Excerpt

1001 Great Ideas for Teaching and Raising Children with Autism or Asperger’s

Chapter 1

Sensory Integration

Of all the baffling aspects of autism, perhaps none is more baffling to the layperson than sensory integration. Sensory integration is the ability to process and organize sensations we receive internally and externally. Sensory input travels to the brain through our neural network, where it is interpreted and used to formulate a response. Sensory processing happens without conscious thought; it operates in the background and most people never stop to ponder how their senses function or the part they play in daily life.

There are as many as twenty-one sensory systems at work in our bodies. Most of us recognize the traditional five: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Five other senses are commonly attributed to humans: equilibrioception (our sense of balance or vestibular sense), proprioception and kinesthesia (sensing the orientation and motion of one’s limbs and body in space), nociciption (pain), temporal sense (sense of time), and thermoception (temperature differences).

Through a complex series of atypical signals/connections between the sensory organs and the brain, the child with autism or Asperger’s experiences sights, sounds, touches, smells, tastes, and gravity in a manner profoundly different from that of typically-developing children and adults. Every minute of daily life for a child on the autism spectrum can be a battle against invasive sensations that overwhelm their hyper-acute sensory systems. Or conversely, their senses may be hypo-active, requiring major effort to alert their bodies so that learning and social interaction can take place. Layered on top of that may be an inability to filter and process more than one sensory modality at a time.

Step for a moment inside the body of a child with sensory integration difficulties in this excerpt from Ellen’s book, Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew:

My sensory perceptions are disordered. This means that the ordinary sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches of everyday that you may not even notice can be downright painful for me. The very environment in which I have to live often seems hostile. I may appear withdrawn or belligerent to you but I am just trying to defend myself. Here is why an ordinary trip to the grocery store may be hell for me:

My hearing may be hyper-acute. Dozens of people are talking at once. The loudspeaker booms today’s special. Musak whines from the sound system. Cash registers beep and cough, a coffee grinder chugs. The meat cutter screeches, babies wail, carts creak, the fluorescent lighting hums. My brain can’t filter all the input and I’m in overload!

My sense of smell may be highly sensitive. The fish at the meat counter isn’t quite fresh, the guy standing next to us hasn’t showered today, the deli is handing out sausage samples, the baby in line ahead of us has a poopy diaper, they’re mopping up pickles on aisle 3 with ammonia—I can’t sort it all out.

We have said in all our books and will say it again here: sensory integration dysfunction is at the root of many of the core difficulties of autism spectrum disorders. It affects behavior, communication, nutrition, and sleep—critical functions that dictate the quality of the environment your child must live in, minute to minute, day to day, year to year. Addressing and treating sensory dysfunction should always be near the top of the what-to-do-first list.

There are two over-arching thoughts to keep in mind when considering the thousands of aspects of your child’s sensory integration needs. First, sensory training can look and feel like play. Play is the medium through which children learn. Play puts fun into functional, grabs a child’s attention, and holds his interest. An engaged brain is a brain ready to learn. The wonderful thing about sensory training is that opportunities and learning moments happen all around you at any time of day, at home, at school, out in the community.

Second, your school may offer occupational therapy support, and/or you may contract with a private agency outside of school, but those hours are finite and few. Consistent, ongoing sensory integration therapy happens at home. Placing your child in the hands of a professional for a few hours a week is the beginning—an excellent beginning—but the bulk of the work will come in the home setting. If this seems daunting, go back and read the previous paragraph. It can also be playful.

All the sensory ideas in our book come with the caveat that there is no substitute for working with an occupational therapist who is well versed in autism spectrum disorders. He or she will provide the foundation of knowledge that helps you better understand how senses are impaired by autism or Asperger’s, can set up a sensory diet for your child (a daily plan of stimulating and/or calming activities), and tweak the plan as you discover what works and what doesn’t.

Believe—really believe—that no child wants the negative or punitive feedback he gets for his so-called “bad behavior,” especially when those inappropriate behaviors are beyond his control, rooted in the dysfunctional way his sensory organs and his brain communicate. Regulating over- or underactive senses is an essential first step in helping the child master socially acceptable behavior. This achievable and worthwhile process requires patience, consistency, and an ever-watchful eye for discerning sensory triggers. Start slowly and stay the course.

Choosing the right sensory activities …………………………..

Sensory integration activities should be fun for your child or student. Follow these guidelines:

  • Choose activities in which your child can lead, guide, or direct the play. This is the first step in his later being able to initiate a play activity, with you or others.
  • When you find something that works, share it across other venues of your child’s life. Consistency between home and school enhances retention, will maximize his success, and with it, his self-confidence.
  • In choosing age-appropriate activities for your child, remember that there may be gaps between his chronological age and his developmental age. The right activity accommodates his skill level and current sensory and social tolerance threshold. Example: mixing cookie dough is a great sensory activity, but having two or three friends/siblings/helpers in the kitchen at once may be too much. The activity may be successful only as one-on-one time with Mom.
  • Any activity that can comfortably incorporate family members is a bonus. But …
  • Activities should not impose excessive burdens on the family budget, schedule, space, or patience. There is such thing as too much. The beauty of so many sensory activities is that just a few minutes here and there can have a cumulative effect over time.

We’ve amassed many ideas for sensory activities that you can incorporate easily into your child’s day. Some of the ideas are appropriate for both home and school; all are designed to get you thinking beyond the traditional activities that might initially come to mind.

 

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