Sensory Integration Disorder: types and characteristics

Although we use vision, touch and the rest of the senses as if they were blocks of information unique and coherent that we all experience at the same time, the truth is that for them to work well several parts of the brain Human must work in coordination with each other.

Even if we believe that at a given moment our consciousness perfectly integrates what we hear, touch, we see and savor, what actually happens is that our nervous system interweaves data totally different.

This is something that becomes evident in cases where a person suffers sensory integration disorder, a disorder that is relatively common in boys and girls and what we will see next. In fact, it is estimated that approximately 15% of school-age children have the type of problems associated with this disorder.

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What is Sensory Integration Disorder?

This mental disturbance, also known as sensory processing disorder, consists of an anomaly of neurological functioning that generates problems when processing the data coming from the senses, the organ that receives stimuli and the nerve that connects it to the rest of the body being healthy. nervous system.

For example, where there is sensory integration disorder, it is possible that some relevant and unambiguous sensory information captured by the eyes is omitted or comes "late" to consciousness and that, consequently, does not generate an adequate reaction or in a reasonable period.

It is also common for people with sensory processing disorder to feel discomfort when noticing "overloaded" by data from the senses, or the opposite, a lack of stimulation that does They have the feeling of living in a bubble.

For example, a girl may try to go to another place because what she has in front of her eyes is too complex, she has too many colors, etc. In other words, boys and girls with sensory integration disorder are more likely to notice overstimulation even maintaining a passive and non-exploratory attitude towards the environment, or quite the opposite, a hyposensitivity

Unfortunately, The little that is known about this disorder makes diagnosing it difficult., although the number of registered cases is increasing little by little, both in minors and in adults.

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Symptoms of Sensory Processing Disorder

The main symptoms of this alteration depend in part on whether hypersensitivity to stimuli or hyposensitivity is shown. In cases where there is a lot of sensitivity, characteristic symptoms are the following:

1. hypersensitivity

For example, the boy or girl avoid being near bright lights, or shows some very particular tastes with the clothes that can be worn because "itches" or feels too much.

2. Clumsiness and lack of coordination

Costs know what place the parts of your body are occupying at each moment, for which reason he falls relatively frequently and feels unskilled when manipulating objects.

3. Distraction Proneness

The high sensitivity to sensory stimuli whose information they cannot process well makes these little ones more easily distracted, since they they keep their mind occupied with this kind of complications.

As for those who experience hyposensitivity, the warning signs are of this style:

1. Seek constant contact

This can lead to asking for tight clothing, for example, or asking for hugs at all times.

2. restless attitude

Constant stimulation is sought in several ways, and they try to find places with many elements to touch, interesting sounds, etc.

3. low sensitivity to pain

Even if their body is damaged, they react in a relatively mild way.

4. Fear of the uncertainty of their position

Some children with this disorder fear the possibility of changing the position of their head and become "misplaced" by that change.

Guys

Sensory integration disorder is not a totally homogeneous phenomenon, but rather the diversity of known cases makes it rather think of various sub-categories. These are the types of sensory processing disorder which are considered so far:

Sensory modulation disorder

This variant characterized by low sensitivity to stimuli. For example, it doesn't take long for a person to react to a new stimulus after being exposed to several that are exactly the same.

sensory motor disorder

In these cases, the "lag" with which the sensory information arrives makes difficult to coordinate one's movements when trying to adapt to that environment that is changing and offering different sources of stimuli.

sensory discrimination

Significant difficulties appear when it comes to distinguish clearly different stimuli, or it is achieved but after having tried for too long a time.

Causes of this alteration

The causes of sensory integration disorder are not known, although it is estimated that a dysfunction of cortical areas involved in advanced processing of sensory information, since it is not exactly deafness, blindness or anything similar: it is a mismanagement, by the brain, of the data that is coming from the senses.

In this sense, the areas of cortical association and the zones of white matter, which are the ones that communicate with each other parts of the brain responsible for processing different sources of data, could be involved.

Therapy

There is no known definitive cure for this disorder, although there are intervention proposals aimed at mitigate the damaging effect that symptoms have on the quality of life of children and adults who experience it experience.

sensory integration therapy, specifically, it makes the person get involved in learning tasks that require coordinating their senses at the same time in real time with The aim is to create opportunities for the corresponding brain areas to become accustomed to working with each other by brain plasticity.