Sensory Integration Disorder: Causes and symptoms

The presence of a sensory integration disorder is typically detected in young children. While most children develop SI during the course of ordinary childhood activities, which helps establish such things as the ability for motor planning and adapting to incoming sensations, others SI ability does not develop as efficiently. When their process is disordered, a variety of problems in learning, development, or behavior become obvious.

Those who have sensory integration dysfunction may be unable to respond to certain sensory information by planning and organizing what needs to be done in an appropriate and automatic manner. This may cause a primitive survival technique called "fright, flight, and fight," or withdrawal response, which originates from the "primitive" brain. This response often appears extreme and inappropriate for the particular situation.

The neurological disorganization resulting in SID occurs in three different ways: the brain does not receive messages due to a disconnection in the neuron cells; sensory messages are received inconsistently; or sensory messages are received consistently, but do not connect properly with other sensory messages. When the brain poorly processes sensory messages, inefficient motor, language, or emotional output is the result.

According to Sensory Integration International (SII), a non-profit corporation concerned with the impact of sensory integrative problems on people's lives, the following are some signs of sensory integration disorder (SID):

• oversensitivity to touch, movement, sights, or sounds
• underreactivity to touch, movement, sights, or sounds
• tendency to be easily distracted
• social and/or emotional problems
• activity level that is unusually high or unusually low
• physical clumsiness or apparent carelessness
• impulsive, lacking in self-control
• difficulty in making transitions from one situation to another
• inability to unwind or calm self
• poor self concept
• delays in speech, language, or motor skills
• delays in academic achievement

While research indicates that sensory integrative problems are found in up to 70% of children who are considered learning disabled by schools, the problems of sensory integration are not confined to children with learning disabilities. SID transfers through all age groups, as well as intellectual levels and socioeconomic groups. Factors that contribute to SID include: premature birth; autism and other developmental disorders; learning disabilities; delinquency and substance abuse due to learning disabilities; stress-related disorders; and brain injury. Two of the biggest contributing conditions are autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

— Beth Kapes