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Sensory Integration and Your Child
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Sensory Integration and Your Child
What is sensory integration?
In her book Sensory Integration and the Child, A. Jean Ayres, PhD, OTR, FAOTA describes sensory integration as "the organization of sensation for use." She said, "Our senses give us information about the physical conditions of our body and the environment around us … Countless bits of sensory information enter our brain at every moment, not only from our eyes and ears, but also from every place in our bodies." (Ayres, 1979, p. 5).
Sensory integration occurs in every person all the time. If we picture our minds as being like a highway, then our senses function like on-ramps with traffic signals. For most people the traffic signals only give a green light to information that is important or relevant to the focus of our mental highway from moment to moment. Other information gathered by the senses gets the red light and is kept from cluttering the mental highway. However, for children in the autism spectrum the light is often working incorrectly. These children will often be either sensory seeking or sensory defensive and can benefit greatly from the use of various sensory integration techniques and activities.
When the light is not working.
Sensory information is all around us, constantly being taken in through our senses and entering the neurological pathways in our brains. Most of us go through each day without ever realizing just how much sensory information we take in. The brain generally does a good job of sorting the information and focusing our attention on the input that is important while filtering out the rest without us even being aware of it.
Referring to our on-ramp analogy, imagine what would happen if the lights always stayed green. The light would let every sensation onto our mental highway. Or if it always stayed red it would keep the mental highway empty of sensory traffic. This is how it can be for children in the autism spectrum. If the light is always green the child can feel like he is drowning in a sea of sensations and become sensory defensive or sensory avoiding. Conversely, if the light is always red the child may suffer from a lack of sensation and become sensory seeking.
Sensory defensive.
Stop for a moment and try to pay attention to all the different sensations you are experiencing right now. Your auditory input may be hearing the noise of the computer fan, the barking of a dog outside, the noise of children playing, a train going by, a plane flying overhead, or perhaps a TV or radio playing in another room. Visually you are taking in information from the computer screen, background sights include the desk you are sitting at and any other items you may have on it or nearby. Now focus on your tactile (touch) sensations. How do your clothes feel resting on your body? How about your shoes and socks or your feet resting on the floor? Notice the chair you are sitting on. How does it feel? Are you eating or drinking anything? If so what sensation is that providing for you? Now think about your muscles and joints. How do they feel? Are you staying still or are you moving? Are your muscles relaxed or are some of them tensed? Now notice your spatial sensations. Are you sitting up straight or leaning? Can you feel the pull of gravity seeking to unbalance you in one direction or another?
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