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PlayTherapySupply Basic Wooden Sandtray with Lid and Stand Combo

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Buy PlayTherapySupply Basic Wooden Sandtray with Lid and Stand Combo at Amazon. Customer reviews and photos may be available to help you make the right purchase decision!

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Sensory activity ideas don’t have to be complicated to be effective. These super simple suggestions are perfect for the home or the classroom.

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175 Sensory Activity Ideas for Kids

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DIY Sensory Rooms on a Budget! – Parenting Special Needs Magazine

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SPD And Other Disorders
SPD and Autism SPD and ADHD SPD and Misophonia
When two disorders co-exist in one person, the phenomenon is known as "comorbidity." The STAR Institute has sponsored and conducted a number of studies into the comorbidity of SPD with other common childhood disorders such as ADHD, autistic spectrum disorders including Asperger's, Fragile X Syndrome, Prader-Willi Syndrome, and other diagnoses.

Children whose Sensory Processing Disorder conforms to the under-responsivity subtype typically require a great deal of stimulation in order to become alert and active, a behavior often seen in children with autistic spectrum disorders. Meanwhile, other children with ASD have symptoms more similar to the over-responsive subtype of SPD. Because Autism and SPD both have over-responding and under-responding categories, Autims and SPD are sometimes mistaken for one another.

The relationship between SPD and Autism is an area of great interest to scientists and families living with the condition. Studies by the STAR Institute suggest that at least three-quarters of children with autistic spectrum disorders have significant symptoms of Sensory Processing Disorder, and probably more depending on how significant symptoms are defined.

However, the reverse is not true. Most children with SPD do not have an autistic spectrum disorder! Our research suggests that the two conditions are distinct disorders just as SPD and ADHD are different disorders.

Appropriate intervention relies upon accurate diagnosis. Pursuing an evaluation for SPD by a qualified occupational therapist with sensory integration training facilitates diagnosis that distinguishes autistic spectrum issues from sensory issues. This distinction increases the likelihood that your child will receive the appropriate treatment for his or her neurological conditions.

With further research into the relationship of SPD and autistic spectrum disorders, the STAR Institute hopes to facilitate better more appropriate intervention for all children who have either - or both - SPD and Autism.

Scientists and parents alike are keenly interested in understanding the relationship between SPD and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD), a better-known condition that is frequently treated with medication. Although the neurological basis of the two disorders is different, children with the sensory craving subtype of SPD are especially likely to be diagnosed and treated for ADHD because their behaviors are similar to behaviors in children with Attention Deficit Disorder.

Studies by STAR Institute suggest that SPD and ADHD are unique disorders, each with its own distinct symptoms. This means that SPD is not simply a type of ADHD, and ADHD is not simply a subtype of SPD. However, an estimated 40% in the typical population and 60% in clinical samples of the children with one disorder also have symptoms of the other ( Ahn et al, 2004).

Appropriate intervention for any disorder relies upon accurate diagnosis. Pursuing a sensory evaluation by a qualified occupational therapist with advanced training in sensory integration training facilitates diagnosis that distinguishes attention deficit issues from sensory issues. This distinction increases the likelihood that your child will receive the appropriate treatment for his or her neurological conditions. Search the SPD Treatment Directory to locate an OT near you.

With further research into the relationship of SPD and ADHD, the STAR Institute hopes to lay a science-based foundation for more precise diagnosis of both disorders, paving the way for better invention for all children with either one.

For more information about treatment visit the STAR Institute Treatment Center.

There is a significant over-lap in symptoms in what is now called "Misophonia" and SPD Sensory Over-Responsivity (SOR). Misophonia describes a neurologically based disorder in which auditory stimuli (and sometimes visual) is misinterpreted within the central nervous system. Individuals with misophonia are set off or "triggered" by very specific patterned sounds, such as chewing, coughing, pencil tapping, sneezing etc. Pawel and Jastreboff termed the disorder in 2001, in an effort to distinguish it from hyperacusis.

Hyperacusis and Misophonia are both disorders related to "decreased sound tolerance." However, hyperacusis is a condition in which auditory information is unbearably loud. In Misophonia, it is repeating (or patterned sounds) that are intolerable. The Jastreboff's (2001) originally hypothesized that in Misophonia pattern-based noises trigger an over reaction in the limbic system (where emotions are mediated in the brain). Therefore, auditory stimuli leads to an emotional response that causes the sufferer to feel anger, fear, disgust, or a generally "out of control." While the Jastreboff's distinguished between hyperacusis and misophonia via their symptoms, the confusion between the two disorders is far from resolved. The etiology of both disorders is also not clear.

