“Sam, 5 years old, can’t sit still. His kindergarten class has just come inside from the playground. When teacher wants Sam to sit in a circle with other children and listen to the story, he looks distracted by toys in the classroom and remains highly aroused. He frequently gets up, bumps into others, continually adjusts his posture and frequently speaks out. He is distracted by the sound from next classroom and wants to see what is happening in that room! He wants to hear the story narrated by his teacher, but cannot concentrate!” ……Why?
Sam has poor sensory modulation. He is not able to decide what sensory information is important and needs his attention. Our body and the environment send information to our brain through senses (touch, movement, smell, taste, sight, hearing & balance). Our brains are programmed to organize the incoming sensory information to make it meaningful to us. If we have good sensory integration, processing and organizing this information happens automatically and we react promptly and efficiently to the sensory input.
Children who have problems modulating sensory input may experience hypersensitivity, hyposensitivity or both to an impairing degree which may make them dysfunctional at school, at home and world at large.
An occupational therapist can help children like Sam to organize sensory information. With Sensory Integration Therapy, Occupational therapist addresses the sensory issues and helps a child to produce normal responses to sensory stimuli. Sensory Integration Therapy is a fun & play based intervention which helps in dealing with sensory problems.