What is Sensory Integration Dysfunction?

Sensory Integration Dysfunction (SID) refers to the difficulty or inability the brain has in correctly processing information brought in by the senses.  Children with Sensory Integration (SI) issues have difficulty organizing and processing sensory input from their environments.  This may lead to behaviors that often limit their play, socialization, fine motor, gross motor and self care skills to varying degrees.   Sensory Integration Dysfunction can present itself in many forms and are commonly noticed in children with Autism and is also often seen in children with other disabilities such as ADD/ADHD or can be present by itself.  It presents itself in a number of sensory seeking, sensory avoiding and Dyspraxic characteristics (clumsy, awkward movement patterns, difficulty planning movements).  These issues can present range from mild to severe and impact on daily life accordingly. 

Sensational Kids’ Occupational Therapists can help with Sensory Integration difficulties:

A Sensory Processing and Modulation Assessment to narrow down and pin-point your child's specific Sensory Integration issues as will as recommendations for home and school to address these issues.

Standardized Testing to assess how your child is performing in terms of coordination, dexterity as well as visual-motor integration skills compared to peers.

Therapeutic Listening ^TM assessment and intervention - this listening program is geared to improving tolerance to noise, language development, movement processing as well as attention, body in space awareness and social connectedness.

Sensory Integration therapy services provided by board certified Occupational Therapists with decades of experience. Our Occupational Therapists help to improve your child's ability to organize the central nervous system via specific sensory input and activities, as will as through specific therapeutic activities. Both parents and therapists often report improvement across modalities such as improvement in speech/language development following movement and tactile activities. The suspended equipment/swings as well as multi-sensory movement and tactile toys within our Sensory-Motor Gym are geared specifically to the needs of children with Sensory Integration Dysfunction and overall developmental delays.

Sensory Diets and practical home recommendations to help parents cope with daily challenges manifesting as a result of Sensory Integration Dysfunction. Children with Sensory Integration Dysfunction often need to experience specific movement and touch experiences daily in order to feel regulated/calm as will as to learn effectively. Our therapists assess your child's specific Sensory Integration needs and prescribe specific home activities to be done at a specific time of the day in order to facilitate improved calming, self organization, attention and an improved ability to deal with daily life challenges.

School Consultations: We consult with school personnel to assess your child's needs within the functional environment. Through these visits our Occupational Therapists provide relevant, practical Sensory Diet and other classroom/school recommendation to maximize participation.

Home Visits: Some therapy sessions and assessments can be performed within the home environment. Many parents find this helpful in terms of first hand observations and behavior. Our Occupational Therapists asses the home environment and make recommendations regarding how to modify the environment as well as on how to use everyday materials within the home to address and help change your child's responses to sensory input.

Children with Sensory Integration Dysfunction often display some or many of the following behaviors:

Activity Level

·         Frequently seeks out movement experiences that might interfere with daily life activities.

·         Might take excessive risks at school, home or within the community.

·         Seems “hyperactive”

·         Might seem lethargic and “sluggish” / avoiding movement activities more as compared to peers.

·         Seems slow to respond to movement demands or requests.

Attention

·         Difficulty paying attention

·         Easily distracted

·         Difficulty following directions, poor attention span.

·         Frequently moves from one activity to another, difficulty finishing tasks / games.

·         Acute awareness of background noises which interferes with attention

Visual

·         Might prefer to be in the dark / Avoids bright lights or lights in general.

·         Seeks out looking at / staring at lights or objects / toys with spinning parts and / or flashing lights

·         Excessive, prolonged staring at people or objects

·         Avoidance of / poor eye contact

·         Might seem to fixate on staring at spinning or repetitively moving objects / toys or lights such as fans, leaves on trees etc.

·         Stares at lights / flashing lights

·         Difficulty with visual perceptual skills such as puzzles for e.g.

·         Difficulty copying work accurately from the board (incorrect copying / misses lines)

Touch processing (Under-Responsive)

·         Decreased awareness of pain or temperature / little or no crying when obviously hurt.

·         Has to “touch everything” and touches people / objects to the point of irritation.

·         Frequently or always wants to be barefoot or without minimal clothing.

·         Seems to not be aware of food around mouth, mess on hands etc.

·         Leaves clothes twisted around body – seemingly unaware.

Touch Processing (Over-Responsive)

·         Exceptionally low pain tolerance – complains of being hurt when accidentally touched.

·         Walks on toes to avoid sensory input from the bottom of the feet.

·         Frequently complains how clothing feels, agitated by tags on clothes as well as seams on socks (Clothing has to be positioned “perfectly”)

·         Avoids getting messy in glue, sand, finger paint, tape

·         Is sensitive to certain fabrics (clothing, bedding)

·         Avoids going barefoot, especially in grass or sand

·         The child may react strongly to stimuli on face, hands and feet.

·         Avoids contact with or seems agitated by messy media such as finger paint, glue, sand, etc.

·         Avoids or responds negatively to grooming activities such as brushing the teeth, washing face, brushing or cutting hair

·         Refusal to wear certain clothes or insist on wearing long sleeves/pants to limit skin exposure

·         Frequently adjusts clothing

·         Extreme responses to accidental touch – for e.g. striking out at someone who accidentally brushes by them

Over-Responsiveness to movement / Vestibular input

·         Becomes anxious or distressed when feet leave the ground

·         Avoids climbing or jumping in general.

·         Hesitant to approach or play on age appropriate playground equipment

·         Avoids or gets overly anxious on amusement park rides

·         Can become car sick / nauseous when riding in a car

·         Hesitates going up and down steps

·         Fearful in space (on the swings, seesaw or heights).

