Dr. A Jean Ayres, an occupational therapist and psychologist with knowledge of neuroscience who worked in the USA, is credited with developing our current concept of sensory integration in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
According to Ayres, sensory integration is “The brain mechanism organizes one’s own body’s and the environment’s sensations and enables effective interaction between the body and the environment (1972)”
How people experience the world is significantly influenced by their senses. Early on and frequently, a child’s perceptions are shaped by the sights, sounds, and sensations they feel.
They alert the body to a wide variety of pleasurable sensations, like the scent of a rose, the vivid colours of magnificent artwork, or the softness of a blanket.
Sometimes these impressions are crooked with a reduced or improved processing ability when a youngster suffers from brain damage.
Through the process of sensory integration, a person’s nervous system is given the mental and physical foundation it needs to interpret sensory information correctly, control his or her reactions, and comprehend the importance of a given texture, movement, or sound.
The advantages of sensory integration treatment are frequently psychological as well as physical.
Sensory Integration
Children born prematurely or those with cerebral palsy may exhibit signs of sensory integrative dysfunction or an abnormally high or low level of sensory processing.
A kid with sensory integrative dysfunction may walk awkwardly or have trouble with fine motor abilities, such as controlling a pencil, which can delay the development of writing skills.
Additionally, sensory dysfunction can result in over- or under-sensitivity, which can wear a person out physically and mentally. Through sensory integration treatment, issues with sight, hearing, and balance can be resolved.
What is Sensory Integration Therapy?
Sensory integration therapy, which was created in the 1960s by an occupational therapist and researcher, Jean Ayers, Ph.D., helps children improve the neural connections that most children make during their formative years.
A youngster could be instructed in therapy, for instance, to pick up something like a ball. Even when the youngster sees the ball and understands what it is used for, visual errors may prevent him or her from correctly identifying or describing the ball.
Due to an excessive sensitivity to touch or a lack thereof, the kid may misinterpret the weight or texture of the ball.
The goal of therapy is to teach children how to analyze sensory information, comprehend its importance, and react, particularly to external stimuli that are frequently beyond their control.
The processing, integration, and organization of sensory data from the body and surroundings is referred to as “sensory integration.”
Simply expressed, this refers to how humans perceive, understand, and act upon (or ignore) sensory information. Everyday activities, including dressing, eating, moving around, socializing, learning, and working, all need some level of sensory integration.
Our senses provide us with sensory data, which includes:
- Sight (vision) (vision).
- Hearing (auditory system) (auditory system).
- Touch (tactile system) (tactile system).
- Taste (gustatory system) (gustatory system).
- Smell (olfactory system) (olfactory system).
- Proprioception (senses of bodily awareness and position) (senses of body awareness and position).
- Vestibular (awareness of movement, balance, and coordination) (awareness of movement, balance, and coordination).
- Interoception (our internal sensory system that informs us what is occurring within our body, for example, hunger, needing the restroom, exhaustion, emotions, etc)
When we are young, as part of our natural development and in activities like rolling, crawling, walking, and play, sensory integration develops for the majority of us; but, for certain people, sensory integration is less well developed.
Sensory integration (SI) treatment should be provided by a properly qualified occupational therapist (OT). Through a comprehensive examination, the OT assesses if your kid might benefit from SI treatment.
The OT exposes a kid to sensory stimulation through repeated tasks in traditional SI treatment.
The OT steadily increases the difficulty and complexity of the activities. The idea is that with practice, your child’s nervous system will react to movements and feelings in a way that is more “ordered.”
These are the objectives of sensory integration therapy:
- Help kids with perception disorders sift out conflicting signals.
- Make physical accommodations that encourage involvement in activities that rely on the senses.
- Identify the effects of a child’s particular sensory impressions on their general physical, social, and human development.
- Encourage children to engage in activities that let them learn, explore, and develop their senses.
- Determine and remove obstacles brought on by dysfunctional perspective.
- Introduce fresh methods for organizing various senses, eliminating background noise, and making up for perceptual deficiencies.
To learn more about Sensory Integration Therapy, visit our page at URL: https://bmec.asia/my/rehab/
More Information
- Understood | Sensory integration therapy: What you need to know
- MyChild | Sensory
- Sensory Integration Education | What is Sensory Integration?
- Amanda Morin
- MyChild at Celebralpalsy.org
- Dr A Jean Ayres
