Sensory Information Processing Therapy
In today's busy society, stimulus processing has an increasing impact on a child's functioning. All around us, we experience sensory stimuli that children have to learn to cope with. These include sound, sight, smell, taste, touch and movement.
If a child has problems with sensory information processing (SI), a child may not respond well to the sensory stimuli that come in. Well-developed stimulus processing is a basic requirement for all kinds of skills, including learning, playing, sports or toilet training.
SI is the ability to:
- perceive sensory stimuli
- process them adequately
- connect with other information
- respond appropriately to the environment
- store for reuse / learning effect
A stimulus processing disorder
All senses are used simultaneously by your body when performing activities. In children with problems in sensory information processing, stimuli are perceived differently and the senses do not work well together.
The senses may register or overregister stimuli insufficiently. Sensory stimuli may also be incorrectly selected and associated with each other; a discrimination problem. A discrimination problem gives , problems in organising, planning and performing certain activities and movements a so-called sensorimotor problem. In addition, all senses together play an important role in alertness, attention / concentration and in warning of 'danger'.
When the senses register correctly, the body knows that it is 'safe' to perform a certain activity. This makes it fun to perform an activity and will allow the child to learn. If the sensory signals are too weak and the body does not warn of danger, an action can become unsafe. If the sensory signals are too strong, the child will react too quickly as if he is in danger and will then not dare or be able to do something. A stimulus processing problem therefore has a major impact on a child's motor and socio-emotional development.
Sensitive to stimuli:
- Crying
- Outside world is threatening
- Quickly upset
- Blames others
- Tired, doesn't want to, eating problems
- Argues and fights
- Quickly distracted
- Shut down (looks like poor registration!)
Avoids stimuli:
- Withdraws
- Arguing / resistance
- I want it his way and not any other way
- Wants predictability
- Seeks one stimulus very strongly
- Wants to be in control
- Overplays irritating stimuli e.g. by making a lot of noise himself, but does not derive pleasure from this.
Registers stimuli poorly:
- Often tired
- Takes little or no initiative
- Little use of body language and facial expressions
- Lower muscle tone
- Delayed or unresponsive
- Clumsy, falling, tripping, etc.
- Does not seem interested
- Little engagement and interaction
- Not friends (do not undertake)
- Do not notice being called or having their clothes twisted.
Looking for stimuli:
- Busy
- Clumsy
- Quickly distracted
- Irritates others with seeking behaviour
- Loses himself in an activity
- Cannot focus on an agreed task
- Does not listen because he is busy with his own activities
- Acts dangerously
- Process-oriented and not end-oriented
The senses
Touch:
Children who register too many tactile stimuli may be very sensitive to touch and other stimuli from their environment. These children quickly notice the environment because they are easily irritated. Underregistration of stimuli is often less noticeable, but is very limiting for being able to learn.
With under-registration of stimuli, the child is not alerted enough when being touched or touching something themselves. This can lead to:
- Avoidance of touch,
- Reacts negatively to unexpected and/or light touch,
- Resists combing hair,
- Dislikes finger painting, glue,
- Preference for certain textures,
- Difficulty with clothes, such as fabric or branding,
- Does not notice touch,
- Does not notice if mouth or nose is dirty,
- Does not notice dropping anything,
- Hurts pets or friends (unconsciously),
- Does not investigate new toys/material,
- Does not notice temperature changes,
- Little reaction to wound pain
- Throws boxes empty and fumbles with them,
- Chews on things like sleeves,
- Feels everywhere (walls, furniture),
- Runs into people,
- Stuffing his mouth
- Recoils with abandon in sand and mud
Equilibrium/verstibular:
The balance organ is a fragile organ located in the inner ear. It makes an important contribution to maintaining balance, both when standing still and when moving. It alerts us when we are in danger of falling or tripping and provides a steady gaze during head movement. With a stimulus processing problem related to balance, we are afraid to trust our body because movement and balance are not felt properly. This can lead to:
- Hate playground activities, such as swinging,
- Fear of falling,
- Keeping feet on the ground,
- Feeling uncomfortable in lift and on escalators,
- Gets carsick easily,
- Does not notice movement,
- Catches his fall badly,
- Does not readily take the initiative to move himself,
- But if he swings, for example, he can keep it up for a long time without getting dizzy
- Wants fast, twisting movements,
- Does not get dizzy,
- Can't sit still,
- Hangs upside down,
- Reckless, sees little danger
The feeling of muscles and joints/ propriocepsis
The feeling in our muscles and joints gives us information about our posture and way of moving and alerts us to danger, preventing us from falling. The propriocepsis (sense of posture) allows us to know how our body is in space. Due to an imbalance in stimulus processing, we don't notice our movements enough, so we don't use the information from the muscles and joints enough and it becomes more difficult to learn things and concentrate. This can lead to:
- Bumps into everything and everyone
- Likes to push, pull, fall
- Hits, kicks and bites (including himself)
- Likes hugs
- Laces and belts should preferably be as tight as possible
- Chews on collars, sleeves, strings, pencils
- Poor body awareness
- Does not notice awkward posture
- Does not help with dressing
- Low muscle tension
- Cramped posture of e.g. elbows and knees (compensate for low muscle tension)
- Moves stiff, lumbering and uncoordinated
- Avoids games such as jumping, hopping
- Gets upset when someone else moves his arms/legs
- Difficulty eating due to information from mouth muscles