Typical Children’s Responsivity Patterns of the Tactile and Vestibular Systems

Abstract

Typical Israeli children can be characterized by moderate responsivities to tactile and vestibular stimulation. Responsivity to tactile and vestibular input was similar for 3- and 4-year-olds, across genders.

Sensory modulation disorder: a risk factor for participation in daily life activities

“…These findings have notable clinical implications and provide support for the need for practitioners and caregivers of children with SMD to facilitate participation. The detection of SMD among children should be done as early as possible and, if identified, the child’s participation in childhood occupations should be evaluated and appropriate intervention offered 2 . Because the ramifications of participation restrictions of children with SMD are far‐reaching, 2,4,5,7,9,13,14,16 therapeutic and educational staff, as well as parents, should be part of the treatment team to help the child overcome participation difficulties resulting from SMD, 17 both through direct intervention with the child 10 and adaptation of the child’s environment 7,17 …”

“…The term ‘sensory modulation’ refers to a complex process of perceiving sensory information and generating responses that are appropriately graded to, or congruent with, the situation 1 . It describes the ability to regulate and organize reactions to sensory input, filter out unnecessary stimuli, and attend to relevant stimuli while maintaining an optimal level of arousal 2–4 . This capacity is a critical component of human function that affects the efficiency of one’s interactions with the physical and human environment, ability to adapt to daily life challenges, and quality of life 5–7 …”

“…Individuals with sensory modulation disorder (SMD) routinely demonstrate exaggerated avoidant and defensive behaviours or inappropriate responses to benign sensory input 2,5,8,9 that do not match environmental demands or expectations 3 . Studies of children with SMD have provided evidence of psycho‐physiological impairments of sympathetic and parasympathetic reactions in a laboratory setting presenting a series of sensory stimuli 1,10 .…”

Physiological and behavioral differences in sensory processing: a comparison of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Sensory Processing Disorder

“…Individuals with Sensory Over-responsivity often display negative responses to touch, sound or bright lights. Behaviorally they avoid certain sensory experiences or have extreme emotional reactions to typically non-aversive sensory stimuli (Kinnealey et al, 1995; Dunn, 1997a; Bar-Shalita et al, 2005; Miller et al, 2007b). On the other hand, individuals with Sensory Under-responsivity ignore or do not notice typical sensory stimuli (Dunn, 2001; Miller et al, 2007b).…”

Age as a factor in sensory integration function in Taiwanese children

“…Though the performance of the scoring of oral sensitivity for preschoolers was significantly higher than that of elementary school children, there was no significant difference of the sensory sensitivity between the two groups 21. In a research sample of Israeli children, neither age nor gender was found to be significantly different in the hypo- or hyper-responsive responses of the tactile and vestibular systems, between the 3-year-old and 4-year-old participants 30. In this research, 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds were classed into one group, and the children in that group did significantly less well in sensory modulation than those aged 5–6 years.…”