SPD SOR and Misophonia share a remarkable symptom overlap. In both Misophonia and Sensory Over-Responsivity auditory stimuli sets off fight/flight, leaving the sufferer feeling angry, fearful, disgusted and/or "generally out of control" as the Jastreboff's originally suggested.

The research in Misophonia is in its infancy. However, an impressive body of research in Sensory Over-Responsivity has emerged over the last 15 years. The work in Sensory Over- Responsivity includes numerous physiologic studies demonstrating that upon presentation of sensory stimuli children and adults are propelled into the fight/flight response. Due to the symptom overlap, it is important that misophonia researchers collaborate with SPD researchers in an effort to understand the similarities and differences between the disorders and also to inform the misophonia research in general.
The above information on Misophonia was written by Jennifer Brout Psy.D.

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SPD And Other Disorders SPD and Autism SPD and ADHD SPD and Misophonia When two disorders co-exist in one person, the phenomenon is known as "comorbidity." The STAR Institute has sponsored and conducted a number of studies into the comorbidity of SPD with other common childhood disorders such as ADHD, autistic spectrum disorders including Asperger's, Fragile X Syndrome, Prader-Willi Syndrome, and other diagnoses.

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These questions matter because children who are chronically flooded with sensations, or are distant from the world around them, need help - whether they have autism or not.

Many of the day-to-day struggles of people with autism have to do with perceptions gone haywire, such as being overcome by sounds, or feeling a revulsion toward certain foods. This home truth may often go unnoticed and unaddressed by clinicians, but it has a powerful impact on family life.

Some parents of children with autism are big fans of sensory integration and similar therapies. They say the interventions help soothe the most disruptive problems of everyday life. Jennifer, the mother of a teenage boy with autism and fragile X syndrome, a related condition, says the occupational therapy her son began around age 3 was transformative. He was nonverbal at the time, and thanks to this therapy, she finally understood that her son's senses were wired in a way to make some things soothing and others bothersome to him. "We realized that's why he likes his hands rubbed so much, and his arms squeezed," says Jennifer. (She asked that her last name be withheld to protect her son's privacy.) It helped her grasp why her son demanded tight pajamas, and would only wear one particular pair of shoes. "It started making sense to us," she says - and made it easier for her to meet his needs.

Until a few years ago, the evidence supporting sensory integration therapy for children with autism or other conditions was relatively thin. And some practices of therapies that focus on sensation, such as working with playdough, hanging upside-down, or brushing a child's skin to desensitize him to touch, can seem unscientific or even downright bizarre. The approach is also difficult to study because it tends to be ad-hoc. Clinicians "come up with treatment plans that are highly individualized, and that's another challenge for really rigorous scientific study," says Cascio. "It becomes really difficult figuring out what the relevant outcomes are, how are you going to measure them, how you measure improvement." And in the past, the field was generally more focused on therapeutic practice than on creating standardized interventions.

Some families of children who lack an official diagnostic label struggle to get any help at all. "There are a lot of people who suffer from this kind of difficulty, and they're not able to access services or get the kinds of accommodations they need in schools, or early intervention, without the diagnostic label," says Baranek.

Lori Craven is homeschooling her son Jack because she says it was too difficult to get the public school system to accommodate him. Because Jack doesn't have hearing loss, he wasn't eligible for an assistive technology that amplifies his teacher's voice to help him focus. Because he doesn't have vision impairments, the school balked at providing enlarged, simple-looking versions of worksheets, or even allowing Lori to prepare them. "I just realized I was spending so much time fighting the school - I was trying to do it for them, and it was too much to ask," Lori says.

Savvy parents of children with SPD often seek out an additional diagnosis such as anxiety or ADHD - or embrace one when it is offered. Linda says that in the end, it was her daughter's anxiety label that helped the family arrange an individualized education plan for her daughter. The anxiety diagnosis "seemed to be the language that the school understood best," she says.

This fancy footwork around labels and diagnoses may become a thing of the past as researchers pursue the ultimate goal: figuring out which treatments for sensory problems are effective. They hypothesize that the right treatments will work whether a child has autism, anxiety, ADHD or no diagnosis at all, as long as the underlying problem, such as being too sensitive to touch, is the same. "You're trying to establish what the commonalities are," Baranek says. "And looking to see if those interventions actually help in similar ways despite the different diagnoses."