Under-Responsiveness to movement / Vestibular input

·         Excessively seeking out or fearful of movement activities, such as swinging, climbing, etc.

·         Seems to have no / little “sense of fear”

·         Seems to always be “on the go”

·         Spins, jumps excessively 

Response to noise / sound (Auditory input)

·         Oversensitivity to / more acutely aware of sounds in general.

·         Appears scared / unusually startled by every day noises

·         Responds with anxiety / overly negative to unexpected or loud noises such as alarms, fire truck, fire alarm, etc (more difficulty than expected calming afterwards)

·         Holds hands over ears in response to even daily life noises such as for e.g. coughing, laughing, toilet flushing, cars.

·         Cannot walk with background noise

·         Might also seem oblivious within an active / noisy environment

·         Might often appear to not hear when name is called or have difficulty paying attention to relevant auditory stimuli within a noisy background (for e.g. teacher’s voice within classroom).

Response to taste / smell:

·         More limited diet than others his / her age due to being a “picky eater”

·         Overly sensitive to / annoyed by everyday smells that others might just ignore.

·         Unusual sensitivity to sounds and smells.

·         Avoids certain tastes/smells that are typically part of children's diets

·         Frequently has hands in mouth / mouths non-food objects (when not age appropriate)

·         Frequently smells nonfood objects

·         Seeks out certain tastes or smells

·         Does not seem to smell strong odors

Body Position in space / Posture

·         Hangs on other people, furniture, objects, even in familiar situations

·         Seems to have weak muscles, tires easily, has poor endurance

·         Joints might appear hyper mobile (“double-jointed”)

·         Appears to walk “stiffly” / awkward / uncoordinated

·         Turns whole body to look instead of trunk rotation or turning head

·         Often or always walks on toes

·         Confusion over left and right as well as directional confusion

·         Frequently bumps into objects / appears clumsy or accident prone

·         Seems to easily “get lost” at times, even in familiar spaces.

Toy manipulation / Classroom Tool use: 

·         Poor coordination, difficulty planning motor movements when playing with toys or using classroom tools

·         Limited play skills due to difficulty figuring out “how to play” with toys.

·         Awkward crayon or marker grasp

·         Excessive or insufficient pressure when drawing / writing / coloring

·         Difficulty with tasks requiring the coordinated use of both hands such as catching or hitting a ball, holding down paper with assistor hand while writing or turning paper while cutting etc.

·         Difficulty operating scissors

·         Poor or delayed handwriting / pre-writing development / Difficulty learning how to form letters.

 Behavior / Social:

·         Can appear anxious in social situations or in general

·         Has difficulty making friends

·         Might have difficulty expressing emotions / might appear to have a flat affect

·         Overly affectionate with others / Seems to have difficulty maintaining personal space within a social setting.

·         Unexpectedly explosive / Tantrums easily

·         Resistant to new situations

·         Responds more negatively to changes in routine than others might

·         Difficulty stopping one activity to start another / difficulty transitioning

·         Gets easily aggressive or angry when in a group, in line at school, does not like to be touched, even accidentally

·         Avoids physical contact

·         Impulsiveness and poor frustration tolerance leads to conflict or difficulty waiting turns

·         Seems accident prone

·         Seems to have a harder time than others “calming down”

·         Appears to get easily “over-stimulated”

The sessions at Sensational Kids has brought my daughter out of her “shell”.  She now has more confidence in every day activities.  We love our therapist at Sensational Kids!

Diana, Mt Laurel, NJ

The therapists here are Sensational!  My therapist diagnosed my child’s opportunities and put a plan in place that is getting results.

Parent from Voorhees, NJ

I am so thankful we found Sensational Kids.  The therapists here are so experienced.  They know how to quickly monitor and adjust to my son’s needs.  My son’s improvement has been wonderful.  We saw a new child emerge. His self-confidence has increased dramatically.  Our therapist has pushed my son through some difficult transitions and helped us in ways we could never have expected.  The work here that they do is so important, appreciated and valued more than words can express.  Thank you for the great work and keep it up!

Christine, Sicklerville, NJ

Sensational Kids new facility is out of this world! It invites your child in for a session of pure sensory magic. From swings to finger paints it enhances your child’s mind and meets their needs. I see the room through my children’s eyes and they just love all that they can do and are always asking when they can go back.  The Therapist at Sensational Kids work hard with both of our children. They know how to get them to shine. They help our children to learn new and exciting ways to improve in all aspects of being a kid. They keep us up to date on new ways of helping our children. We just love Sensational Kids.

C.A.L., Runnemede, NJ

My therapist at Sensational Kids is a wonderful OT.  She is very creative with her interactions with my daughter.  My daughter has become much more aware of her surroundings and is attempting to use her hands for more purposeful activities.

Lisa, Marlton, NJ

My son has been at Sensational Kids for over a year.  The therapists are wonderful and they look at a child’s “individual profile”.  They use the best therapeutic method depending on the child’s need.  They work in a non-invasive way and make a child feel proud and successful at every task.  I wouldn’t have my child seen by anyone else.

Denise Gladis, Laurel Springs, NJ

Sensational Kids provides a highly professional and caring environment for my son to work in.  They offer a huge assortment of the latest therapeutic games and exercises in every session.  My son looks forward to his time with his therapist who has been able to reach my son and really get him to perform to his best abilities. 

Parent from Cherry Hill, NJ

My therapist continually consults with me, provides support network information and provides creative ideas to incorporate at home.  She has been very helpful in providing feedback to school personnel as to how to support him within the classroom. 

Sandy, Williamstown, NJ