1. The concept of sensory integration and sensory integration disorder
The theory of sensory integration was proposed by Dr. A. Jean Ayres, a clinical psychologist at the University of Southern California, in 1972. Sensory integration refers to the process of organizing and processing various sensory stimulus information (vision, hearing, smell, touch, etc.) input from various parts of the body (eyes, ears, nose, skin, etc.) into various sensory stimulus information. Only through the integration of sensations can humans complete advanced and complex cognitive activities (including attention, memory, language, organization, self-control, generalization, and reasoning).
Sensory integration disorder refers to the fact that external sensory stimulus signals cannot be effectively combined in the child's brain nervous system, and the body cannot function harmoniously, and over time various obstacles are formed and ultimately affect physical and mental health. Learning ability is the interaction between the body senses, nerve tissue and brain, the body's sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch balance senses, through the central nervous system branches and terminal nerve tissues, the information into the brain functional areas called sensory learning. The brain integrates this information, responds, and then through the neural tissues, directs the movements of the body's senses, called motor learning.
The constant interaction of sensory learning and motor learning forms sensory integration. Once there is a problem with sensory integration, various obstacles will appear, such as uncoordinated movements, inability to complete complex movements and behaviors, and inability to live, learn, and play normally. Therefore, correcting children's sensory integration disorders is extremely important for children's mental growth and mental health.
In a series of studies on the influence of children's own motor experience on early cognitive development, it was found that the acquisition of infantile crawling action changed its interaction mode with the physical environment and social environment, promoted infants to maintain sensitivity to the external environment, promoted the differentiation and coordination of the purpose of their means of activity, and enhanced their inhibition of countless behaviors and the serialization of cognitive operations, because it promoted the development of children's deep fear, delayed search, permanent concept of objects, roundabout behavior, spatial orientation, and common attention.
Second, the main manifestations of sensory integration disorders
Sensory integration disorders have some common and common behavioral manifestations:
(1) Restless
Restless children are not necessarily sensory integration disorders, and the surrounding environment and adult guidance may be responsible for this phenomenon. However, if other possible factors are excluded and the cause is still not found, teachers and parents should consider whether this hyperactivity phenomenon is caused by sensory integration disorders. (2) Clumsy action and slow response
In young children with poor motor development, most of the movements are inflexible. These children show particular difficulty in hand movements, as well as in physical movements, and have limited levels of motor skill development. Infants and young children are sometimes very slow to fear heights, do not faint when running in circles, and feel less pain. This may be the result of poor sensory integration in the central brain nerves.
(3) Disgusted with being touched
Infants with sensory integration disorders may show hypersensitivity or dullness to touch. Children who are too sensitive will be very disgusted with physical contact, and will resist washing their hair, bathing, cutting their nails or changing clothes. This can lead to problems such as inattention and lack of patience in children, and the development of interpersonal relationships can be seriously hindered. In addition, the phenomenon of too slow touch, such as clumsiness, laziness, and loose behavior, should also be paid attention to. In particular, abnormal conditions such as lack of pain and taste are necessary to conduct special systematic analysis.
(4) Slow language development
The development of language includes pronunciation skills, vocabulary cognition, and the use of language-related logic habits, which belong to the level of comprehensive use of perception. However, pronunciation involves the ability to identify hearing, the use of lips, tongue, vocal cords, vocabulary cognition must rely on the comprehensive role of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Poor sensory integration tends to affect the development of language skills
Third, the causes of sensory integration disorder analysis
(1) Congenital deficiency
Some working mothers are busy at work, nervous, anxious, not exercising enough, and poor housework during pregnancy, which will affect the fetal position and affect the learning of fetal balance; Some mothers smoke or passively smoke, drink alcohol, drink strong tea, coffee, etc. will cause placental vascular atrophy, affecting the intake of fetal nutrition, resulting in insufficient fetal brain development, causing abnormal postnatal sensory development, premature birth, caesarean section of the baby's joint tactile learning is insufficient.
(2) The living environment is too closed
0-3 years old is the best time to build sensory integration. And now the children are "alone", the living room is "single-family", within 3 years of age lack of peer partners, no brothers and sisters to imitate, children are easy to develop strong dependence, poor independent living ability, lonely and willful character, these children may have language development and social interaction barriers.
(3) Lack of due activities
When newborns are in contact with the warm embrace of their mothers, hear their mother's kind call, suck their mother's sweet milk, and lie in the dangling cradle, they perceive the light, color, sound, smell, temperature and other stimuli of the world; Babies in the "three-carry-four-turn-six-sitting, seven-roll-eight-climb-around walk". In the play of young children, the sensory integration function is gradually formed and continuously improved. However, now parents are very fond of children from an early age, afraid of children wrestling, should let children climb when they do not let children climb, do not let go when they should toddler, and buy a good stroller for children early. In addition, now children's toys are everywhere, children rarely run and jump outdoors, climb over walls, wade, play with mud and sand experience, some traditional games such as: playing marbles, rolling iron rings, playing cardboard, hide-and-seek, children have no chance to play. The balance control of all aspects of the child's body is not well exercised and developed. As a result, when it comes to school, it is easy to copy and slip words, slow speed, etc. Due to poor eye and hand coordination, the brain cannot effectively control all parts of the body, and often wrong judgments and behaviors occur.
(4) Deviations in family education methods
Excessive protection of children, pampering and coddling, resulting in children's lack of physical manipulation ability: chopsticks are not used
Son, will not dress themselves, tie shoelaces, life self-care ability is very poor, even the ball can not be patted a few times, and many parents focus on the "intelligence" training, some parents pay too much attention to the development of children's visual ability and auditory ability, let children learn piano, drawing, foreign languages, etc., which makes children's burden too heavy, suppressing children's experience of participating in play and contact with the outside world, inhibiting children's love to play nature, contributing to children's future boredom psychology, the previous children play is play, games are games, However, today's children even make a game to play a toy to be intellectual, to be able to cultivate a certain aspect of the ability, but let the child lose the natural and valuable childlike fun.