Sensory processing disorder, sometimes also referred to as sensory integration disorder, describes an individual whose nervous system has challenges registering and or modulating information coming in from their senses, including hearing, smell, taste, vision and touch, as well as the less-known senses of the vestibular system and the proprioceptive system. The vestibular system helps the body understand movement and balance while the proprioceptive system helps the body know where it is in space.
Challenges with any of these systems can lead to “behavioral” problems, such as picky eating, clumsiness, fear of movements, dislike of certain clothing, and many more.
At Family Tree, we help to identify how each sensory system is functioning, and how that may affect the behaviors you are seeing at home. We will also look at the neurosensorimotor reflex patterns that provide the foundation for sensory processing. With this information, occupational therapists will help design a program that gives you strategies to manage your concerns in the moment, as well as more specific exercises to help reorganize the nervous system. Our speech therapists often work in conjunction with our occupational therapits to help organize the auditory systems, and if interested, naturopathic services can help with nutritional suggestions that assist in overall regulation.