That means tailoring the treatment to the child rather than to the diagnosis. "I think [occupational] therapists do this on the fly," says Alison Lane, associate professor of occupational therapy at the University of Newcastle in Australia. "But we don't have a systematic way of saying, 'This child with this particular pattern of behavior and sensory features will respond best to this type of approach.'"

Lane and others have begun defining sensory subtypes within the autism spectrum, in an effort to more systematically match symptoms to treatment. She plans to use this framework to guide therapy in a pilot study later this year.

A precisely defined procedure for choosing sensory therapies in autism will also help make studies in this area more rigorous, says Schaaf, the Philadelphia-based occupational therapist and neuroscientist who led the development of such an approach. She is using it to test whether sensory therapy or a more standard autism treatment is better at boosting the ability of people with autism to integrate auditory and visual information.

A small pilot study of this approach found that sensory therapy in children with autism improves not only their perceptual difficulties but also their social skills. "That was unexpected," says Schaaf. "We didn't hypothesize that at all." In their follow-up, the researchers are collaborating with Molholm's team to track the children's sensory integration abilities through electroencephalography to observe brain activity, as well as monitoring how they are doing in daily life. The study, slated to run for five years and involve 200 children, began enrolling participants in February.

Researchers are also applying neurobiology findings to treatment studies of SPD. Marco is collaborating with the SPD Foundation on a pilot study to scan the brains of children with SPD before and after occupational therapy, in order to determine whether the intervention improves brain connectivity.

In the meantime, Ari Young has come up with his own way of managing his highly attuned brain, on top of the therapies he gets for autism. He often wears headphones at school to block out distracting or distressing noises, but he has noticed that most other kids don't wear them. "I used to feel like wearing headphones would just kind of pin me out of the rest of the group, make me look like I was not paying attention," he says. They also make it more difficult for him to hear what his teacher is saying.

So Ari has been conducting a sort of informal sensory therapy, challenging himself to briefly take his headphones off during events such as school assemblies and performances. "Sometimes there are quiet moments at loud concerts, when ... I decide to peek open the headphones a little bit," he says. "And then when the next loud part comes, I snap them back on as fast as I can."

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Talking sense: What sensory processing disorder says about autism

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These questions matter because children who are chronically flooded with sensations, or are distant from the world around them, need help - whether they have autism or not. Many of the day-to-day struggles of people with autism have to do with perceptions gone haywire, such as being overcome by sounds, or feeling a revulsion toward certain foods.

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By Kate Kelly

At a glance

A sensory diet is a treatment that can help kids with sensory processing issues.

It includes a series of physical activities that are tailored to sensory needs.

An occupational therapist can create a sensory diet.

A sensory diet is a tailored plan of physical activities and accommodations designed to meet a child's sensory needs. This type of treatment has nothing to do with food. The goal is to get kids in a "just right" state.

What does that mean? For kids who tend to get overstimulated, a sensory diet will include activities that help them come down from an overloaded state and feel calm. Kids who feel or seem sluggish will do activities to help them feel more alert.

Having the right sensory input helps kids pay attention in school, learn new skills, and socialize with other kids. But not all kids are able to recognize when they're not in a "just right" state. Using a sensory diet regularly can help kids build that self-awareness.

Usually, an occupational therapist designs a child's sensory diet and uses it during therapy sessions. The more kids practice, the better. So parents and caregivers should use the diet at home, too. Teachers can also do some of the activities in school.

Adults with sensory processing issues may benefit from the types of activities in a sensory diet, too. But typically a sensory diet is a plan used to help kids who are struggling.

Dive deeper

About the author

Reviewed by

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A sensory diet is a treatment that can help kids with sensory processing issues. It includes a series of physical activities that are tailored to sensory needs. An occupational therapist can create a sensory diet. A sensory diet is a tailored plan of physical activities and accommodations designed to meet a child's sensory needs.

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Video discusses autism specifically but can apply to all people with SPD's

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familydoctor.org editorial staff and Alex Rice

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Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) - familydoctor.org

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Sensory processing disorder (SPD) affects how your brain processes sensory information, such as things you see, hear, smell, taste, or touch.

