SI is now better known as ASI or Ayers’ Sensory Integration
that was founded by Dr. Jean Ayers, an occupational therapist and psychologist. While working with children, she observed
several behaviors that could not be adequately explained by neuromotor deficits
alone. Her research revealed that sensory processing deficits interfered with
development of appropriate behavior, language,
cognition, and social-emotional areas.
Let us understand the sensory systems as follows--
Tactile or touch: We first learn about an object through
touch. Tactile input is associated with variable comfort to touch and the ability to
discriminate different types of textures. This system also deals with oral
skills.
Visual: the way we perceive form and space in 2 and 3
dimensional vision, depth perception, appreciate foreground v/s background, and
visually discriminate in a given space.
Vestibular: deals with posture, muscle tone, eye movement,
balance, attention, and gravitational security.
Proprioception: is the feeling we experience when we pull or
push a heavy object. It is a system not well understood by most health
professionals, but long emphasized by physiotherapists and occupational therapists.
Proprioceptive sense provides us information about position of our own body segments in relation
to each other and relation of the body
to the environment.
Auditory: our sense of hearing plays an important role in speech and language.
Olfactory : our sense of smell.
Gustatory: our sense of taste that is closely related to the sense of taste.
Interoception: our sense of how we feel what is going on in our body regarding sense of hunger, thirst, pain, need to use the washroom.
It is critical to understand that all of these sensory systems work together so that we can learn and function in life. Sensory systems are not watertight compartments where only a single system is working or impacted.
According to Dr. Jean Ayers, sensory integration is the
neurological process that organizes sensation from one’s own body and the
environment, and makes it possible to use the body effectively to accomplish a meaningful task. This process means--
- Making sense of information from our own body and the world around us.
- Allowing us to function while using only the necessary input from within the body as well as the external environment.
- Processing only as much as required while filtering extraneous information.
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The function of the brain is to organize information from all the sensory systems in order to produce a
purposeful response. Input from all of the sensory systems is processed
appropriately in the brain similar to performance of different musicians in a
concert. The result is that a person can function at the given moment.
Example 1—while attending a lecture in a room, your brain will filter out
the honking sounds on the street or any uncomfortable situation within the
room so that you can pay attention and take down notes. However the same sound
of honking becomes a priority sensory
input when you cross a street.
Example 2--driving in traffic with
kids making sounds in the backseat of the car. Your brain will process the
sensory input only as needed so that
your car does not hit another car in front of you and you can drive safely.
Sensory integration occurs continuously throughout the 24 hours. During sleeping hours we
are able to respond to touch input by changing positions in the bed, or walk in the dark to reach the bathroom.
Just
as we need nutrition for the physical body, the central nervous system requires
nutrition in the form of sensory input. The brain is not only reactive to
information received through the sensory systems, but also proactively responds
to anticipatory input. Example--you can avoid an obstacle on the street while walking and engaged in conversation with a friend, or move away to make space when a you see a person rushing towards you.
• Good
sensory integrative abilities lead to body organization in space, eye-hand coordination, speech and language
skills, purposeful activity, and academic skills,
SI is intrinsic to human function.
