But from a clinical point of view, diagnoses are essential. They drive treatment, by helping clinicians understand the symptoms they are seeing and how best to respond to them. Take a child with autism who is averse to the feeling of water on his face.
If an experience is powerful and reinforced, it can become just as powerful as an organic issue. Auciello says. The research outlook may be brightening, however. Though the sample was tiny—24 children, just 8 of whom received the treatment—and it showed significant improvement in functioning only in three of six measures, its authors concluded that the study did validate a model for how researchers can identify homogenous groups of subjects.
This is an important step for enhancing the reliability of a future study. Indeed, in a paper from the University of California, San Francisco , researchers claim to have done just that—identify a group of kids with pure SPD—and found that their brains are in fact different from controls in key sensory areas.
But investigations like this can shed light on the sensory symptomology that all clinicians and researchers agree, at minimum, is present in many kids on the autism spectrum or with ADHD, as well as others, and help lay groundwork for future efforts.
Some believers in SPD claim that common symptoms that are attributed to other disorders that are in the DSM-5, including autism, ADHD, and anxiety disorders, may actually stem from sensory challenges. He quotes the late Stanley Greenspan, MD, a child psychiatrist who did seminal work on developmental disorders. Jarrow argues that sensory-based work is the key to getting children on the spectrum engaged socially.
Try making sense of an especially long foreign film with no subtitles while bombs are going off outside your window. As an example, he cites a 6-year-old boy who came to his clinic, after his mother said she had been pressured by his school to have him evaluated —and medicated—for ADHD.
And if you can meet that threshold of empirical evidence, then you begin to see how effective the treatments are for alleviating that condition. And the effect seems to improve his self-regulation over time. Is it sensory rewiring of some kind or learning a new calming method? Two researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University are now testing the short-term effects of sensory-based therapy in improving attention and functional performance in children ages 6 to 10 with typical development, ADHD, and autism.
As research struggles to catch up with practice, more OTs and clinicians are open to working together to benefit kids. Previously labeled Sensory Integration Dysfunction, Sensory Processing Disorder relates to the commonly known senses of touch including pressure , taste, smell, vision and sound as well as other senses such as:.
Children with SPD can be over- or under-sensitive to their environment, resulting in odd behaviors such as not wanting to be touched, or conversely, wanting to be held continuously. Sensory processing anomalies are factors in most developmental delays involving attention, because, in order to focus, one must be able to sort and prioritize information from the environment. Sensory Processing Disorder lacks the obvious physical markers of cerebral palsy and is also caused by poor development of the nervous system.
A baby can be born at 26 or 28 weeks gestation because, while not fully formed, all parts are present. The brain is packed with fatty cells and then goes through a pruning process just before birth to allow for better growth and complex development of the neurons. The process is analogous to making a pie: Roll out more dough than needed and then trim it to fit the pan. Researchers now believe that disruption in this pruning process may be one of the causes of autism.
Other factors that may increase risk to Sensory Processing Disorder include medications given to a pregnant mom including anti-depressants, antibiotics and Tylenol , extended bed rest during pregnancy, and the stressors associated with giving up children for adoption. Preemie babies who have endured tubes taped to their faces, often are hyper- or hypo-reactive in the mouth, and on the lips and face.
Low muscle tone and an underdeveloped nervous system lead to misreading of taste, texture and temperature, and difficulties sucking and chewing. A poor suck or troubles transitioning to solid foods are early indicators of potential speech and sensory problems, and future picky eating.
Parents frequently comment that they are only doing speech therapy because they believe language takes priority over chewing and eating. Moving food around the mouth and mastication are the best exercises for training the muscles and nerves needed for speech.
Excellent neurological and biochemical diets nourish the nervous systems of high risk infants such as babies who miss out on the normal stimulation and gravitational changes associated with movement and touch.
A good neurological diet includes stimulation on the face, lips, in the mouth, as well as on the rest of the body. An intensive oral-motor program from either a speech-language pathologist or occupational therapist can normalize sensory processing in the mouth.
Studies show that sensory stimulation causes the neurons to form more complex connections, thus increasing the size and capacity of the brain. Some innovative birthing centers are turning moms and dads into human incubators by bundling premature babies into slings that the parents carry around all day.
A further benefit is that the bacteria living on the skin of the parent is shared with the baby, and builds immune defenses. The therapist will ask your child questions. All of these things will help make a diagnosis. Treatment is usually done through therapy. Research shows that starting therapy early is key for treating SPD. Therapy can help children learn how to manage their challenges. Therapy sessions are led by a trained therapist. He or she will help you and your child learn how to cope with the disorder.
Sessions are based on if your child is oversensitive, under-sensitive, or a combination of both. Sensory integration therapy SI. This type of therapy uses fun activities in a controlled environment. With the therapist, your child experiences stimuli without feeling overwhelmed. He or she can develop coping skills for dealing with that stimuli. Through this therapy, these coping skills can become a regular, everyday response to stimuli. Sensory diet. Many times, a sensory diet will supplement other SPD therapies.
These activities are designed to help your child stay focused and organized during the day. A sensory diet at school might include:. Occupational therapy. Your child also may need this therapy to help with other symptoms related to SPD. It can help with fine motor skills, such as handwriting and using scissors.
It also can help with gross motor skills, such as climbing stairs and throwing a ball. It can teach everyday skills, such as getting dressed and how to use utensils. Talk to your doctor about how a therapist fits in your health insurance. Living with SPD can be hard. Parents of children with SPD can feel alone. They may avoid taking their child out in public to avoid sensory overload. Adults who have SPD may feel isolated, too. Sensory overload can prevent them from leaving the house.
This can make it difficult to go to the store or even to work. Adults who are struggling with SPD should work with an occupational therapist. See a day in the life of a child with sensory processing issues. The second is the type of sensory processing challenge your child has. Kids who are sensory avoiding may react to a wide range of triggers. These can include loud sounds, uncomfortable clothing, crowded spaces, or certain food smells or textures, among others.
Whatever the trigger, the reaction can sometimes be extreme. Sensory overload can lead to sensory meltdowns. Refuses to wear itchy or otherwise uncomfortable clothing. Kids who have trouble with it may have a harder time with toilet training or have an unexpected threshold for pain. Two other senses, body awareness proprioception and spatial orientation the vestibular sense , can also affect kids with sensory issues.
Sensory avoiding kids may have trouble knowing where their body is in relation to other kids or their environment. Or they may be wary about using playground equipment like the swings. See how to make a sensory travel kit for your child. Kids who are undersensitive to sensory input have the opposite situation. They often have a need for movement.
And they may seek out input like spicy or sour tastes and physical contact and pressure. Some kids may be sensory seeking in certain situations and sensory avoiding in others, depending on how that child is coping or self-regulating at the time. Get tips on helping your child cope with visual , tactile , noise , and taste sensitivity.
Explore ideas for handling sensory-related meltdowns. See how to make a low-cost sensory-friendly chair. But they often co-occur with two conditions: ADHD and autism. Some of the signs of ADHD may look similar to the signs of sensory processing issues. Kids with either of these conditions might need to be in constant motion, for instance. But the reasons would be different.
Like kids with ADHD, kids with sensory processing issues may also experience anxiety. Learn why kids with sensory issues can often feel anxious. See a chart that compares sensory processing issues and ADHD. Find out why kids with ADHD may experience sensory overload. Read more about the connection between autism and sensory processing issues.
Researchers are looking into biological reasons for these issues. Some research suggests they can be genetic. Researchers are also looking into birth complications and other environmental factors. Get tips on explaining sensory issues to friends and family.
0コメント