Life is atypical for the child with sensory processing
disorders. Because of the way nerves
communicate with the brain in children with SPD, they can have more challenges
with certain types of activities. There
are many different types of SPD that can affect a child. For example, some children have a tactile
sense processing disorder, another may have vestibular problems; some children may
have proprioceptive challenges, while others may have visual or auditory
difficulties. This can all be
overwhelming when faced with having a child with this type of disorder.
Briefly,
let’s identify what a sensory processing disorder is. To begin we will define sensory processing, which
is essentially, the process in which our bodies take in all of the senses
around us and make sense of it. We have
the common senses of touch, taste, feel, hearing, and smell, as well as the
less common senses which include the vestibular (Inner ear/balance),
interoception (Internal organs/hunger, thirst), and proprioception
(muscles/joints – body position/movement of body parts) senses.
What
happens is that our nerves carry the sensation to our brain; we interpret it,
and then react. If we taste something
sour, our lips pucker, our eyes may water, and we may attempt to spit it
out. Each sense is the same, we
experience the exposure, our nerves send it to our brain which interprets it,
and those same nerves send out a message to respond.
The
child with a sensory processing disorder is not privileged with the same
opportunities to respond like those without the disorder. Their nerves may over or under shoot their
destination which ends up with a response that is atypical. Essentially, the brain has difficulty taking
in, organizing, and responding to sensory information and therefore this child
has problems reacting effectively to his/her surrounding environment.
There
are many responses that children may have as they attempt to make sense out of
the way their brains interpret their sensations. In future posts, we will address more ideas
regarding how to help children with some of these disorders.
In most
cases, to provide the best possible outcome for your child struggling with SPD,
an Occupation Therapist (OT) is ideal. Through
occupational therapy, appropriate activities can be identified and practiced.
As one
example, a child with a vestibular disorder, or problems regarding movement of
the body, may have difficulty with large motor skills and motor planning. Things such as slides make this child
uncomfortable and he may be afraid of heights.
One way to help this child would be to reduce gravitational insecurity. This could be accomplished by allowing them
to jump on a small, one person exercise trampoline or having them swing gently
on a glider swing.
More
ideas will follow in future posts. I
hope this is helpful and gives you a better understanding of sensory processing
disorders. Let me know. Thanks
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