Sensory integration during occupational therapy (OT) for children plays a key role in improving basic abilities and enhancing overall wellness. During OT, therapists work to identify and address deficits and then offer care tailored to each patient. These sessions utilize various techniques to encourage individuals to adapt their behavior and regulate their responses. Ultimately, sensory integration focuses on improving processing difficulties in an effort to promote independence.
For today’s blog post, we’ll look at how sensory integration in occupational therapy improves issues related to the sensory systems as well as general wellbeing for patients.
To start, it’s important to understand that sensory systems are vital to our daily lives. They allow us to recognize, interpret, and respond to signals from our loved ones and environment. The seven sensory systems include:
- The auditory system helps process sound, allowing you to hear and understand speech, music, and other sounds.
- The visual system enables you to see and identify colors, shapes, and objects. It also gives you a sense of depth and perspective.
- The tactile system lets you notice textures and sensations, providing you with details about your physical surroundings.
- The olfactory system allows you to detect and label smells, helping you name and remember different scents.
- The gustatory system lets you recognize different tastes and flavors.
- The vestibular system impacts your balance and spatial awareness. It helps you maintain your posture, coordination, and stability.
- The proprioceptive system gives you a sense of body movement and position. It enables you to perform coordinated movements with different body parts.
If a patient struggles with sensory processing deficits, they have trouble receiving, understanding, and/or responding to sensory signals. These difficulties often lead to problems with behavior, focus, and socializing.
According to Anna Jean Ayres, an occupational therapist and expert in sensory integration, these deficits occur when the neutral pathways that organize and control sensory input are disrupted. For instance, individuals may experience hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity to certain stimuli. Hypersensitivity refers to an exaggerated reaction to sensory input, like being surprised by a bright light or loud sound, while hyposensitivity is a diminished response or under-reaction to sensory input. It’s easy to see, then, how sensory processing deficits negatively impact daily life.
Sensory integration in occupational therapy includes various techniques and approaches to help people process and respond appropriately to daily stimuli.
By knowing how each system should function optimally, occupational therapists can use targeted interventions to help patients with their individual struggles. For example, a child who struggles with auditory processing troubles may fail to focus on a single conversation in a loud space or follow directions in a noisy classroom.
A patient’s individualized plan may include vibration therapy, deep pressure touch stimulation, and vestibular stimulation with swinging or spinning. Specialized equipment, like a weighted blanket, therapeutic swing, or tactile stimulation toys, may also be used. Additionally, virtual reality systems allow for new possibilities in occupational therapy, providing the patient with immersive experiences created for their individual goals.
To learn more about how sensory integration in occupational therapy supports mental health and general well-being, contact our team today.
At the Center for Rising Minds, we’d love to help you and your family with your mental health care needs! Please reach out to us today to inquire about our services or join our waitlist.