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Simple Activities for SPD (Sensory Diet)

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Simple Activities for SPD (Sensory Diet)

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Proprioceptive activities to calm your child | Sensory diet to improve focus  | Reena Singh

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What Is Sensory Integration?
It is the organization of our senses for use. Our senses include vision, auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory, vestibular, and proprioception. Our senses give us information about physical aspects of our body and the environment around us. This is a higher functioning process that takes place inside the brain. The brain is responsible for organizing all sensations to assist us in learning and behaving normally. When your sensory system is functioning appropriately we can form perceptions, manifest appropriate behaviors, and learn without complications. When your sensory system is not functioning appropriately, everything seems to be disorganized and chaotic.

What is Sensory Processing?
The brains ability to receive, organize, and efficiently use information provided to us from all the senses. This means taking information in the environment, organizing it within the central nervous system, and peripheral nervous system resulting in a motor response.

What is Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)?
Sensory Processing Disorder (also known as SPD), is when the central nervous system is not processing correctly.
There are 3 types of SPD:
1.) Sensory Modulation Disorder
2.) Sensory Discrimination Disorder
3.) Sensory Based Motor Disorder

Sensory Integration Program Goals:

Increase Sensory Processing

Increase Self Regulation

Increase Self Esteem

Increase Learning Ability

Increase Social Skills

Increase Gross/Fine Motor Skills

Increase Motor Planning

Increase Coordination

Increase Socialization

Increase Coping Skills

Increase Visual

Motor/Perception

AND HAVE FUN! This information was written by ProCare Physical Therapy, an outpatient physical therapy group with 11 locations in Pennsylvania. ProCare physical therapists select only appropriate tests to evaluate and quantitatively measure the patient's problem. Then, in consultation with the referring physician, an appropriate rehabilitation plan is developed. For more information click here.

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Physical Therapy for Sensory Integration

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What Is Sensory Integration? It is the organization of our senses for use. Our senses include vision, auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory, vestibular, and proprioception. Our senses give us information about physical aspects of our body and the environment around us. This is a higher functioning process that takes place inside the brain.

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Understanding Sensory Issues in Children

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Understanding Sensory Issues in Children

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The Importance of the 5 Senses in Learning and Studying

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Studies have shown that our senses can play a profound role in memory and retention. Discover the importance of the five senses in a learning environment.

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Introduction

The sensory system receives and processes information that generates an individual's awareness of their environment. Various sensory perceptions then influence voluntary and involuntary motor activity to facilitate interaction with the world.[1]

Broadly, sensations fall into two categories: General and special senses. General senses include touch, pain, temperature, proprioception, vibration, and pressure. Special senses include vision, hearing, taste, and smell. Special senses are processed via cranial nerves and differ from the pathway utilized in processing general senses. This article is focused on the discussion of the general senses.

Both innocuous and harmful mechanical and thermal stimuli are processed by different receptors and nerve fiber types in the skin, follow specific ascending pathways through the spinal cord (dorsal column or spinothalamic tract), and eventually relay to the somatosensory cortex.[2] Based on these different pathways, the clinical picture of patients presenting with sensory abnormalities can help elucidate the suspected location of a spinal cord or central lesion based on the anatomical region and the type of sensation affected.[1]

Cellular Level

Different receptor types and free nerve endings, each with their own specific function, generate the overall sense of touch, position in space, and pain. For the purposes of this article, "mechanoreceptor" refers to the mechanosensory end-organ structure and its associated low-threshold mechanoreceptor (LTMR).[3]

Mechanoreceptors (Pressure, Vibration, and Proprioception)

Non-painful mechanical stimuli compose the sense of touch via low-threshold mechanoreceptors. Four main types of receptors are responsible for sensing light pressure, firm pressure, dynamic pressure, vibration, and relative position.

Merkel discs are found in both hairy and non-hairy (glabrous) skin. They are heavily concentrated at the fingertips and basal layer of the epidermis and have large myelinated axons. Merkel's discs facilitate the detection of pressure, static touch, corners, edges, curvatures, and position sense.[3] Merkel discs are associated with slow-adapting type 1 receptors.[4]

Ruffini nerve endings (or Ruffini corpuscles) are concentrated at the fingertips but are located throughout the dermis as well as in joints and fascia.[5] Ruffini endings facilitate the detection of stretch, slipping, or sliding of objects across the skin surface and joint angle changes. Ruffini endings are associated with slow-adapting type 2 receptors.[3]

Meissner's corpuscles are located in the dermal papillae of non-hairy (glabrous) skin. Meissner's corpuscles have a "coin stack" morphology and facilitate the detection of low-frequency vibrations, fine touch, and fine dynamic skin movement.[6] Meissner corpuscles have large, myelinated axons associated with rapid-adapting type 1 receptors.[3]

