Most children with autism live with sensory issues. However, children who show signs of sensory integration disorder do not necessarily have autism. The latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) associates sensory impairment with autism spectrum disorders. While association makes integration dysfunction a vital concern for parents, its presence doesn’t diagnose autism. Many individuals have problems with sensory integration.
What is Sensory Integration Dysfunction?
Information received through the senses like sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell activate nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Collectively, these cells are called the central nervous system. Once activated, the nervous system takes data received from the senses and organizes it. From the organized data, the brain forms perceptions which motivate behavior or influence learning ability.
Sensory integration occurs when the brain sifts the incoming sensory information and forms preferences to focus in on. Integration is what creates appropriate behavior responses and learning. The senses supply information which leads to knowledge. For example, when a child with autism touches a hot stove, experiential memory can prevent him from doing it again. However, when incoming information is scrambled, the brain can’t make sense of the data. Faulty perception results in sensory integration dysfunction.
Vestibular System Sensory Processing – Sensory Issues Vary
Autism sensory issues don’t fit into a neat little package. There are many senses that can get scrambled during sensory processing and many variables within each sense itself. The signs of sensory integration disorder in autistic children can, therefore, range from one extreme to another within each system. Most individuals know about the senses of taste, sight, hearing, smell, and touch; but there are many more. One less recognized is the vestibular system.
This system provides the brain with information about movement and balance, as well as space and gravity. Its receptors are located inside the inner ear. It's responsible for helping an individual maintain balance and coordination. It also detects body-position changes. The vestibular system sorts out body speed and direction, and tells the individual if he, or something around him, is moving left or right, if something is horizontal or vertical, and what’s upside down.
Vestibular Dysfunction in Children with Autism
In autistic children, vestibular dysfunction is particularly important because information gathered from other senses is processed in relation to that sensory system. For example, visual processing includes spatial awareness like depth perception which will be inaccurate when spatial data from the vestibular system is incorrect.
Individuals with vestibular problems have difficulty integrating space, gravity, balance, and movement information. These difficulties can result in those on the spectrum being under-sensitive to movement, extra-sensitive to movement, or a combination of both.
Vestibular Problem of Hypersensitivity
Those with vestibular hypersensitivity are often intolerant of movement. Turning around too quickly or standing up can throw the body’s equilibrium out of balance. These children often appear clumsy, do strange and bizarre things, or fear movement activities. Signs of hypersensitivity include:
- uncoordinated or awkward movements
- loses balance, stumbles, or falls
- bumps into furniture, walks into walls, or misses the doorway
- unable to do tasks that require timing or sequencing
- strong dislike for, or an aversion to, swings and slides
- difficulty learning how to climb or go down stairs
- difficulty learning how to climb or go down hills or inclines
- fearful of crawling or walking
- doesn’t like unstable surfaces
Vestibular Problem of Hyposensitivity
Those with hyposensitivity generally have an increased need for movement and crave lots of vigorous activity like:
- hanging their head off the edge of the bed
- twirling and spinning around
- jumping up and down, or jumping off of things; no fear of heights
- exaggerated rocking movements
- constantly on the go; tons of energy
- doesn’t seem to be able to sit still; appears hyperactive
Autism and Stimming Behaviors Often Coordinate with Sensory Disorders
Autism and stimming behaviors often coordinate with particular sensory integration disorders and may be another key that helps distinguish hypersensitive individuals from those who need more stimulation. When a child is hypersensitive he tends to use stimming movements that calm down his overly-excited vestibular system like gentle swinging or rocking. Individuals who crave excess movement are more likely to seek out strong stimulating experiences like spinning, jumping, or running around in circles.
Learning the Signs of Sensory Processing Disorder Can Help Children with Autism
Sensory issues affect most autistic children and are of vital concern to parents and teachers. However, the symptoms of sensory disorders can range from under-sensitivity to over-sensitivity, or anywhere in between. Behavior intervention for young children with autism begins with awareness, but few know about sensory processing systems outside of the body’s five well-known senses. A vestibular problem is one of the most important sensory dysfunctions to learn about because the brain organizes many perceptions in relation to that sensory system.
For more information about SPD, check out Understanding Sensory Processing Disorder, an introductory article with links to others that discuss each of the seven sensory systems.
Sources
Ayres, A. Jean, Ph.D., Sensory Integration and the Child: Understanding Hidden Sensory Challenges, Western Psychological Services, April 2005.
Dodd, Susan, Understanding Autism, Elsevier, December 2004.
Sicile-Kira, Chantal, Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum: A Parent’s Guide to the Cognitive, Social, Physical, and Transition Needs of Teenagers with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Perigee Trade, February 2006.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her child's health should contact a doctor for advice.
Vickie Ewell - Vickie has worked with autistic individuals for 9 years. She has celiac disease and specializes in gfcf living.
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