Occupational Therapy is a health and rehabilitation profession whose practitioners provide services to individuals of all ages who have physical, developmental, emotional and social deficits and require specialized assistance in learning skills to enable them to lead independent, productive and satisfying lives. Occupational therapy assists children in developing the sequences of skills that provide the foundation upon which higher level learning is built. Creative and imaginative motor movement and play are used in therapy to develop independence and mastery within the home and learning environment.

Occupational Therapy services for children may include:

1. Improvement of motor development, self-concept and emotional maturation
2. Promotion of independence in daily living skills
3. Facilitation of normal development sequence
4. Decreasing the effect of pathology on functional abilities
5. Environmental adaptation to enable increased independence
6. Fabrication and/or adjustment and training in the use of assistive, prosthetic or orthotic devices
7. Prevention of deformity


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All of the information we receive about the world comes to us through our sensory systems. Although we are all familiar with the senses involved with taste, smell, sight and sound, most of us do not realize that our nervous systems also senses movement, force of gravity and body position. These basic senses are closely connected to each other and form interconnections with other systems of the brain as development occurs. The interplay among the various senses is complex and is necessary in order for a person to interpret a situation accurately and make an appropriate response. It is this organization of the senses for use that is termed "Sensory Integration."

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Sensory integration dysfunction is an inability to pull together and understand the sensory information from the internal environment of one’s own body and from the external environment of objects and people.

Everyone experiences difficulties in pulling together this type of information at one time or another, particularly during periods of growth, change or stress. However, people who have sensory integration dysfunction consistently experience these difficulties throughout most of their day and these difficulties impact their performance at home, work or school and at play.

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Symptoms of sensory integration dysfunction sometimes include several of these behaviors that occur persistently:

1. Persistent negative behaviors
2. Oppositional behaviors
3. Hyperactivity or hypoactivity
4. Irritability or moodiness
5. Attentional issues
6. Clumsiness
7. Difficulties with motor control
8. Motor planning difficulties
9. Gross motor difficulties
10. Fine motor difficulties
11. Language deficits
12. Visual perceptual difficulties
13. Organizational deficits
14. Sensory hypersensitivities, i.e. tactile defensiveness, oral defensiveness, auditory defensiveness, gravitational defensiveness, visual defensiveness


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Early warning signs of sensory integration dysfunction may include over and under sensitivity to touch, movement, sights or sounds; unusually high or low activity level; coordination problems; poor self concept; poorly organized behavior; delays in speech, language, motor skills or academic achievement, problems as infants with normal routines such as sleeping and feeding.

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Treatment is usually only provided for moderate to severe instances of sensory integration dysfunction when the disorder impacts two or more aspects of a persons’ life. Treatment usually consists of:

1. Direct services by a trained professional
2. A home program of regularly scheduled sensory events (often called a sensory diet) that are prescribed by a trained professional

Although the outcomes are generally more successful when treatment is provided in childhood, sensory integration treatment can also be provided for adults. Sensory integration treatment requires the combination of a trained professional and the availability of specialized equipment. Specially trained occupational, physical and speech therapists may be consulted for treatment of sensory integration dysfunction.

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