What is Sensory Integration?

Taste, Smell, Touch, See, Hear! Senses - we all have them and we all use them but can you imagine living life without being able to use one or even more of them? Sound challenging? This is what it is like for children who have sensory processing problems, whether they have sensory integrative disorder, developmental delay, autism or another sensory condition. Our senses are all the same and by becoming aware of how our sensory system works can really impact on how a child can engage in play activities and daily tasks.

On my placement I learnt about sensory integration through therapy sessions and discussion with my supervisor. Seeing how play sessions were set up and the activities that were chosen to engage the child, made me understand more about the concept. At first I wasn’t sure why or how the child developed problems with their senses. It wasn’t until I researched more about the term sensory integration that many of the sensory problems were due to the information not becoming integrated through the child's neurological pathways.

Sensory Integration was first developed by an Occupational Therapist Jean Ayres in the 1960s. According to Capital Kids website (n.d.). Sensory integration refers to the process by which we receive information from our internal and external environments through our senses. The seven senses being, vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell, vestibular, and proprioception. As humans we respond to these stimuli automatically. The central nervous system sends this information to the appropriate parts of the brain. This information then becomes processed so that we can respond to the stimuli in an adaptive manner. Occupational Therapists tend to focus closely on the proprioceptive, vestibular, and tactile senses the majority of the time. Sensory integration is the foundation for children's learning and behaviour which enables them to develop skills necessary in life .

Many of the clients I worked with had developmental delay and this is when I first used sensory integration techniques. Some of the children were either over aroused, anxious, or fearful of touching a certain texture. “Once arousal levels are regulated, interventions that focus on communication, socialization, and skill development have a better chance of success.” (Aquilla, Sutton, & Yack, 2003, p.36).

Each child is different and different strategies will work effectively on some children and may not be so effective on others. Being able to choose the appropriate activities, setting up the environment, and controlling the amount of sensory input can produce effective results over time. However, it is important to be patient and always remain a positive attitude as well as trying different strategies if some do not work. The tools and strategies used can be easily transferred to the child's home environment with the correct teaching methods being supplied from the therapist to the parent. 

Please feel free to read further blogs I have provided about sensory integration in my 'blog list' over on the right side of this page as there is a list of extra blogs there which explain more about sensory integration.