Sensory integration therapy: what it is, who it is for and how it works

We all know that we have five senses: sight, taste, smell, touch and hearing. Without realizing it, we go through life making use of these qualities in order to understand reality. Similarly, some people claim to have greater sensitivity in one of their senses, a fact that we have been able to witness in other cases throughout history, such as Mozart, who developed an exceptional hearing.

However, not all people have a coordinated functioning of the senses. On some occasions, this can lead to difficulties that interfere with the development of daily life. In this Psychology-Online article, we will provide you with information about the sensory integration therapy: what it is, who it is for and how it works.

Index

1. What is sensory integration therapy
2. Who is sensory integration therapy for?
3. How Sensory Integration Therapy Works
4. What to expect from sensory integration therapy

Sensory integration therapy is a type of therapeutic approach focused on the set of responses that include all the senses of the human being. this therapy

In this way, sensory integration therapy is one of the best ways to treat children and adolescents with serious difficulties in processing stimuli related to any of the the five senses.

As we have mentioned before, this therapy is mainly focused on people with serious developmental difficulties and a mismatch between neurological development and age, which is why various alterations occur.

In general, sensory integration therapy is aimed at people with a diagnosis of autism because in these cases the obstacles that they present in some senses can be clearly visible. Similarly, this treatment is also effective in people with brain damage.

How is the sensory integration process carried out? Although sensory integration therapy is adapted to the needs of each person, since the reasons for consultation may vary, there are some common points that are usually worked on. Next we will explain how sensory integration therapy works:

• Coordination and balance exercises: we work on being able to coordinate movements of different parts of the body in tune with the stimulus received.
• Tactile exercises: When there are difficulties in recognizing objects by touch, the use of materials associated with ideas is used so that the infant can easily recognize them.
• Auditory-visual exercises: an image and a sound are presented separately and the person has to try to link them, in order to integrate the information channeled through hearing and vision.

One of the crucial aspects of sensory integration therapy is the repetition of exercises so that the child is familiar with each stimulus that is presented to you. In turn, motivation is also very important in these cases, since the attitude towards the exercises affects the progress that each person can achieve.

When a person has severe sensory distortions, the development of the treatments that he assumes must have concrete and achievable objectives in a long period of time. For this reason, it is important to be realistic about what is expected of someone who has undergone sensory integration therapy. Next, we will describe the main objectives that are sought to be achieved with this type of treatment:

Development of complex skills

The implementation of specific exercises has as its goal that the person is able to solve problems involving more than one sense. This can be thought of both in activities that require more elaborate motor skills, the distinction of spatial objects in accordance with the sounds that appear, among others.

Execution in everyday life

In relation to the previous point, the treatment creates careful conditions to develop the exercises, away from all the stimuli that can affect information processing. However, the purpose of this is that later these same procedures can be applied in everyday life, in the presence of other variables. On the other hand, it should be noted that the development of autonomy affects these tables.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Sensory integration therapy: what it is, who it is for and how it works, we recommend that you enter our category of learning disorders.

• Ayres, A. J. (2010). Sensory integration and the child. Mexico: Threshing.
• Del Morral Orro, G., Pastor Montaño, M.A., Sanz Valer, P. (2013). From the theoretical framework of sensory integration to the clinical model of intervention. TOG Magazine (A Coruña), 10 (17), 1-25.