A parent observes that his second grader appears clumsy, avoids touching glue and is easily overwhelmed. Her pencil grip is awkward; she fears being jostled while waiting on school lines and frequently slides out of the chair, landing on the floor like a Raggedy Ann doll. The girl's teacher notices that reading is a struggle and she can't cut on a line. This girl should be evaluated for a sensory integration disorder.
Movement Activities
Movement sensory activities help children with a sensory integration disorder become more organized and coordinated. Types of movement that stimulate what is called the "vestibular" sense (balance) organs inside the inner ears are especially powerful. This sense is stimulated when children move up and down while jumping, change directions such as while skiing downhill and move in rotary directions such as when on a merry-go-round. Children should always be in control of the movement stimulation they receive to avoid overstimulation. Suggested activities include: hiking, skiing, skating, sledding and using swings, slides and see-saws.
Deep Pressure Activities
Deep pressure activities stimulate the sense organs in the muscles, tendons and joints. This stimulation helps the child with a sensory integration disorder to become more organized. Activities that use force or resistance provide this type of stimulation. The activities can involve the whole body, such as when playing tug-of-war, wrestling, rolling across a mat, swimming or having a pillow fight. Hand activities that provide deep pressure or resistance include: building with clay or play-dough, pushing eyes into a Mr. Potato Head toy, making a rubber band ball and playing with construction toys such as Tinker Toys that involve pushing pieces together.
Tactile Discrimination Activities
Children with sensory integration disorders often have difficulties interpreting what they feel. Provide activities that increase awareness of how objects feel different in texture, shape, weight, size and length. A fun party or group game for young children is to blindfold a child then present an object and have her identify what it is by touch. Another game involves placing different shapes in a bag and asking the child to find a named shape such as a square or triangle without looking. Older children may find a diamond or oval. Children can sort shapes with their eyes closed or find by touch needed puzzle pieces that are hidden inside a bag. Another game involves placing objects in a bag that differ in texture, weight, size or length. Then one player asks the other to find the object that is soft or hard, long or short, heavy or light.
Activities to Develop Visual Perceptual Skills
"Visual perception" is how the child's brain interprets visual information, such as discriminating a circle from a square or letter b from letter d. Children with a sensory integration disorder often have difficulties with the visual discrimination skills required to learn how to read and write. Activities that help young children develop visual perceptual skills include: sorting shapes, puzzles, finding hidden shapes or pictures in a busy background, matching card games and picking out what is wrong or different in a picture.
References
- "Building Bridges through Sensory Integration;" Ellen Yack, Paula Aquilla & Shirley Sutton; 2004.
- "Sensory Integration and the Child;" A. Jean Ayres; 2005
- "The Out-Of-Sync child;" Carol Stock Kranowitz; 2006.
