Jane Nelson: Where did we ever get the crazy idea that in order to make children do better, first we have to make them feel worse? Think of the last time you felt humiliated or treated unfairly. Did you feel like cooperating or doing better?

 sensory integration (SI)

Disorders to the sensory integration processes, and how they affect
behavior and learning, has in some ways been around forever, and in
other ways, is brand new. We know that children with hearing and
visual deficits must use other senses to compensate for the loss.
That only makes sense. What we did not realize is that millions of
other children without obvious deficits in sensory processing also have problems. In particular, children with Attention Deficit Disorder (AD/HD), Autism, and other forms of Pervasive Deficit Disorder (PDD).

Some children are under-sensitive, in that their brains do not take in enough information, thus they have to seek it in alternative ways. Other children are overly sensitive, and must constantly block out all the sensory overload as a way of avoiding overload.

The most common sources of sensory input are touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight. But there are many more senses, particularly, the two senses essential to a child's development: the movement sense (vestibular) and position in space (propriception).

In addition to these 7 senses, some experts have documented the following senses:

• Sight Visible light
• Hearing Vibrations in the air
• Touch Tactile contact
• Taste Chemical molecular
• Smell Olfactory molecular
• Balance Kinesthetic geotropic
• Vestibular Repetitious movement
• Temperature Molecular motion
• Pain Nociception
• Eidetic imagery
• Neuroelectrical image retention
• Magnetic Ferromagnetic orientation
• Infrared Long eletromagnetic waves
• Ultraviolet Short electromagnetic waves
• Ionic Airborne ionic charge
• Vomeronasal Pheromonic sensing
• Proximal Physical closeness
• Electrical Surface charge
• Barometric Atmospheric pressure
• Geogravimetric Sensing mass differences

Adapted from: Rivlin, R. & Gravelle, K. Deciphering Your Senses.

All seven of these senses need to properly take in information from the environment and organize them in a way that our bodies can use. This is called sensory integration.

Sometimes there are imbalances in this system that can lead to over or under sensitivity in one or several of these areas.

Being either over or under sensitive in one or several of these seven areas can affect a child's ability to perform physical tasks.

Here are some examples:

Touch - A child might be sensitive to the feel of objects against his skin. He might hate activities such as dress up, pretend play with makeup, or arts and craft activities that involve working with play-dough or clay. A child who is overly sensitive to touch may overreact when touched even lightly on the shoulder by a teach or a friend. A child who is under-sensitive may have no reaction if he falls or hurts himself.

Smell - A child might react strongly to unusual or strong smells or not seem to notice even unusual smells such as food burning or gas leaking.

Taste - Some children are particularly sensitive to the taste of different foods.

Sight - Strong lights or certain types of colors may bother a child.

Hearing - A child may be disturbed by sudden or loud noises.

Position in Space - Some children have difficulty evaluating how much space is needed to reach a certain item. This would include putting a pegboard down on the table without tipping it over, judging if there is room for a child to crawl underneath a jungle gym and sitting down on the center of the chair. A child who seems to eternally "miss the chair" when sitting down may be having difficulty in this area.

Movement - an overly sensitive child may fear climbing on a jungle gym, and have difficulty with gross motor activities. An under-sensitive child may be fidgety, jump on the couch all afternoon, and have difficulty sitting down to do table activities such as a puzzle.

These are but a few examples of how a child's ability to use the information he receives from his environment is critical to his ability to perform physical tasks.

When a child is having difficulty in the area of physical development, it is essential for parents and professionals that treat a child to consider how his sensory environment affects his development. In this way a parent can determine if a child really "can't" put together that puzzle or if the lights or other sounds in the room are just so disturbing to him that he is unable to do so.

It is also important for parents to understand that sensory integration is a real issue and not just a child being "picky" or "fussy." While to some children a strong smell or bright lights might be annoying, to others, the experience can be unbearable.

  2002 Pediatric Behavioral Health Resources, LLC

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