hypersensitivity) may be exposed to peaceful activities including quiet music and gentle rocking in a softly lit room. Treats and rewards may be used to encourage children to tolerate activities they would normally avoid.
Children with heightened sensitivity (hypersensitivity) may be exposed to peaceful activities including quiet music and gentle rocking in a softly lit room. Treats and rewards may be used to encourage children to tolerate activities they would normally avoid.
1) What is Sensory Integration (SI)?
Sensory integration is the ability of a person to absorb and connect relevant sensory information, organize and interpret it, and respond accordingly. Our sensory integration system mainly consists of seven senses, which are visual sense (sight), auditory sense (sound), gustatory senses (taste), olfactory sense (smell), tactile sense (touch), proprioceptive sense (position and movement) and vestibular sense (gravity, head movement and balance).
Sensory integration is the ability of a person to absorb and connect relevant sensory information, organize and interpret it, and respond accordingly. Our sensory integration system mainly consists of seven senses, which are visual sense (sight), auditory sense (sound), gustatory senses (taste), olfactory sense (smell), tactile sense (touch), proprioceptive sense (position and movement) and vestibular sense (gravity, head movement and balance).
2) What is Dysfunction in Sensory Integration (DSI)?
DSI =‘indigestion of the brain’, or a ‘traffic jam in the brain’
i) Inefficient sensory intake, i.e. when our brains take in too little (hyposensitivity) or too much (hypersensitivity) sensory information, we can’t react in a meaningful way
ii) Neurological disorganization, i.e. the brain may not receive sensory data because of a “disconnection,” or the brain may receive sensory messages, but inconsistently, or the brain may receive sensory messages consistently but does not connect them properly with other sensory messages to produce a meaningful response
i) Inefficient motor, language or emotional output, i.e. inefficient feedback causes difficulty in looking and listening, attending appropriately to people and objects, processing new information, remembering, interacting with others, learning, etc.
DSI =‘indigestion of the brain’, or a ‘traffic jam in the brain’
i) Inefficient sensory intake, i.e. when our brains take in too little (hyposensitivity) or too much (hypersensitivity) sensory information, we can’t react in a meaningful way
ii) Neurological disorganization, i.e. the brain may not receive sensory data because of a “disconnection,” or the brain may receive sensory messages, but inconsistently, or the brain may receive sensory messages consistently but does not connect them properly with other sensory messages to produce a meaningful response
i) Inefficient motor, language or emotional output, i.e. inefficient feedback causes difficulty in looking and listening, attending appropriately to people and objects, processing new information, remembering, interacting with others, learning, etc.
3) Causes of DSI
It is commonly believed that DSI may be congenital or acquired. Congenital causes could be due to genetic factors, abnormal fetal position, intake of inappropriate medicine by mother during pregnancy, etc; whereas acquired causes are mostly relevant to the environmental factors, for example, children are exposed to sensory deprived environment, causing these children to have poor development and significant problems with sensory integration.
It is commonly believed that DSI may be congenital or acquired. Congenital causes could be due to genetic factors, abnormal fetal position, intake of inappropriate medicine by mother during pregnancy, etc; whereas acquired causes are mostly relevant to the environmental factors, for example, children are exposed to sensory deprived environment, causing these children to have poor development and significant problems with sensory integration.
4) Some common signs and symptoms of DSI
i) Poor motor coordination : poor sense of balancing, causing one to fall down easily when walking, unable to perform tumbling action, poor handcrafting skill, etc.
ii) Inattention and hyperactivity : unable to sit still and concentrate, moving around all the time, run instead of walk, etc.
iii) Learning disabilities: messy handwriting, illiterate, copy wrong questions or miss some questions when copying, etc.
iv) Speech and language difficulty : Delayed in speech as compared to other peers, poor self-expression, etc.
v) Behavioral problems : hard to be pleased, annoyed easily, do not know how to share things with others, lack of sympathy, unusual response to stranger or unfamiliar environment, etc.
i) Poor motor coordination : poor sense of balancing, causing one to fall down easily when walking, unable to perform tumbling action, poor handcrafting skill, etc.
ii) Inattention and hyperactivity : unable to sit still and concentrate, moving around all the time, run instead of walk, etc.
iii) Learning disabilities: messy handwriting, illiterate, copy wrong questions or miss some questions when copying, etc.
iv) Speech and language difficulty : Delayed in speech as compared to other peers, poor self-expression, etc.
v) Behavioral problems : hard to be pleased, annoyed easily, do not know how to share things with others, lack of sympathy, unusual response to stranger or unfamiliar environment, etc.
5) Sensory integration therapy
An intervention which provides abundant of proper stimulation to the dysfunctional nervous systems to go back their ways via various interesting and exciting exercises and games. Regardless of children’s abilities or developmental age, they need sensory-motor activities. 3-dimentional, hands-on and hard-work play help to build better brains and bodies. |