Classroom Strategies for Sensory Integration

Sensory Integration

• Sensory integration is a term that describes how people experience the world around them as all five senses integrate to provide the brain with a complete picture based on the information gathered, with the nervous system receiving messages and transforming them into the appropriate responses. While this happens for most people on a completely unconscious level, sensory integration is a normal part of childhood development. For some people, however, sensory integration does not develop in a typical manner; because their brains aren't receiving a complete picture of the world, they often have trouble figuring out how to respond appropriately.

Sensory Processing Disorder

• Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), also called Sensory Integration Dysfunction, is a neurological condition that occurs when sensory signals are not organized into appropriate responses. According to neuroscientist Dr. A. Jean Ayres, a leading researcher on this condition, SPD is like a neurological "traffic jam" that inhibits information from reaching certain parts of the brain, halting the correct interpretion of the sensory information. When this happens, a person with SPD will find it difficult to process this information, which can make even the most mundane everyday task highly challenging. If not diagnosed and treated, SPD will result in poor motor skills, behavioral problems, anxiety, depression and failing grades at school.

Classroom Activities

• There are a variety of treatments and strategies that can prove effective for children suffering from SPD, including occupational therapies that take place within a sensory-rich environment. Younger children with SPD often exhibit tactile dysfunction, which is characterized by a child feeling repelled by certain textures. Within a classroom setting, one effective way to treat this is through the use of Play Doh or other type of mushy play clay. Normal tactile processing requires that children touch a variety of textures and play with them, and this type of play can encourage children to explore these materials and learn how to properly process the sensory input.

Handwriting Help

• Another common symptom of SPD among children is poor handwriting. One of the many resources available at Sensory-Processing-Disorder.com is the "Handwriting Without Tears" program, which was designed by occupational therapists to improve fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination and visual perception. The program can be used in a classroom setting for children at all levels of development, and uses a fun, multi-sensory approach to teach printing and cursive handwriting.