Sensory Processing Disorder Case Study

Individuals with a sensory loss need effective positive communication in their life in order to maintain their mental wellbeing and improve their health and emotional state. It's important for the individual to feel that they can still participate and contribute in the decision making process, having choices and control in how they live their lives whilst still allowing individuals to retain their personal dignity by having informed choices in the way they are cared for and supported. This helps individuals to cope with their sensory loss and enables them to feel included which helps to build their self esteem and confidence and contributes to a better quality of life. For individuals with sensory loss ,communication is vital that in order

Research has found that impairments in functioning associated with the medial temporal lobes and the limbic system may explain some of the deficits characterizing ASD (Joseph, 1999). Hippocampal abnormalities have been suggested to exert influence on sensory sensitivity in those with ASD.

is a neurological problem. It can also be described as “ neurological disorganization” and is

I worked with a family with two children. Their daughter was diagnosed with ADHD and a Processing Disorder. She was not diagnosed until fourth grade but not because of her mother advocating for her. Mom was misinformed about having her daughter tested to see if she qualified for special services. She was told they would have to wait three years will her daughter failing each year in order to qualify for special services. The school kept telling mom to wait maybe she will get it next time. The frustrating part was that the mother worked at the school as an educational technician.

It about observing the child and noticing what child enjoys doing the most and what materials the child is interested in. Is about setting an environment that is most comfortable and inviting to children with SPD. Therefore, teachers should consider the following modifications. For instance, when the child is sitting on the desk, the child should be able to place his feet flat on the floor and rest the elbows on the desks. Children with SPD, for the most part, need to move around; therefore, teachers can provide walking, jumping or stretch breaks. Fidgeting with different objects is helpful as a way of having the child focus better. Lastly, having a particular center or area for children with SPD is also helpful not necessarily to exclude children from those who do not have SPD disorder, but more to allow the children to interact with other children with the same disorder, and also for them to feel more accepted and enjoy their classroom environment better. Moreover, a teacher always needs additional support to ensure that any child with SPD is receiving the most adequate assistance possible. Therefore, an occupational therapist is an excellent source that will be of immense help to a child with SPD to increase gross motor skills. The occupational therapist can help children in the classroom, lunchroom, outside, gym, practically anywhere in the school. They can enhance children abilities in handwriting, staying focused and organized, using outdoor and indoor equipment, and help them through transitions in a more quiet and orderly fashion. It is always to the best of our children that we are compliant as to who and why we refer children with needs to seek additional help. It is about developing a plan to have child improve their skills of need. Last school year, I had a child with autism who also had sensory

The article, Understanding Ayres Sensory Integration states, “ Sensory Processing is a generic term used to describe the way in which sensation is detected, transduced, and transmitted through the nervous system” (Smith, Mailloux, Miller-Kuhaneck, & Glennon, 2007). Ayres spent a majority of her career working with patients one on one, and the sensory intregration theory stemmed from her work with children living with Cerebral Palsy, and learning disorders (Brittanca, 2015). Sensory integration disorder has two different components. First, a person may over respond to a stimulus, which can cause extreme discomfort from a simple object, such as a tag on the back of a shirt. In contrast, a person with sensory integration disorder may under respond to a stimulus. An under response in the nervous system is very dangerous because, it can cause a person to not feel pain even in severe hot, or cold temperatures. From her research, Aryres constructed Sensory Integration Therapy. Britannca states, “sensory intergration therapy, stresses detailed evaluation and understanding of each child’s unique sensory style and challenged,

Hypersensitive regulatory disorder, this consists of a heightened sensitivity to both auditory and visual stimulation. Taking the example from (Parritz and Troy, 2011) the case of Sara gives us example of this disorder. Sara is difficult to calm, she doesn't eat or sleep on a regular schedule for her age. Other characteristics of this disorder are fearful and cautious or negative and defiant patterns. When it is characterized as fearful and cautious the child will easily upset, be overreactive to touch, light and noises as well. Characteristics of negative and defiant these child avoid change, are fussy, overreactive to touch and sound just to name a few.