Pacinian corpuscles are located in the deep dermis, especially throughout the palm and fingertips, as well as ligaments and joints.[5] Pacinian corpuscles are large onion-like structures surrounding a nerve ending and facilitate the detection of high-frequency vibration and pressure. Pacinian corpuscles have large myelinated axons associated with rapid-adapting type 2 receptors.[3]

Muscle spindle mechanoreceptors are located in skeletal muscle bellies, and Golgi tendon organs are located within skeletal muscle-tendon junctions. These receptors facilitate the detection of limb position and movement, referred to as proprioception. These receptors are activated by muscle stretch and contractile forces.[7]

Nociceptors (Pain) and Thermoreceptors (Temperature)

Noxious stimulation, such as intense heat, cold, or chemical exposure, is converted into an electric signal by free nerve endings that terminate in the dermis and epidermis and have a pseudounipolar morphology. These nerve endings are also present on some viscera and can be further classified into A-delta fibers or C-fibers.

A-delta fiber nerve endings branch in clusters to allow for a more precise receptive field; they are mostly myelinated except at the terminals and are considered medium in diameter with fast signal conductors. "Fast" pain is sometimes referred to as "first" pain, as in the immediate pain felt when pricked by a pin.

On the other hand, C-fibers are spread further apart and lack precision, are unmyelinated with smaller diameters and therefore are slower in signal conduction. "Slow" pain is sometimes referred to as "second" pain, as in the slightly delayed ache felt after stubbing a toe.[8][9]

Nerve Fiber Classification

The nerve fiber types along which action potentials propagate are classified according to diameter and conduction velocity, with an Erlanger Gasser classification (A-C) as well as a numerical classification (I-IV). From A (largest, myelinated, fastest) to C (smallest, unmyelinated, slowest), nerve fiber diameter decreases, as does relative conduction velocity.

Group I or A-alpha fibers: Ia fibers transmit proprioceptive input from primary endings of muscle spindles. Ib fibers transmit proprioceptive input from Golgi tendon organs.

Group II or A-beta fibers: Transmit proprioceptive input from secondary endings of muscle spindles and touch and pressure input from specialized receptors in the skin and deep tissues (Merkel discs, Ruffini endings, Meissner corpuscles, and Pacinian corpuscles).

Group III or A-delta fibers: Transmit "fast" pain, cold, pressure, and touch from the skin and visceral afferents.

Group IV or C fibers: Transmit "slow" pain, heat, and pressure from the skin, muscle, and visceral afferents.[10]

Neurotransmitters

Sensory stimuli initiate action potentials and are considered excitatory. Glutamate is the primary excitatory neurotransmitter and, therefore, pivotal to the sensory system. Substance P and calcitonin-gene-related peptide (CGRP) also serve an important role in transmitting painful stimuli via A-delta and C nerve fibers.[9][11]

Development

The embryological ectoderm gives rise to the sensory system. Surface ectoderm generates the epidermis, neural ectoderm generates the brain and spinal cord, and neural crest generates the dorsal root ganglia and peripheral nervous system.[12]

The cortex derives from the telencephalon of the embryologic brain vesicles, the thalamus derives from the diencephalon, and the midbrain derives from the mesencephalon.[13]

Organ Systems Involved

As discussed in this article, the sensory system involves the integumentary, peripheral, and central nervous systems.

Mechanism

Ascending Pathways

The sensory system follows two ascending pathways from the periphery to the central nervous system. Primary somatosensory neurons in both pathways are pseudounipolar. Sensory cell bodies are located in the dorsal root ganglion, with one peripheral axon that receives sensory input and one central axon that travels to the spinal cord.[8]

1) Spinothalamic Pathway

The spinothalamic tract (STT) is further divided into the lateral spinothalamic tract, which transmits pain and temperature, and the anterior spinothalamic tract, which transmits touch and pressure. Primary neurons of the STT have a peripheral axon with either A-delta or C-fibers, a cell body in the dorsal root ganglion, and a central axon that enters the ipsilateral spinal cord. The primary synapse in the gray matter of the ipsilateral spinal cord transmits the action potential to a second-order neuron that crosses (decussates) at the anterior white commissure approximately two vertebral levels above the level of the sensory input. The STT ascends along the contralateral spinal cord until synapsing in the thalamus in the ventral posterolateral nucleus (VPL) to a third-order neuron in the sensory cortex.[9]

