Sensory integration
BY JENNIFER BOOTH, OTR/L, SIPT
Published: Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Starting school, or even the passage from grammar school to middle school, is a major life experience for any child. There are new teachers, new environments and new students to meet. Although it can be overwhelming, most children find a way to adapt and cope with these changes. For a child with sensory integration issues, however, functioning in a changing environment like this is frightful, stressful and not conducive to learning. To both the parent and child, it can seem like an impossible hurdle. But it’s not - there are ways in which you can anticipate challenges and prepare for them.The first step for any parent is recognizing the behaviors associated with Sensory Integration Dysfunction. Here are some common behaviors to be on the watch for:
• Your child won’t eat certain “textured” foods
• There are dozens of clothing items your child cannot wear because it hurts his/her skin
• Your child refuses to touch materials like glue or finger paint
• Your child experiences pain by the noise level of normal conversation.
Often, children with Sensory Integration Dysfunction have exhibited these traits early in life. But in some cases, a parent may not be aware that their child is affected by Sensory Integration Dysfunction until they enter a school and classroom setting with the stresses brought on by new environments and routines.
Identifying and treating sensory issues as early as possible are important because they are often underlying components in learning disabilities and result in some of the stereotypical behavior associated with ADHD, autism, Non-Verbal Learning Disorder Syndrome (NVLD) and developmental delays. Sensory Integration International tells us that “as many as 30% of school-aged children are estimated to have learning disabilities and research indicates that a majority of these children, although normal in intelligence, are likely to have sensory integrative problems.”
Complete integration into an educational and classroom culture will be difficult for your child with Sensory Integration Dysfunction, both socially and academically. But, if you are able to identify sensory issues in your child, there are ways to minimize the stress that your child will face in this environment and maximize your child’s ability to learn.That’s half the battle. When you don’t recognize the behaviors as Sensory Integration Dysfunction, or do not know what is causing your child to behave so strangely, you are limited in how much you can help them. Here are some of the specific classroom behaviors that a child with Sensory Integration Dysfunction might exhibit:
• Difficulty with transitions from activity to activity
• Refusal to participate in activities that involve touch or sound
• Unpredictable physical or emotional outbursts
• Poor attention
• Difficulty with sense of body, crashing into people or items, unable to stand in line
• Poor eating habits, limited food choicesPreparation and education are the keys for a successful school experience for your child and your family. The relationship between you and your child’s teacher should be a partnership. While there is a responsibility for your child’s teacher to do as much as he or she can to facilitate the learning process, it is important that you be an advocate for your child’s education. As you learn as much as possible about your child’s delay or disability, pass that information and those new strategies along to the school staff, teachers and aides who interact with your child.1. Provide sensory activities throughout the day (a “Sensory Diet”)
2. Modify tasks to increase your child’s tolerance before participation
3. Educate all staff that have contact with your child during the school day
4. Teach your child how to begin the steps to self-regulate
5. Never force sensory input/activities on your child
6. Provide the space and supportive activities your child needs and make allowances so your child can use the strategies as needed.
When parents and teachers share information and work together to come up with solutions, the child can reach his or her potential.They’re there to help! An occupational therapist can support your child by helping to put in motion “sensory diet” activities or modification activities the child can use to regulate their body in order to function normally throughout the day. With your child, an occupational therapist can explore what activities are beneficial and help to educate the other school staff. Constant collaboration between home and school will help to assure that the activities provided throughout the day are successful.Many doctors and therapists have studied this disability, and many parents have been through this experience. Let them share with you their strategies and tactics for managing your child’s disability in the classroom. You don’t have to figure it out on your own!
Following are some useful resources for the classroom and to have on hand at home. Remember, the more educated your child’s teacher is on Sensory Integration Dysfunction, the better he or she will be able to help your child learn, grow and succeed in school.<I><b>How Does Your Engine Run? The Alert Program</I></b> By Williams and Shellenberger<br>
The Alert Program focuses on “Body Engines: High, Low or Just Right” and how a child can determine how an activity makes his/her body feel, how to use activities to change the engine levels and how to keep the body engine in the “just right” state throughout the day.<p>
<I><b>Sensory Motor Handbook</I></b> By Bissell, Fisher, Owens, Polcyn<br>
This is a helpful guide for implementing and modifying activities in the classroom.<p>
<I><b>The Brain Gym</I></b> By Paul E. Dennison and Gail E. Dennison<br>
This is a great program for regular education classes that assist in using whole body warm-up techniques to prepare the system for “work.”<b><I>The Out-of-Sync Child and The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun</I></b> By Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A.<p>
<b><I>Sensory Integration and the Child</b></I> By A. Jean Ayres, PhD.<p>
<b><I>Building Bridges Through Sensory Integration (2nd Edition)</I></b> By Yack, Sutton and Aquilla