The brain is the most complex and mysterious asset to the human body. Information retrieved from the senses are processed by the brain “to create an internal representation of the external world”, which is crucial “for the survival and reproduction of the species” (Axel, 2004). If this brain interpretation were to be disrupted, daily activities and other simple tasks would be difficult to accomplish. Such lives are those who have sensory processing disorder. Sensory processing disorder, or SPD, is the “lack of ability to use information received by the senses in order to efficiently function in everyday life” (Borkowska, 2017). Those who have SPD can suffer from a multitude of symptoms, including “over sensitivity to stimulation”

A lot of students with SPD practice “learned avoidance”., which can lead to depression and social isolation. Sometimes a remediation approach, which is, a controlled repeated exposure to the offending stimuli, in a positive manner can help to “normalize” the condition. Moyes believes that a Functional Behavioral Assessment and Applied Behavior Analysis are essential components in the data collection process. Data derived from assessments and observations need to drive the support decisions. The data from the observations will determine which interventions are or aren’t

While the auditory systems may not be damaged in children with sensory processing disorder, the ability to use the systems may be impaired. As a result children with SPD may present with difficulties in processing auditory input. This often demonstrated in their sensitivity to ordinary noise such as vacuum cleaner. They may also find certain pitches to be excruciating and opt to hold their hands over their ears, running away crying in response to loud noises. For those children who are under-responsive to noise, they may seek out “noisy” environments for extra stimulation. They may also like to hear repeated sounds. The inability to integrate auditory sensory input is problematic as it is can interfere with the child’s ability function in

Robert has returned around a month since the last appointment. Unfortunately during this time, he has had trouble tolerating modafinil. At an initial dose of 100mg bd, there was some improvement in somnolence for the first few days, but thereafter Robert started to notice an increase in symptoms. This did not resolve with an increased dose. He was also experiencing more frequent episodes of what he describes as his body shutting down where he would experience generalised weakness, sometimes with a softening of his voice, and this would often occur in the context of being stressed or experiencing other emotions. Robert was not aware of more focal transient muscle weakness as one would typically expect with cataplexy. As a result, he ceased

We chose to use Dunn’s Sensory Integration (SI) Model to guide our group of children with mild sensory processing disorder (SPD). Clients with SPD have a difficult time performing necessary tasks for occupations, such as schoolwork, because the client’s nervous system has a hard time processing and acting upon sensory signals in appropriate motor and behavioral responses (STAR Institute for Sensory Processing Disorder, 2017). We chose Dunn’s SI approach because it focuses on more sensory systems including olfactory (smell), somatosensory (tactile), proprioceptive (body position), vestibular (balance and movement), auditory (hearing), and visual (sight) in clients who may struggle with processing specific sensory systems due to SPD (Cole, 2012). Dunn’s model also emphasised the importance of

As we age, our senses often decline. Unfortunately, as the senses deteriorate, it can affect our psychological well-being. This often comes as a surprise to loved ones, as is the case with Athena. Athena’s mother, Dorothy, is experiencing a very normal period in her life; her hearing and vision have declined, and she has begun withdrawing from most social interaction. This withdrawal is likely the direct result of her hearing and vision deterioration because losing these abilities can make interaction difficult, complicated, and even frustrating. This is understandable when we consider the impact of diminished senses in something as simple as conversation. In Dorothy’s case, she probably has difficulty hearing other people’s words when in

Jean Ayres achieved many amazing accomplishments throughout her life, but one with the strongest impact was establishing a network called Center for the Study of Sensory Integrative Disorder (CSDII) (Burtner, Crowe, & Lopez, 2009). The nonprofit created by Ayres in 1972 was designed so that future practioners could continue work, study, and education in the field of sensory integration (Burner, Crowe, & Lopez, 2009). Years later, in 1982, the organization contained sixty-six members, and continued to flourish, thus it was renamed Sensory Integration International in order to include a comprehensive network of practioners (Buner, Crowe, & Lopez, 2009). Sensory Integration Disorder is more recognized in today’s society because of

One interesting facts I learned from this week’s reading, was that 42% - 80% of children diagnosed with ASD experience some sort of sensory dysfunction.