2) Dorsal Column Pathway

The dorsal column medial lemniscus (DCML) pathway transmits pressure, vibration, fine touch, and proprioception. Primary neurons have a peripheral axon with specialized sensory endings such as mechanoreceptors discussed previously, a cell body in the dorsal root ganglion, and a central axon that enters the ipsilateral dorsal columns of the spinal cord and ascends to the brainstem where the action potential is transmitted to a second order neuron in the nucleus cuneatus (for the upper body) or nucleus gracilis (for the lower body) of the medulla. The second-order neuron crosses (decussates) in the medulla and continues to ascend along the contralateral medial lemniscus until synapsing in the thalamus in the VPL to a third-order neuron in the sensory cortex.[14]

Thalamus

Although the functions of thalamic nuclei may not be as discrete as previously thought, the general consensus regarding sensory processing holds that sensations other than olfaction are primarily relayed through particular thalamic nuclei. The ventral posterolateral nucleus (VPL) and ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPM) relay bodily sensation, facial sensation, and taste to the parietal lobe's somatosensory cortex. The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) relays visual input to the calcarine sulcus. The medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) relays auditory input to the auditory cortex of the temporal lobe.[15]

Sensory Cortex

The second-order neurons of both the STT and DCML synapse at the VPL of the thalamus. From the thalamus, third-order neurons from the internal capsule travel to the somatosensory cortex. The somatosensory cortex is in the post-central gyrus of the parietal lobe of the brain and processes sensory input from the contralateral body with a somatotopic organization in which the foot, leg, trunk, forelimbs, and face are sequentially represented from medial to lateral.[16][17]

The somatosensory cortex is subdivided into Brodmann areas 1, 2, 3a, and 3b with seemingly reciprocal connections. Area 3b is considered the primary somatosensory cortex in which cutaneous tactile stimuli are processed. Area 1 also responds to cutaneous tactile stimuli but is thought to be more specific to texture perception. Area 3a mostly processes proprioception from joint and muscle stretch and potentially heat-induced pain. Area 2 processes deep cutaneous stimuli and proprioception.[18]

Additional Processing of Pain

While the somatosensory cortex processes the type, location, and intensity of painful stimuli, painful stimuli also have an affective component (fear and aversion). Pain is also processed through the brainstem parabrachial nucleus and amygdala and transmitted to the cingulate gyrus and insular cortex.[9][19]

Related Testing

The most important and ubiquitous test of the sensory system is the physical and neurological exam. A detailed neurologic exam helps physicians determine when further testing or diagnostic modalities are indicated, such as skin biopsy to assess nerve fiber density or radiographic studies of the spine or brain.

Clinical Significance

Understanding the sensory system and the ascending pathways to the brain provides the foundation for understanding certain clinical conditions. The conditions listed below are not described extensively; their relation to the sensory system is highlighted.

Lateral hemisection of the spinal cord (Brown-Sequard injury) results in the ipsilateral loss of all sensations at the dermatome corresponding to the level of the injury. Damage to the ascending sensory tracts causes the loss of ipsilateral proprioception, tactical sensation, and vibration below the level of the injury (dorsal columns) and loss of contralateral nociception and temperature sensation below the level of the injury (spinothalamic tract).[20]

Demyelination of the dorsal columns due to vitamin B12 deficiency or traumatic injury to the posterior spinal cord, thereby affecting the dorsal columns, results in bilateral impairment of proprioception and vibration below the level of the injury. Because the spinothalamic tract is not involved, pain and temperature sensations are intact.[20]

Trauma to the central cord or compression of the central cord from an expanding syrinx impacts the anterior white commissure where the second-order neurons of the spinothalamic tract cross. Clinically, this can include bilateral loss of pain and temperature sensation.[21]

Tabes dorsals is a manifestation of tertiary syphilis in which demyelination of the dorsal columns and dorsal root ganglion lead to impaired proprioception and sensation, resulting in ataxia.[22]

The symptoms of a parietal brain lesion (due to trauma, neoplasm, infarct, infection, etc.) within the somatosensory cortex can provide clues to its location due to the somatotopic organization of the somatosensory cortex.[16]

References

Disclosure: Mahesh Gadhvi declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Marlyn Moore declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Muhammad Waseem declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

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The sensory system receives and processes information that generates an individual's awareness of their environment. Various sensory perceptions then influence voluntary and involuntary motor activity to facilitate interaction with the world.[1]

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Learn the important symptoms and signs of sensory processing disorder in toddlers and children from an occupational therapist, and how to get a diagnosis and treatment options for SPD.

