Sensory Integration Course

We perceive our environment and ourselves with the information coming from our sense organs. A lot of information is transmitted to the central nervous system with the stimuli received through the senses such as touch, taste, smell, vision, hearing, proprioceptive (position sense perceived by muscles, joints and connective tissue) and vestibular (receiving messages about movement, balance and gravity perceived by the sensory organ in the inner ear). Our central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord that provides the relationship between our brain and our body. Its function is to organize the transmitted information, establish a connection between the incoming information and create a whole from the parts. The messages received from a single sense are not enough for us to learn. There must be a relationship between the information provided by the various senses. For example; messages received through the sense of touch help with seeing, messages received through the sense of sight help with balance and awareness of the body, which in turn helps learning. Our brain enables us to acquire and learn various skills through the establishment of connections between messages, in other words, through sensory integration. For a child to learn to tie his shoes, he needs to see the shoelace, touch it, control his own finger movements, listen to what is said to him, and tie his shoes in a certain position by squatting without losing his balance. This requires the connection between messages from most of the senses we have listed above, in other words, sensory integration.

Sensory Integration Disorder

Children with sensory integration disorder cannot integrate what they perceive and cannot create a whole from parts. Most children within the autism spectrum have sensory integration disorders.

Sensory Integration Therapy

It is not an educational method on its own. The necessary environment for learning is prepared by ensuring that autistic children with sensory perception differences can give correct responses, recognize themselves, perceive themselves in the space they are in, be aware of their surroundings and control their movements.

Sensory Integration Therapy is applied by occupational therapists who have completed a four-year higher education program and have attended postgraduate education, seminars and certificate programs in the field and are experienced in this field. With special techniques, the senses of the child with autism are stimulated in line with their needs and the brain is helped to organize messages. For this purpose, therapy balls of various sizes, cylinder-shaped pillows, free-swinging swings suspended from the ceiling, and platforms with wheels placed underneath can be used in a large room.

In the treatment, which includes various physical activities that are appropriate for the child’s age and fun, the occupational therapist controls the environment while the child is expected to control what they do. Among the techniques applied by occupational therapists are activities such as changing the child’s body position, shaking, rolling, throwing, riding on, and turning, as well as stimulating the child by touching them with cotton, and providing direct tactile stimuli such as rubbing and brushing the child.