What is sensory integration

But these feelings are temporary and wouldn't normally affect your day-to-day functioning in the long-term. Sensory integration or sensory processing difficulties are long-term and have a big impact on everyday life and learning. Some individuals may have difficulty processing input from one particular sense eg, visual processing , whereas other individuals may experience difficulty integrating inputs from more than one sensory system.

Note that sensory integration difficulties are different from sensory impairments such as hearing loss, although sometimes the two result in similar behaviours. For example, an individual with perfect hearing can find it difficult to follow conversations if they have difficulties processing the incoming auditory signals.

Four categories of sensory integration difficulties have been identified Parham and Mailloux :. Problems with sensory modulation occur when our brain either over responds to, or under responds to sensory information.

For example, if someone over responds to touch they may be very aware of the label in the back of their clothes. If someone is under-responsive to touch they may not notice someone tapping them on the shoulder.

It has been found that people can be over responsive or under responsive in all the different senses, they can be over responsive in one sense and under responsive in another. For some people they can be over responsive and under responsive within the same sense. Responsiveness can be dependent on a situation, for example a stressful situation can make us more and sometimes less aware of sensation.

This is when the brain has difficulties with making sense of the sensory information it receives. If these problems are with touch sensory information, an individual can seem clumsy or use too much or too little force when doing things.

A person with visual perceptual problems may have difficulties with finding objects in cluttered environments or finding a word on a page. These problems are a result of problems with our vestibular sense and can result in poor balance and difficulties with coordinating two sides of the body. Learn more, too, about strategies you can try at home , including ways to help your child cope with:. Noise sensitivity. Tactile sensitivity. Taste sensitivity. Visual sensitivity.

If you recently discovered your child has sensory processing issues, find out what to do next. These range from behaviour therapies and developmental approaches to medications and alternative therapies. Skip to content Skip to navigation. What is sensory integration therapy? Who is sensory integration therapy for? What is sensory integration therapy used for? Where does sensory integration therapy come from?

What is the idea behind sensory integration therapy for autistic children? What does sensory integration therapy involve? Cost considerations The cost of this therapy depends on the number of sessions the child has with an occupational therapist. Does sensory integration therapy work for autistic children? Although there are scientific studies to show that children with ASDs are more likely to have sensory-processing problems, the effectiveness of sensory integration therapy as a therapy for ASDs is limited and inconclusive.

While this does not mean that the therapy might not be helpful in some children, effectiveness so far is mainly based on personal experiences. You may also learn about auditory integration training or behavioral optometry as methods for controlling sensory input. Also, there is no evidence that any problems seen with ASDs are related to these auditory or visual problems. Occupational Therapy. Speech-Language Therapy. How is Autism Diagnosed?

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