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Sensory Processing Issues Explained - Child Mind Institute

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Sensory processing issues are often first recognized during the toddler years. Parents notice that a child has an unusual aversion to noise, light, shoes that are deemed too tight and clothes that are irritating. Learn more about sensory processing and get our sensory checklist.

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PX Docs - Your #1 Pediatric Chiropractic & Education Source

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Constant meltdowns, big emotions, and difficulty following directions. When these things happen to our kids at home, that's one thing, but when they happen in public places like the grocery store, restaurants, and at play dates with other families, it becomes beyond stressful and worrisome for parents.

Most pediatricians today dismiss these things in young kids with statements like "don't worry, they'll grow out of it" or "he's just a boy."

But when we talk to most parents, deep down in their gut, they know something more is going on. These issues can be related to Sensory Processing Disorder.

A Sensory Processing Disorder test can finally get the answers you've been looking for as to why constant tantrums, meltdowns, and emotional rollercoasters aren't slowing down!

If your child is sensitive to touch, won't wear certain clothes, has a hard time with bright lights or noisy rooms, and frequently responds to everyday things like this with big emotions and behavioral challenges, you may be dealing with symptoms of Sensory Processing Disorder, which can make it hard for children to interact with and thrive in their environment.

However, it's also hard for parents to recognize the signs of SPD because children don't always know how to communicate their needs. They don't understand why they feel the way they do.

The proper Sensory Processing Disorder test will help clear up the troubling questions parents have and also clear a path to happier, healthier children.

What is Sensory Processing Disorder?

Sensory Processing Disorder, or SPD, is a condition that affects how the brain and nervous system process stimuli. It can affect all five regular senses (touch, smell, see, taste, and hearing) or just one of the five. Children with SPD also often struggle with the other two important senses, movement, and balance.

Children can either be too sensitive to stimuli they don't want to be touched or experience an opposite effect where they need more stimulation (sensory seeking). Interactions with either stimulus can be painful and/or overwhelming for people. SPD is often diagnosed in children and adolescents, but adults can also be diagnosed later in life.

How Do You Diagnose SPD?

Not all health practitioners consider SPD its own condition. Many medical professionals see it as a symptom or side effect of another disorder, such as ADHD, autism, or anxiety. Others don't even consider SPD to be a real concern and will often treat SPD symptoms as typical behavior of children or something kids will grow out of. This is the most frustrating element parents continue to report to us. They don't know what's really going on and aren't sure how to get the best help and care for their child.

But just because your regular pediatrician dismisses your child's real-life challenges doesn't mean you're on your own as you look to help your child. Real experts in SPD and other neurosensory challenges know it works in the other direction, whereby sensory processing challenges can look like ADHD, autism, and anxiety.

Because it can be challenging to diagnose SPD due to how many symptoms there are (and how much they vary), it can be easy to dismiss certain indicators that your child does need help. Our PX Docs are ready to listen to your concerns and guide you through the challenges of SPD, taking your understanding far beyond the basics of the diagnosis.

The Importance of Getting a Sensory Processing Disorder Test

Even a less severe SPD can affect your child's overall experience and happiness. That's why our PX Docs focus on not only helping you determine if your child has these sensory processing challenges and what's causing them.

Children with SPD have a hard time interacting with their environment, which affects their perception, which in turn affects their coordination. SPD can often result in isolation and loneliness for parents and children, especially when you don't know how to care for and handle the symptoms. A proper test can relieve some of the stress of understanding why these symptoms are there in the first place and then setting up a proper plan of care to help release and relieve the tension built up in your child's nervous system.

The earlier parents and health professionals can catch it, the easier it is to care for SPD and give kids the tools they need to be relaxed and happy in their everyday life.

What May Be Causing SPD?

While SPD is often dismissed by ordinary doctors as simply bad behavior or caused by genetics, doctors who specialize in SPD know much more about what's happening.

Our PX Docs often refer to this as " The Perfect Storm," which is a concept that explains there is never really just one factor involved, but usually a multitude of factors. These "perfect storm" challenges cause the nervous system to get imbalanced and overwhelmed, leading to what is known as dysautonomia. Dysautonomia is a term or condition that most commonly means the autonomic ("automatic") nervous system struggles to modulate and regulate its internal and external environments properly.

