Following the lecture information regarding sensory impairments, you should be able to:

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Sensory Impairments

• Following the lecture information regarding
  sensory impairments, you should be able to
• Understand the various types of sensory
  impairments
• Describe the educational impact of sensory
  impairments on students.
• Describe how students with sensory impairments
  are supported in the general education
  curriculum.
• Reflect on the types of interventions and
  educational strategies used by special education
  teachers and related service providers.

Chapter Objectives
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Sensory Impairments

• Disorder where brain has difficulty taking in,
  sorting out, and/or connecting information from
  the environment.
• Over or under sensitivity to touch, joint
  pressures, movement, sights or sounds, smells or
  tastes.
• Symptoms
• Attention and regulatory problems
• Sensory defensiveness
• Activity levels
• Behaviors

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Sensory Systems

• Tactile system
• Vestibular system
• Proprioceptive system
• Olfactory system
• Gustatory system
• Visual system
• Auditory system

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Tactile System

• Nerves under the skin's surface that send
  information to the brain
• Information includes light touch, pain,
  temperature, and pressure
• Important role in perceiving the environment as
  well as protective reactions for survival.

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Tactile System

• Dysfunction
• withdrawing when being touched
• refusing to eat certain 'textured' foods and/or
  to wear certain types of clothing,
• complaining about having one's hair or face
  washed
• avoiding getting one's hands dirty (i.e., glue,
  sand, mud, finger-paint)
• using one's finger tips rather than whole hands
  to manipulate objects
• Dysfunctional tactile system may lead to a
  misperception of touch and/or pain (hyper- or
  hyposensitive
• Self-imposed isolation, general irritability,
  distractibility, and hyperactivity.

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Tactile Defensiveness

• A condition in which an individual is extremely
  sensitive to light touch
• Tactile system is immature and working improperly
• Abnormal neural signals are sent to the cortex in
  the brain which can interfere with other brain
  processes.
• Brain is overly stimulated and may lead to
  excessive brain activity, which can neither be
  turned off nor organized
• Over-stimulation in the brain can make it
  difficult for an individual to organize one's
  behavior and concentrate and may lead to a
  negative emotional response to touch sensations.

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Tactile Dysfunction

• Hyperactive
• may dislike certain foods because of texture
• may dislike brushing teeth, using toothpaste
• responds with alarm or withdrawal when the face
  is wiped
• has an aversion to haircuts, combing, washing,
  and showering
• avoids walking or crawling on surfaces such as
  rugs or grass
• prefers to wear clothing that totally covers
  his/her body, regardless of temperature may
  prefer no clothing at all
• does not like the feel of certain clothing, tags,
  sheets
• dislikes physical touching, especially light
  touch
• may have poor relationships with peers or adults
• may become physically or verbally aggressive when
  touch is perceived as a threat
• dislikes crowds, walks at the end of the line at
  school
• may avoid putting hands in sand, finger paint,
  glue
• Hypoactive
• does not react to painful experiences
• has difficulty manipulating tools and toys
• craves touch, may touch constantly or
  indiscriminately

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Vestibular System

• Structures within the inner ear (the
  semi-circular canals)
• Detect movement and changes in the position of
  the head
• For example, the vestibular system tells you when
  your head is upright or tilted (even with your
  eyes closed).

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Vestibular System

• Dysfunction
• Hypersensitive to vestibular stimulation
• Movement differences
• May appear clumsy
• May actively seek very intense sensory
  experiences such as excessive body whirling,
  jumping, and/or spinning (hypo-reactive
  vestibular system)
• Fearful reactions to ordinary movement activities
  (e.g., swings, slides, ramps, inclines).
• trouble learning to climb or descend stairs or
  hills
• apprehensive walking or crawling on uneven or
  unstable surfaces.

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Vestibular Dysfunction

• Overactive
• gets car sick, dislikes carnival rides
• is scared to jump, go up or down stairs, roll in
  a barrel, climb, lean over backwards to wash
  hair, do somersaults, rough-house, swing
• tries to control and manipulate to avoid
  distressing sensations, which may make him or her
  appear obstinate and uncooperative
• wants constant physical support from adults
• Under-active
• does not enjoy or do well in sports
• is clumsy, stumbles, falls
• has trouble doing anything requiring both sides
  of the body, lacks hand dominance, does not cross
  midline
• confuses right and left
• reverses letters and reads words backwards
• has delays in speech, reading, and writing as
  well as in visual perception
• can not follow a moving object, draw a line, read
  a line of print easily or copy from the board
• does not become dizzy even after many minutes of
  spinning, loves fast moving equipment
• has trouble holding his or her head up while
  sitting may tire easily
• does not attempt to catch self when falling\does
  not move trunk normally when turning head or
  moving arms

