Tag Archives: sensory integration disorder

Sensory Integration Dysfunction: What is Vestibular Disorder?

The child with dysfunction of sensory integration (DSI) gets confused signals as the brain is interpreting information from the senses. This can cause all kinds of difficult or unusual behaviors in your son or daughter. (To understand the basics of sensory integration disorder, click here.) We have more than five senses, including the vestibular sense, which is input from the inner ear, along with visual, auditory, and movement receptors that travel to the brainstem, reticular formation, and cerebellum for processing. This input provides information about balance and movement, and how the size of our body relates to the sizes of … Continue reading →

Autism? Aspergers? ADHD? How Auditory Training Can Help

Several years ago, I read an astonishing book about a girl with autism, Georgie, who was only attached to inanimate objects and had no interest in human beings. She was completely withdrawn into her own world seemed unreachable. She had strange reactions to ordinary sounds and events. Eventually she shut out everything as though she were deaf. Well, her mother, Annabel Stehli, was determined to get answers. She took her daughter to numerous specialists and was either told to “just love her,” or was given several more-than-subtle hints that she was a bad mother. The book is fascinating, detailing Annabel’s … Continue reading →

What is Your Child’s Sensitivity Profile?

When we have a better understanding of our child’s sensory reactivity levels, we can decode some of his or her puzzling behaviors. Many children with disabilities of all types struggle with sensory integration disorder (DSI), and have oversensitivity or undersensitivity to normal stimuli. By getting in tune with how your child manages the sensory input from his environment, you can improve your interactions. This knowledge can give teachers, therapists, and doctors a head start in relating to your son or daughter, and break down barriers to learning. By making careful observations while your child goes about her day, you can … Continue reading →

Perseveration… Perseveration… Perseveration…

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Many children with severe disabilities, particularly those on the autism spectrum, perseverate. Perseverating means they do certain actions over and over again, like repeating a phrase, shutting a door, twiddling fingers, lining up toys, rubbing hands together, spinning objects, etc. It is almost as if these children are locked into an endless cycle of meaningless, odd behaviors. Why do children perseverate? There are a couple of reasons. First, they might find life to be so chaotic and confusing that they crave some sort of control. The repeated door slamming, for example, gives the child a sense of predictability, order, and … Continue reading →

“My Child Won’t Let Me Touch Him.” The Avoidant Child

I’ll never forget that autism support group meeting. I had been hit with the overwhelming news that my son Kyle had a lifelong disability, and felt like I was being strangled by pain, disappointment, and fear. There were adults seated all around me—of every shape, size, and race, who had been traveling the same road that I was now setting foot upon. In some ways that was reassuring, but at the same time it was a club I didn’t want to join. “…he won’t allow me to touch him…” After some introductions and announcements, a soft-spoken, tired-looking mother stood up, … Continue reading →

Sensory Integration Dysfunction: Just What Exactly Is It?

Imagine you’re a child, and the sweater your mother dressed you in feels like sandpaper chafing your skin. The sensation of the threads rubbing across your arms is so irritating, you can barely concentrate on anything else. You grunt and whine in frustration, trying to convey your feelings, but you can’t put them into words that make sense. You throw a tantrum, and finally your mother removes your sweater. Then she casually turns on the dishwasher. The buzzing of the motor rings terribly loud in your ears. You run into the corner of the room, covering your head and moaning. … Continue reading →