Sensory Integration and Your Child

Sensory Integration/Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and Speech-Language Development

One of the most valuable lesson I learned in graduate school and through my practice working with children as a Speech Language Pathologist is: “In order for a child to learn, s/he must be in a neutral state.”

Think about it, have you ever had one loose strand of hair on your arm which was so annoying that it was the only thing you could think about. Or has the seam of your sock pressed ever so lightly against your pinky toe that you had to take your shoe off immediately to fix it? Better yet, has your focus been disrupted for a few seconds by a siren outside your window? Have you experienced the sensation of pins and needles when your foot falls asleep? Think about the numbness of frozen fingers after shoveling snow. Have you ever taken a ride on a snowy day and the light was so bright that even your newest pair of Ray-Bans didn’t seem to help? Been seasick? Been dizzy? Sat next to someone with really strong perfume?

These are not uncommon experiences for anyone. Our senses are bombarded every moment of every day, even when we are sleeping. It is how we process our environment. These sensory messages are sent to our brain and we are able to prioritize them and continue on with the task at hand. We draw conclusions from the stimuli and form decision on how to proceed. Sometimes, unless we have a really bad headache, we don’t even consciously hear the siren outside our window when we are involved in an engaging activity. This is the process of typical sensory integration and processing.

There are some children who are hypersensitive and those who are hyposensitive to sensory input. A child with hypersensitive atypical sensory processing does not have the ability to prioritize these stimuli and he or she becomes overwhelmed by the different sensory input. Think about your sensory experience and then multiply it by one hundred. If you can, picture the child sitting in the classroom that hears the siren outside the window and is so overwhelmed by it that s/he cannot pay attention the teacher reading a book. Simultaneously, the slight flicker of the florescent light and the hum of the loudspeaker system have increased his/her level of anxiety. Now couple that with the fact that his/her body is feeling a little numb except for his wool socks that itch the hell out of his/her feet. And to add insult to injury, there is a tree outside the window with its branches gently swaying back and forth. A child with SPD will either become extremely agitated and distracted with heightened irritability or s/he may have the opposite reaction and shut down all together… or possibly both.

A profile of hyposensitive SPD is the child who appears to be immune to these sensations, not able to process them at all. S/he typically may not be able to feel temperatures the way that you do. S/he may be oblivious to loud sounds or changes in lighting. S/he might be the kid who is ripping off their down jacket in sub-freezing weather conditions – or s/he may be the child who is thought of as the “clumsy” kid because they are always walking very heavy on their feet, falling, and banging into people and things. This may be caused by the inability to determine their current physical state and their positioning in space. They are unable to process the environmental feedback which tells them about their surroundings and state of being.

In order to develop language, a child needs to maintain a calm, regulated and neutral state of being. S/he needs to be able to maintain eye contact, read the facial expressions and other non-verbal communicative overtures. He or she must feel safe and protected. Furthermore, they must be able to listen, focus, and not be distracted by their internal state or external environment. They must be able to prioritize the environmental and internal stimuli and mute the nonessential input. For the child who is challenged by SPD, these can often become insurmountable goals, causing a delay in their motor, social emotional, and speech and language development.

As with any other concerns you may have about your child’s development, contact you pediatrician. Your pediatrician can provide a referral for an evaluation. A trained Occupational Therapist can evaluate your child for SPD and help you implement sensory strategies to support their ability to maintain attention. A qualified Speech Language Pathologist can also work with your child in ways that will provide your child with the support needed to become successful communicators.

Interesting reading material: 
The Out of Sync Child
http://www.amazon.com/Out-Sync-Child-Recognizing-Integration/dp/0399523863

The Sensational Child
http://sensationalchild.org/child/

Anna Jean Ayres
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=3&oq=anna+jean&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4SKPT_enUS406US407&q=anna+jean+ayres