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Proprioceptive System

• Components of muscles, joints, and tendons that
  provide a person with a subconscious awareness of
  body position
• An individual's body position is automatically
  adjusted in different situations
• for example, the proprioceptive system is
  responsible for providing the body with the
  necessary signals to allow us to sit properly in
  a chair and to step off a curb smoothly
• Allows us to manipulate objects using fine motor
  movements, such as writing with a pencil, using a
  spoon to drink soup, and buttoning one's shirt

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Proprioceptive System

• Dysfunction
• Clumsiness
• tendency to fall
• lack of awareness of body position in space
• odd body posturing, minimal crawling when young
• difficulty manipulating small objects (buttons,
  snaps)
• eating in a sloppy manner
• resistance to new motor movement activities.

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Proprioceptive Dysfunction

• Signs of Proprioceptive Dysfunction
• has stiff and uncoordinated movements
• clumsy, bumps into things
• craves sensation of deep pressure against the
  body
• must look to see what he or she is doing
• has difficulty getting into or out of a chair,
  going up and down stairs, going up or down a
  climbing structure
• grasp on a pencil is to tense or to weak
• breaks pencils from pressing too hard or prints
  to lightly

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Praxis

• Praxis or motor planning
• The ability to plan and execute different motor
  tasks.
• In order for this system to work properly, it
  must rely on obtaining accurate information from
  the sensory systems and then organizing and
  interpreting this information efficiently and
  effectively.

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Dyspraxia

• Poor motor planning, and is a common
  manifestation of sensory integrative dysfunction
  in children with learning disorders.
• Signs of Dyspraxia
• awkward body movements
• clumsy, accident prone
• difficulty with learning motor games and sports
• difficulty with learning new tasks
• does not explore surroundings
• cannot identify the exact place where he/she has
  been touched
• has messy handwriting
• has difficulty imitating body postures
• lacks body awareness
• breaks toys
• seems weak, has low endurance
• has trouble dressing, especially with buttons and
  zippers
• has trouble sequencing movements such as jumping
  jacks
• has trouble assembling toys
• has difficulty planning and making drawings
• has speech and language difficulties
• is hyperactive and distractible

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Olfactory System

• Receptors are located in the olfactory lining of
  the nasal passages.
• Sensory nerve cells, or neurons, with hairlike
  fibers called cilia on one end.
• Neurons send nerve fibers called axons to the
  olfactory bulb, a brain structure just above the
  nose.
• In the olfactory bulb, information from these
  receptors is organized into patterns that the
  brain may interpret as different odors.
• Oldest and most vital parts of the brain

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Gustatory System

• Receptors are located in the taste buds (or
  lingual papillae) on the upper surface of the
  tongue to provide information about the taste of
  food being eaten.
• The human tongue has about 10,000 taste buds.
• Five taste sensations
• Sweet
• Bitter
• Salty
• Sour
• Tongue map - misperception
• Separate populations of taste buds sensing each
  of the basic tastes are distributed across the
  tongue.

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Visual System

• Visual Perception - The ability to analyze and
  interpret visual input is sometimes referred to
  as visual processing or visual perceptual skills.
  Just because a child can see clearly and
  comfortably does not guarantee that the brain
  will be able to make use of the incoming
  information. Visual processing can be broken down
  into several areas including
• Laterality and directionality
• Visual form perception, memory, motor integration
• Figure ground
• Spatial relations

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Visual System

• Signs of Visual Perception Disorder
• bumps into things
• lacks personal boundaries
• has disorganized possessions and space(runs out
  of space on paper when printing name, has
  difficulty lining up numbers)
• has difficulty holding eye contact
• has difficulty with depth perception
• has poor attention to visual details
• has poor handwriting
• may avoid reading, writing, and drawing
• has difficulty with building and doing puzzles
• gets lost easily
• has difficulty recognizing and drawing letters,
  numbers, shapes
• is unable to move through objects guided by
  vision
• has poor balance

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Auditory System

• Auditory processing is a term used to describe
  what happens when your brain recognizes and
  interprets the sounds around you. Humans hear
  when energy that we recognize as sound travels
  through the ear and is changed into electrical
  information that can be interpreted by the brain.
  The "disorder" part of auditory processing
  disorder means that something is adversely
  affecting the processing or interpretation of the
  information.

