Making Sense out of Sensory Integration

I am learning slowly and surely that a child’s sensory development is the most important piece of their overall development.  Without a generous dose of sensory experiences, children have shown language delays, odd or abnormal behavior (i.e. flapping hands), and reactions to situations or input that can be good, bad, indifferent or extreme.  Unfortunately, in this day and age, these children are being labeled with autism when in reality they just need some time and help to get their sensory system in order.  So, here’s what I know about sensory integration and its issues:
 

1. Sensory integration is a brain behavior connection.  Information enters the brain through our senses and the thalamus puts the new input in the right place; like the main phone person in a big business.  When that person is on break, nobody is there to answer the calls and each one goes to voice mail.  In a child’s brain the thalamus is the main phone person.  When information enters the brain and the thalamus doesn’t know what to do with it, we see behaviors such as standing like a statue, crying, ADD like symptoms, or any combination of these. 
2. There are two sets of senses:  Far and near.  Far senses are the ones with which we are most familiar:  hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling, and feeling.  The Near senses are those most involved in a child’s sensory development:  interoception (nerves connecting internal organs with the brain so we know when we’re not feeling well), vestibular (process information about movement, gravity, and balance sent to the brain by our inner ear), tactile (nerves under our skin going to the brain), and proprioceptive (nerves at the outer edges of our body connected to our brain)
3. If children get all the sensory stuff they need in the early years, then around the age of 8 everything comes together and children are ready to learn.
4. The sensory piece of the brain lies between the Wernicke and Broca areas of the brain.  Wernicke area (located under/behind the left ear) is all about reception and the Broca area (located in front of/above the left ear) is focused on expression.  When a child is having some language delays, chances are good their sensory development needs some nurturing.  This is a good time to get that baby out in the mud or sandbox, walking barefoot in the snow, grass, sand, etc., playing in the bathtub or with their food, or any other “thing” that lets them get “dirty”.
5. C Section births require extra care and nurturing of the baby’s sensory system.  The reason for that is the baby’s brain is not getting the final mapping like the baby who is born naturally.  That deep and intense pressure baby gets as they are going through the birth canal provides the brain with some serious sensory input.
6. All children with autism have sensory issues and not all children with sensory issues have autism.  Please be careful with this on both sides.  If your child gets the autism label and they don’t have autism, it’s going to be really difficult to get that label removed.  On the other hand, if your 18-month old child is crying all the time or reacts to different things in abnormal ways start talking with your doctor about this.  If they don’t listen or want to ignore and you know in your heart there is something wrong, find a different doctor. 

 
Now, let’s talk about what you can do to help.
 

1. Probably the most important thing we can do is to give children as much sensory input as possible.  Let them play in the mud, snow, sand, water, food, etc.  I realize this can be messy and yet it’s only a mess that can be cleaned up.  Besides it could be fun to join them in their play.
2. For C Section babies, the first month or two is crucial as this is the time their sensory development is happening.  Keep baby wrapped snugly in a blanket, hold your baby as much as possible, hold a stretched out blanket over the baby close enough so their hands and feet can touch it and push with some effort, introduce different textures through the clothes they wear and the wash cloths you use, whisper in baby’s ear, etc.  Most importantly, I would do things that bring a bit of pressure around the baby’s edges. 
3. Get the baby out of the car seat and onto the floor as much as possible.  Before doing this, get on the floor yourself and look around at the same level as your baby.  This will give you a great clue of what needs to be done to make things safe.

 
I hope this helps a bit.  I wonder if a big portion of the challenges children face as they grow up might have been prevented if they were given a great sensory type of beginning.  From where I stand, I can tell a noticeable difference between children who have had awesome sensory experiences and those that don’t.  Children with great sensory experiences are more likely to have better communication skills, reactions to people and situations, and acceptance of life.  I realize there are some babies who can’t tolerate any type of sensory input in the early months.  Those are the children I would keep my eyes on to see if things are getting better or worse as they get older.
 
So, go to your closet, find your clothes that can get dirty, and have a messy play day with your child.  It will help your child tremendously and you’ll remember what it’s like to be one and two all over again.  
 
By the way, a great book to get is The Out-of-Sync Child by Carol Stock Kranowitz.