What is Dysfunction of Sensory Integration?


What is Sensory Integration As It Relates To Weighted Vest For Kids With Autism, ADD, ADHD, or Hyperactivity Needing Occupational Therapy At Home or Play?
Sensory Integration (SI) is a brain process that occurs in all of us. It allows us, often without conscious thought, to take information through our senses, organize it and make a plan to produce a meaningful response to interact with our environment with ease and comfort.

Our senses can be those that we know and those that are hidden. The senses that are the most obvious are those of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. The hidden senses are those of movement (vestibular or inner ear) and of body position sense (proprioception). The hidden senses are regulators of our nervous system and help build the foundation for purposeful movement.

For most children, sensory integration develops through ordinary childhood activities. Children must be able to organize sensory information to function in daily activities, in the classroom, on the playground and in relationships. Please go to our frequently asked questions for details.

Simply put, a Sensory Processing Disorder or Dysfunction of Sensory Integration is the inability to process information received through our senses. A child with a dysfunction of sensory integration cannot respond to sensory information and use it to behave in a meaningful way. Some children are hypersensitive or hyposensitive to sensory information. Either way impairs learning and creates a threatening situation for the child causing increased anxiety and a decreased ability to interpret and respond appropriately to stimuli.

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