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Auditory System

• Signs of auditory processing disorder
• Have trouble paying attention to and remembering
  information presented orally
• Have problems carrying out multi-step directions
• Have poor listening skills
• Need more time to process information
• Have low academic performance
• Have behavior problems
• Have language difficulty (e.g., they confuse
  syllable sequences and have problems developing
  vocabulary and understanding language)
• Have difficulty with reading, comprehension,
  spelling, and vocabulary

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Educational Impact

• Overly sensitive to touch, movement, sights
• Inability to habituate to sounds and fear with
  unexpected noises
• Easily distracted
• Holding hands over ears in complex environment
• Avoids tastes, smells, or textures normally
  tolerated by children that age
• Activity level that is unusually high or
  unusually low
• Impulsive, lacking in self-control
• Inability to unwind or calm self
• Poor self-concept

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Educational Impact

• Social and/or emotional problems
• Physical clumsiness or apparent carelessness
• Hesitation going up or down stairs
• Difficulty making transitions from one situation
  to another
• Holding on to walls, furniture, people, or
  objects, even in familiar settings
• Delays in speech, language, or motor skills
• Delays in academic achievement

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Educational Considerations

• Create an environment that is full of a variety
  of sensory input.
• Sensory diet
• Inputs may include colors, light and dark,
  sounds, music, things to climb on, different
  textures, and opportunities for movement and
  exploration
• Exposing all of the senses to various types of
  input
• Adapt the activity, or even avoid it when
  necessary if student does not like light touch
• Use a firm, calming, deep pressure touch
• Find a quiet place to complete assignments and
  prepare for tests.
• Processing sensory input simultaneously
• For example, student may not be able to talk
  while walking on a balance beam.
• She may not be able to look at you when you are
  giving her verbal instructions.
• Difficulty looking at speaker when receiving
  instructions or discipline.
• Ask child to rephrase what was said in order to
  monitor comprehension.

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Educational Considerations

• Sensory Integration (SI) Therapy
• focuses on the tactile, vestibular, and
  proprioceptive systems
• does not teach specific skills rather, it
  provides exposure to sensory input in a
  controlled environment..
• Deep pressure
• Weighted vest, blanket, or wrist or ankle weights
• Swinging in a blanket
• Being rolled in a blanket like a "hot dog,"
• Pulling each other across the room in a laundry
  basket
• Carrying heavy milk cartons are all excellent
  activities.
• The Wilbarger Brushing Method, developed by
  Patricia and Julia Wilbarger, uses a surgical
  scrub brush to stimulate the touch receptors,
  followed by deep pressure (proprioception) on the
  joints.
• Control the environment by making decisions about
  the sights, smells, and sounds

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Sensory Disorders

• Sensory Integration - The ability to synthesize,
  organize, and process incoming sensory
  information received from the body and the
  environment to produce purposeful goal-directed
  responses. - Dr. Jean Ayres
• Sensory integration disorder - a term used to
  describe a person who has difficulty with the
  processing of sensory input. There are several
  types of sensory integration dysfunction.
  Dysfunction can occur with a specific sensory
  system or with many systems(global).
• Vestibular dysfunction--means the brain isn't
  correctly processing information coming from the
  vestibular receptors located inside the ears
• tactile dysfunction---tactile stimulation coming
  from the skin isn't being processed correctly.
• global dysfunction---a combination of sensory
  systems that are not integrating correctly.

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Sensory Disorders

• Input from three basic senses (touch, movement,
  position) combined with the auditory and visual
  senses are critical to the development of mature
  motor planning, coordinated use of both sides of
  the body, balance, eye-hand coordination, body
  awareness, language, visual perception, and
  emotional stability.
• A child with sensory integration dysfunction
  experiences frustrations and inadequacies, and
  often exhibits behavior problems, poor social
  relationships, and low self-esteem. Addressing
  those dysfunctions in therapy can reduce
  frustrations and build skills so that the child
  feels capable, successful, worthy, and important.

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Symptoms of Sensory Integration Dysfunction

• Teachers or parents often observe the following
  symptoms/behaviors that may lead to a referral
  for an evaluation of the sensory systems. This
  evaluation usually is done by an occupational
  therapist.
• Posture Control
• slouches
• props head when sitting
• uses support when standing
• Fine Motor
• difficulty manipulating objects such as scissors,
  blocks, beads
• awkward grasp on objects such as pencils(too
  tight or too weak)
• difficulty tying shoes, buttoning shirt
• Gross Motor
• skipping, hopping, running are awkward or
  impossible to do
• stumbles
• bumps into things

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Symptoms of Sensory Integration Dysfunction

• Perceptual Skills
• difficulty matching objects
• loses place when copying or reading
• difficulty putting together puzzles
• misjudges distances when reaching for objects or
  setting things down
• Cognitive Skills
• Distractible
• unable to transfer/generalize skills
• usually an average IQ
• Psychosocial Skills
• poor self-esteem
• throws tantrums
• gets frustrated easily
• Sensory Processing
• hypersensitive to sensory stimuli(e.g.., loud
  noises)
• touches everything/nothing
• hates being hugged/loves physical contact
• afraid of movement/loves movement
• lethargic/unusually active