Sensory experiences include touch, movement, body awareness, sight, sound and the pull of gravity. The process of the brain organizing and interpreting this information is called sensory integration. Sensory integration provides a crucial foundation for later, more complex learning and behavior.

For most children, sensory integration develops in the course of ordinary childhood activities. Motor planning ability is a natural outcome of the process, as is the ability to adapt to incoming sensations. But for some children (5-10%), sensory integration does not develop as efficiently as it should. When the process is disordered, a number of problems in learning, development, or behavior may become evident.

The concept of sensory integration comes from a body of work by A. Jean Ayres, Ph.D., OTR. As an occupational therapist, Dr. Ayres was interested in the way in which sensory processing and motor planning disorders interfere with daily life function and learning. This theory has been developed and refined by the research of Dr. Ayres, as well as other occupational and physical therapists. In addition, literature from the fields of neuropsychology, neurology, physiology, child development, and psychology has contributed to theory development and intervention strategies.

Sensory integration uses sensations from the body and the environment and organizes them into usable information to initiate and guide action. Every brain is constantly bombarded with sensations which must be correlated, interpreted, and then acted on. Most of the time this process is smooth, effortless and automatic. When it is NOT smooth and automatic, sensory integrative dysfunction is the result. For most of us only rarely is there a "glitch". However, for autistic, and many learning disabled individuals, failures and distortions in sensory organization are the norm. They live in a confusing, frightening world, where forms and sounds keep shifting and changing. If you are autistic, mother's voice may seem to come from the ceiling, and her words don't make sense. People are frightening because you can't predict how they are going to move or exactly where they are. You are much more sensitive than other people - a pat on the arm may feel like a blow; the comb pulling through your hair feels as if you are being scalped! And many sounds seem so loud you have to cover your ears and try to escape!

Since sensory input is the raw material - the ONLY raw material for brain development and learning, it is vital that the multi-various sensations be organized quickly and accurately. While most of us are used to thinking about vision and hearing as the main senses involved in learning, they are actually small in quantity compared to large pervasive inputs like the sense of balance and weight (vestibular system) and the sense of touch from the skin, which covers the whole body (tactile system). Other large sources of sensory data are the tendons, muscles and joints, known as the proprioceptors (proprioceptive system). These big sensory systems provide the essential unifying foundation for the organizing of vision, hearing, taste and smell.

It's logical, then, that therapists facilitate brain development by guiding the child to pleasurable activities providing vestibular, tactile and proprioceptive stimulation. It is not coincidental that young children spontaneously run, jump, spin, climb, and love all kinds of rough and tumble play. Some children, especially those who are developmentally delayed, do not get enough of these kinds of stimulation. For them, sensory integrative therapy can help to provide what has been lacking and stimulate more normal development. The fact that the brain can develop throughout life (neural plasticity) is what makes development possible.

One of the key elements in sensory integrative therapy is the child's active role in the process. The therapist's role is to use the child's interests and motivation as a guide to providing the "just right" challenge, - a challenge which can be met successfully. Each successful movement creates or strengthens neural connections which form the basis for the next success.

The therapist is the key component in sensory integrative therapy. He/she must know the nervous system, child development, and be an expert in analyzing and adapting activities to meet each child's needs. One important role of the therapist is to help parents understand the child's needs and provide as much as possible at home. The therapist can also help the child's teacher with methods of incorporating needed sensory activities into the classroom routine.

For more information regarding sensory integration dysfunction, go to the Sensory Integration Dysfunction Checklist.