Hancock-South Madison Joint Services
1834 Fields Boulevard
Greenfield, IN 46140
Phone : 317-462-9219, FAX - 317-462-9286

 

  

Sensory Issues for Children in the Autism Spectrum

  

 

 

I. What is Sensory integration and why is it important?(4 min 9sec)

Sensory integration is the ability to take in information through the senses and integrate and organize this information in the brain.

The senses are the building blocks for such things as academic skills, motor skills, perception skills, and organized behavior. Normal development of sensory integration begins when we are infants and consists of four levels. Each level rests on the building blocks laid down before. (Kranowitz, The Out of Sync Child)

Level Four: Academic Skills

Academic Readiness Complex Motor Skills

By 6 years Regulation of Attention

Organized Behavior

Specialization of Body and Brain

Visualization

Self-Esteem and Self Control

Level Three: Auditory Perception

Perceptual Motor Visual Perception

Skills Eye-Hand Coordination

By 3 years Visual-Motor Integration

Purposeful Activity

Level Two: Body Awareness

Perceptual-Motor Bilateral Coordination (Teamed Use of Both Sides of Foundations of Body)

By 1 year Lateralization (Hand Preference)

Motor Planning (Praxis)

Level One: Tactile Sense (Touch)

Primary Sensory Vestibular Sense (Balance and Movement)

Systems Proprioceptive Sense (Body Position)

By 2 months Visual and Auditory Sense

 

 

 II. How does sensory integration occur? (2min, 48 sec)

1. Sensory Registration occurs when we first become aware of sensation.

2. Orientation allows us to pay attention to new sensory information being received. It helps us determine which sensory information needs our attention and which we should ignore.

3. Interpretation interprets sensory information and describes its qualities. Interpretation helps us determine what to respond to and what to ignore.

4. Organization of a response helps occurs when our brain determines if a response is necessary. It chooses from three responses:

  • Emotional response

  • Cognitive response

  • Physical response

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    5. Execution of a response-respond physically, emotionally, or cognitively.

    III. What happens when the sensory systems are not integrated properly? (2 min, 43 sec)

    A traffic jam in the brain occurs due to one of the following:

    1. The brain takes in too much or too little sensory information

    2. The brain does not receive sensory information

    3. The brain may receive sensory information inconsistently

    4. The brain may receive sensory information but does not connect it properly with other sensory messages to produce a meaningful response

    5. The brain is unable to process the sensory information so one cannot behave or respond appropriately

     
    IV. Visual, Auditory, Gustatory, and Olfactory systems (4 min, 1 sec)

    		 - The Visual system helps the child determine what to pay attention to and what to ignore

    - The Auditory system is affected by the volume, tone, pitch, rhythm and sequences of sounds in the child's environment

    - The Gustatory system is the child's sense of taste. A child with ASD can be hypersensitive to tastes and a dislike form many common and popular foods.

    - The Ofactory system provides the child information regarding different types of smells that can have a negative impact on the child's behavior
    V. Tactile System (5 min, 20 sec)
    It provides information regarding pressure, vibration, movement, temperature and pain.
    •It is made up of 2 components:
    1. Protective System: Alerts us to potentially harmful stimuli
    2. Discriminative System: Tells us that we are touching something, something is touching us, where on the body the touch occurs, whether it is light or deep touch
    •An insufficient tactile system is exhibited in the following ways:
    Hypersensitive to touch
    Hyposensitive to touch
    Poor tactile discrimination
    •If there is a problem with the tactile system-tactile perception, body awareness, motor planning, visual perception, academic learning, social skills, and emotional security can be affected.

    VI. Proprioceptive System (3 min, 42 sec)

    •It helps us know where our body is in space.

    •It helps integrate touch and movement sensations.

    •Receptors for proprioception occur in the muscles, joints, ligaments, and tendons.

    •If a student has an insufficient proprioceptive system body awareness, grading of movement, motor control, motor planning, postural stability, and emotional security can be affected.

    		VII.  Vestibular System (3 min, 24 sec)

    •It tells us where our heads and bodies are in relation to the surface of the earth.

    •It takes in information about balance and movement through the neck, eyes, and body. The vestibular system then sends this information to the brain, which helps generate muscle tone to help us move.

    •Tells us whether we are moving or standing still as well as the direction we are going and how fast.

    •An insufficient vestibular system is exhibited in the following ways:

  • Hypersensitive to movement
  • Hyposensitive to movement
  • Gravitational Insecurity
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    •An insufficient vestibular system may cause problems with gravitational insecurity, movement and balance, muscle tone, bilateral coordination, auditory-language processing, visual-spatial processing, motor planning, and emotional security.