Resources about Sensory Processing Disorders
Sensory Processing Disorders
Sensory Processing Disorders (SPD) is a condition in which the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information arriving through the senses.
Self-Regulation
Self-regulation is the ability to adjust and control one’s energy level, emotions, behavior and attention. Children with this SPD subtype have difficulties with self-regulation that impact social interaction and the ability to adjust attention skills.
Coordination
One of the SPD subtypes is known for difficulties with the ability to control one’s posture, or to plan and execute a series of motor moves needed for coordination of a motor activity.
Sensory Discrimination
Children who have this SPD subtype have difficulties distinguishing among similar, yet different forms of information that arise from sensory receptors in the ears, eyes, mouth, nose, skin and joints.
What does SPD look like?
Researchers have reported that SPD impacts anywhere from 5 -18 percent of people throughout the world. In American classrooms, the disorder has been reported to occur in 1 out of every 20 children. This means that generally 1 child in every classroom has difficulty receiving information that comes into the brain through the senses.
Children who have SPD often have difficulty receiving and organizing sensation arising from sensory organs including eyes, ears, skin, muscles and joints, mouth, nose, and balance centers. The disorder often impacts daily living skills such as eating, dressing, reading, writing, math skills, posture and muscle strength, sports, and even playing with others in terms of social skills.
There are three major subtypes of SPD.
Coordination
Some children who have SPD are unable to take in and respond to input that comes from their joints, muscles, and balance receptors of the inner ear.
Children with this type of SPD disorder tend to miscalculate key features of motor moves such as how far to move, timing when to move, how much force to use, and how to balance when moving. As a result, more often than others, these children tend to slip, stumble and fall as they move around in active places. Problems participating in group sports and performing fine motor tasks such as using utensils, handwriting, and lacing shoes often emerge.
Self-Regulation
Disorders of self-regulation tend to present in one of two ways with children who have SPD. While one type of child tends to present as an over-aroused out-going bundle of energy that is usually in motion, the other type of child tends to present as an under-aroused quiet child that is usually sedentary, inner-directed and self-engaged.
Children with SPD who have disorders of self-regulation typically also show difficulties with focused attention.
Sensory Discrimination
When sensory discrimination disorders impact the ears, the child struggles to understand what is being said. This impacts language and communication skills such as following instructions. When problems with sensory discrimination impact the eyes, the child struggles to understand what is seen. This impacts fine motor skills such as reading and writing.
In a similar manner, when problems with sensory discrimination impact the skin, the child often fails to recognize the touch or feel of objects. This tends to result in problems such as objects frequently slipping out of reach, or disliking the “feel” of certain foods with resultant poor eating habits.
Dove Ministries For Children
Dove Ministries for Children was founded in 2001 as a parachurch, Not-For-Profit organization whose purpose is to provide information about children who have difficulty processing sensory information. We know that the lives of these children and their families tend to be marked by their struggles with sensory processing along with issues of attention and coordination.
The main objective of Dove Ministries for Children is to demonstrate our faith in a positive future for those whose lives have been impacted with these types of neuro-developmental issues. We do this by providing a library of resources for them and professionals involved with their care.