Sensory Integration and its role in Pediatric Therapy

Sensory integration is the process through which our senses work together. Children use sensory messages to learn, play, and interact with the world. The five basic senses include: auditory (hearing), olfactory (smell), taste, visual (sight) and tactile (touch). In addition, two other important senses are vestibular (balance/movement) and proprioception (body positioning). If any of these domains become ineffective, a child may have problems with movement and respond ineffectively to sensory stimuli. Then human brain gathers sensory experiences and assigns meaning to each. This allows us to respond and behave accordingly based on what information our senses provide us with. For most, sensory integration occurs without need for conscious thought. For some, especially children who have been diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorders (SPD), sensory integration is inefficient thereby causing problems in behaviors and motor responses. For example, a child with SPD may crave for proprioceptive input and would always find himself wanting to jump up and down no-stop therefore not allowing himself to engage in typical play activities with other kids. Another example would be a child with tactile defensiveness who would not respond well to being touched or hugged even by family members.

Physical/Occupational/Speech therapists utilize various sensory integration techniques to help a child process sensory stimuli effectively. In a nutshell, therapists evaluate and determine the sensory domain/s which is/are affected and implement a sensory diet. A “sensory diet” (coined by OT Patricia Wilbarger) is a carefully designed, personalized activity plan that provides the sensory input a person needs to stay focused and organized throughout the day. Its purpose is to assist the child in self-regulation of sensory information and its goal is for the child to use sensorimotor strategies to attain an appropriate state of readiness. For example, the same child who jumps and moves around non-stop during therapy because he seeks proprioceptive input may be provided with a compression garment to provide him with the sensory experience he needs in order for him to calm down and attend to goal-orientated tasks. Moreover, the same child with tactile defensiveness might improve with activities such as rubbing lotion/powder across the body parts during identification or a brushing protocol such as the Wilbarger technique aimed at decreasing his hypersensitivity to touch. The success of a sensory diet lies in the consistency in which the child engages in sensory integration activities and/or the provision of sensory integration handling techniques.