Sensory Integration Theory was formed by A. J. Ayers who was an Occupational Therapist with advanced training in Neuroscience and Educational Psychology.
She defined Sensory Integration as
the neurological process that organizes sensation from one's own body and from the environment and makes it possible to use the body effectively within the environment.
All the information children receive from their environment arrives through the sensory systems. Most of us are familiar with the sense of Smell, Taste, Sight and Sound. There are 3 more senses that we are less aware of and these are: the sense of Touch (the Tactile Sense), the sense of Movement (the Proprioceptive Sense) and the sense of Balance (the Vestibular Sense). In SI therapy we provide stimulation to all these seven senses with an emphasis on the last three.
Dysfunction in Sensory Integration (DSI)
If one or more of the sensory systems are not fine tuned to work with harmony with the rest, or information from the senses is not well processed the level of functioning of the child might be compromised.
Symptoms that are commonly displayed in DSI include:
- Being overly sensitive to touch, movement sights or sounds
- Being under reactive to sensory stimuli
- High or Low Activity Level
- Coordination problems
- Delays in speech or language skills
- Poor organization of behavior
- A poor self concept