The 3 most common SPD Case History Findings

Clinically, the 3 most common SPD case history findings are those known to disrupt and delay the function and development of the brain and nervous system. These disruptions (known as subluxation) most commonly arise during these crucial periods and life:

1. In-Utero Development (maternal distress, breech, other positioning challenges, etc.)

2. Labor & Delivery interventions such as forceps, vacuum extraction, induction, C-section, etc.)

3. Early Childhood Development (difficulty nursing, colic, reflux, constipation, ear infections, overuse of antibiotics and other medications, motor delays, etc.)

If a developing child faces one or more of those challenges in those crucial periods of brain development, the sensory processing system can be altered and thrown off course. Due to this, it is so important to have a test and exam for the function of the central nervous system as the first and most important element of finding help for your sensory child.

Out of everything studied thus far with SPD and neurodevelopmental issues, birth intervention, and trauma continues to be the strongest link that shows up again and again. Be sure you seek a provider who knows how to assess this and put a care program in place to handle it.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of SPD?

As stated before, one of the most challenging elements of SPD is that children can be prone to hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity. If they're hypersensitive, they dislike their interactions with their multiple senses. If they're hyposensitive, they need more stimulation. Some of the most common signs and symptoms fall under both types.

Hypersensitive (or oversensitive) signs look like some of the following scenarios:

Regular sounds seem too loud

Rooms and lights feel too bright

Exhibits poor balance/seem clumsy

Clothing feels itchy or scratchy

Light touches feel hard

Some playground equipment like swings are too much for them

A lot of foods and textures make them gag

Sudden movement is overwhelming

Making regular day-to-day transitions between activities

Frequent meltdowns inside busy stores or restaurants

Hyposensitive (or undersensitive) signs can look like:

Needing a lot of attention

Thrill-seekers

Struggling to understand and respect personal space

Chewing on physical things

Wanting a lot of visual stimulation, like TV or other electronics

Having a difficult time picking up on social cues

Needing to touch everything

Having a hard time sleeping

Other symptoms that may be less obvious to parents can appear in social settings, during motor skill exercises, and other areas of your child's life. For example, maybe your child has difficulty using utensils-those motor skills may suffer because of the lack of coordination and a hypersensitivity to touch. Socially, SPD signs might need strict routines to avoid unpredictable sensations or stimuli.

How Do You Test For SPD?

The best way to test for these issues is to take a legitimate and detailed Sensory Processing Disorder test from qualified professionals. If your child displays many of the above symptoms regularly, if these signs interfere with you and your child's everyday function, or if they have other conditions that affect the brain, a test is most likely the best option.

From there, if you're like most parents, you already think well beyond just getting a diagnosis or having something to call your child's everyday challenges. Instead, you want to get to the root cause of your child's sensory challenges and get a personalized plan of action to help your child have fewer struggles.

Our PX Docs are trained to do exactly that for sensory patients. The INSiGHT Scanning Technology you'll find inside your local PX office is not found anywhere else in health care. These non-invasive, easy-to-run scans look deep into the function of the central and autonomic nervous system, analyzing and finding any subluxation and dysautonomia that may be connected to your child's sensory challenges.

The most common INSiGHT Scan finding in children struggling with sensory processing disorder is pictured here below:

That is a NeuroSpinal EMG scan on a child struggling with sensory processing so badly it was leading to daily meltdowns, aggressive behavior, and significant sleep challenges. The green, blue, and red colors in the cervical and mid-thoracic regions can often be linked back to birth trauma, as was the case for this patient.

This NeuroSpinal EMG scan is just one of three (3) computerized tests we run as part of the Sensory Processing Disorder Test and subluxation analysis inside a trained PX Doc's office, and if you've tried every form of diet change, detox, schedule shift, and supplement and still see your child struggle each day... then this test is the one you want to get scheduled right away!

Get your consultation and INSiGHT Scans scheduled today by visiting our PX Docs Directory right away! We can't wait to hear the stories of smoother transitions and fewer sensory storms for your child!

ARTICLE SOURCES

May-Benson TA, Koomar JA, Teasdale A. Incidence of pre-, peri-, and post-natal birth and developmental problems of children with sensory processing disorder and children with autism spectrum disorder. Front Integr Neurosci. 2009 Nov 11;3:31. doi: 10.3389/neuro.07.031.2009. PMID: 19936320; PMCID: PMC2779100.

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Our Sensory Processing Disorder Test | PX Docs

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Constant meltdowns, big emotions, and difficulty following directions. When these things happen to our kids at home, that's one thing, but when they happen in public places like the grocery store, restaurants, and at play dates with other families, it becomes beyond stressful and worrisome for parents.