Sensory Processing Disorder

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) refers to challenges with the way in which a child experiences sensations of taste, touch, sound, sight, smell, movement and body awareness. Some children are highly sensitive to these sensations while others are under sensitive, and crave additional sensations. It is no surprise that children with SPD are often delayed in speech and/or language. If a child is distracted by discomfort caused by their environment, or if they are busy seeking sensations that are not readily available, they are less likely to be able to attend to speech and language learning opportunities. Children who are upset by the vibratory sensations that speech production elicits will often adapt by using speech sound substitutions or omissions. Children with SPD are often, also, seen by an Occupational Therapist who will focus on the global issues of SPD in addition to a Speech-Language Pathologist working on communication concerns.

So, What Causes It?

Our sensory system is a "read and react" system. What this means we are "preprogrammed" to respond appropriately to environmental stimuli. This programming occurs throughout life and can be thought of as 'sensory learning' or processing.

The clearest example of this is a child placing their hand upon a hot stove… once it is done, it is rarely done again. This is because the burning and painful 'sensation' of the hot stove becomes ingrained in our memory, and helps prevent us from making this mistake again. All sensory patterns in the body work in this way.

The key elements to understand here are PERCEPTION and COORDINATION. Without proper perception, there cannot be proper (normal) coordination. Kids who suffer from SPD have an inability to properly perceive their environment, whether that be from vision, hearing and sounds, balance and coordination, touch and tactile sense, or others.

For children with SPD, this system "perception and coordination" system is essentially not "programmed" correctly. It becomes imbalanced and disorganized as the child develops, leading to improper neurological and brain development.

This can be caused by a variety of different things. The most common causes we encounter are traumatic birth injuries to the upper neck and brainstem regions (ie. forceps, vacuum extraction, C-section), childhood falls, and improper development through excessive use of infant car carriers, walkers, and jumpers.

What kids who suffer from things like SPD, ADD/ADHD, and ASD have in common, is that they have an inability to properly process, integrate, coordinate, and adapt to their sensory environment. All of these issues are really neurological INPUT and COORDINATION problems, not output and behavior problems.

The most common forms of treatment for these issues today are still focusing on modifying behavior, or output. But if we go back to that quote from Dr. Lipton, and really understand how the brain and nervous system work, it’s easy to understand that the only way to change and improve the output or behavior for these kids, is to change and improve their INPUT and ability to COORDINATE and ADAPT.

Common Signs and Indicators of Neurological Dysfunction and Incoordination

• Use of intervention during the labor and delivery process: C-section, vacuum, forceps, or increased difficulty, pulling, or twisting of the child’s head and neck during delivery.
• Colic, reflux, and gas pains in infancy.
• Torticollis and plagiocephaly.
• Constipation and digestive issues.
• Frequent ear and sinus infections.
• Speech delays.
• Abnormal motor development early in life (i.e. Skipped crawling).
• Poor balance and coordination, frequent falls and injuries.