Jean Ayres defined sensory integration as:
“The neurological process that organises sensation from one’s own body and from the environment and makes it possible to use the body effectively with the environment”
Sensory Integration is the ability to register, organise and adapt to information from the body and the environment using our sensory systems:
- Vestibular
- Proprioception
- Tactile
- Visual
- Auditory
- Olfactory
- Gustatory
- Interoception
Ayres Sensory Integration® Intervention
Sensory Integration Intervention involves thorough information gathering using standardised and structured assessment tools as well as clinical observation during play or routine activities. Therapy aims to improve sensory perceptual abilities, self-regulation, motor skills, and praxis. Our goal is to support a child’s confidence, independence, behaviour, learning, and social participation. Intervention is provided in a specialised therapy room utilising suspended equipment and play based themes in collaboration with the primary caregivers. Intervention is child-led and play-based, allowing the construction of sensory experiences and the planning of actions in relation to guided and growing challenges.
Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)
Sensory processing difficulties are found in individuals with and without diagnoses. For individuals with Sensory Processing Disorder, sensory information can be inefficiently registered and organised by the brain to create appropriate responses. Sensory information gets “mixed up” in their brain and therefore the responses are inappropriate in the context in which they find themselves.
North Coast Kids OT 