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Sensory Integration is a treatment technique used by therapists to challenge the child's neurological system thereby providing it with nourishment to grow and develop motor skills, speech patterns and appropriate socialization.
Sensory processing refers to the ability to take in information from the environment and our bodies, make decisions about what is important and organize it into motor and social responses. An individual is constantly learning about the environment through information from the senses.
Sensory integration occurs when the individual can effectively organize this information in the nervous system so that it can be used to respond to the environment. The way that an individual responds to various kinds and amounts of sensory input is, in part, the function of the nervous system's ability to modulate that input. When effective modulation of sensory input occurs, the nervous system makes fast, accurate judgments about input and regulates the nervous systems' arousal level, preparing it for action. When the nervous system is at an optimal level, the discrimination or interpretation of input for development of skill can occur. A child with sensory modulation difficulties may have difficulty regulating their attention and arousal, and organizing behavior. Children with discrimination difficulties may have trouble discerning sensory input for refining fine motor development.
Many children with learning or other developmental problems have what is known as Sensory Integration disorders. Information we receive from the world comes to us through our five senses as well as from movement and body position. Kids with even subtle problems involving one or more of their senses may have trouble focusing or making transitions, dislike certain textures, behave inappropriately or have trouble relating to others. Children with the following diagnoses may also exhibit these difficulties, such as those with P.D.D., A.D.H.D., A.D.D. or Down syndrome.
The Sensory System is made up of 3 basic systems:
Tactile System
The tactile system interprets touch and the perception thereof. It protects us from stimuli that may be perceived as harmful. With an over/under sensitive tactile system, the body interprets touch differently. When this occurs, due to certain types of clothing, food textures or unexpected touch, the body elicits an excessive emotional reaction such as hitting, crying or other behaviors. This is then referred to as tactile defensiveness.
Stereognosis is the ability to interpret and identify size, shape and textures of objects in our environment. It is the second part of the tactile system. ex. Being able to tell the difference between a coin and a key without seeing the object.
Vestibular System
The vestibular system is the balance sense in the inner ear. This sense provides us with information about the position and movement of our head and how our body is moving in relation to gravity. This system is the foundation for the development of balance reaction and is important in motor development because of its influence on muscle tone, bilateral motor coordination, balance, and ocular movements.
Proprioceptive System
Proprioception is the ability to control where one's body parts are and what they are doing. Proprioception provides information on where the limbs are in space without looking. The receptors for this sense are located in the joints. It helps control the amount of force needed for different tasks, ex. petting a dog without hitting the dog. Part of this process involves oral motor skills which requires proprioceptive awareness, as we do not visually monitor mouth movement but need input from the muscles and joints in the mouth. A child with poor proprioception may have stiff and uncoordinated movements, not be able to do things without looking and have difficulty dressing and undressing.
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