Your Guide To Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)

Sensory Processing Disorder, or SPD, is a physical problem in which an individual has trouble receiving everyday sensory information.

Sensory information is any information acquired by the use of the five senses: taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight. In individuals with typical sensory processing abilities, the incoming information from one or more senses is processed by the brain and organized in order to aid the individual in performing the tasks of everyday life. Individuals with SPD, however, are unable to properly organize incoming information and as a result, they are unable to use sensory information to behave in a meaningful and consistent manner.

SPD affects many areas of an individual’s life and for young children who have not yet learned coping strategies and it can bring about a variety of undesirable behaviors, causing difficulty for both children and the adults who care for them. Children with SPD have difficulty using sensory information to plan and carry out actions. These deficits make academic, motor, and adaptive learning much more difficult for children with SPD than typically developing children.

Postural-Ocular Disorder

These children have poor posture and do not seem aware of where his or her body is in space. They tend to slouch or slump in their seat. They tend to have poor muscle tone and be weaker than other children. They may fall frequently and have difficulty-tracking objects with their eyes. These children often enjoy swinging or spinning motions more than most children.

Dyspraxia

These children have significant trouble with sensory processing and motor planning. They are clumsy and cannot seem to organize their movement. These children may reach out to grab an object and miss it completely.

Sensory Discrimination Disorder

These children have trouble differentiating among or between stimuli. They have difficulty determining where objects are in space or distinguishing between similar words or sounds. They may miss social cues and have trouble interacting with peers as a result. They tend to fall down and bump into objects and other people frequently. They also tend to apply excessive force without realizing they are doing so.

Sensory Modulation Disorder

These children have a threshold for sensory input that is either too low or too high, causing them to respond very intensely or hardly at all to sensory input. Over-responsive children tend to be overly active and easily distracted or disturbed by sounds, sights, smells, or touches. Under-responsive children tend to be lethargic and hardly seem to notice these sensations at all. Some children exhibit a seemingly paradoxical combination of the two-“I like this, but not that!” Others exhibit a strong need for sensory input, generally referred to as “sensory seeking.”

Occupational therapy (OT) is a scientific, evidence-based field devoted to helping individuals suffering from illness, injury, and various disabilities to go about their daily lives in a productive manner.

Ayres Sensory Integration is an OT approach commonly used for children with SPD. The occupational therapist will first assess the child’s response to sensory information to determine if therapy is needed. If they determine that therapy is in fact needed, they form an individualized plan for the child, aimed at teaching the child to tolerate and/or respond to various sensory stimulations. The activities used to accomplish this goal vary according to the child’s individual’s needs, but all are aimed at helping the child respond properly to the world he or she lives in. In the next section, you will find examples of activities that occupational therapists may use and that parents and caregivers can also use to help their SPD child.

Balance, Movement, Body Position, & Motor Planning:

• Do some gentle roughhousing activities such as horsey rides, bouncing the child, wheelbarrow walking, piggyback rides, or tumbling.
• Go to the park and swing.
• Dance, do yoga, or stretch.
• Use a mattress as a “crash pad”.  Have the child jump onto it, roll around, or any other (safe) activity.
• Make an obstacle course for the child.
• Fly a kite or make your own from a plastic bag.
• Make shoebox path for the child to step through.
• Practice pushing and pulling- wagons, strollers, etc.

Visual:

• Group objects by color, name, or size.
• Practice throwing and catching a ball.
• Make a fishing rod with a magnet on the end and practice catching cutout fish with paperclips attached.
• Practice squirting targets with a hose.
• Play flashlight tag.

Olfactory (Smell) and Gustatory (Taste):

• Sniff spices or scented candles.
• Stop and smell the roses.
• Try new foods of varying textures (crunchy, gooey, etc) and tastes (salty, sweet, bitter, sour).

1. Be supportive: Try to understand where the child is coming from and do not force them to do something they are not comfortable with.

2. Communicate: Keep an open line of communication with parents and therapists. Find out how to best handle the child when he or she is agitated and have them suggest activities to do at school.

3. Stick to a routine: Routines are important for young children in general, but are especially so for children with SPD. If they know what to expect, they can better learn how to conduct themselves.

4. Let them move: Provide plenty of activities that encourage the child to get up and get moving.

Books

Kranowitz, C.S. (1998). The Out-of-sync child. New York, NY: Penguin Group (USA) Inc..

Kranowitz, Carol, & Wylie, T. (2006). The Out-of-sync child has fun. New York, NY: Penguin Group (USA) Inc..

Miller, L. & Fuller, D. (2007). Sensational kids. New York, NY: Penguin Group (USA) Inc..

Frieman, Jerome L. Learning and Adaptive Behavior. Florence, KY: Wadsworth Publishing, 2002.

Websites

Järvilehto, T. (2006). What is Motor learning. Retrieved from http://cc.oulu.fi/~tjarvile/motor.doc