SENSORY PROCESSING

SENSORY INTEGRATION: is defined as the organization of sensation for use. Countless bits of sensory information enter our brains at every moment. The brain must organize all of these sensations in order to move and learn normally. The brain locates, sorts, and order sensations. Familiar senses are seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and tasting. However, there are two other systems which are equally important, proprioceptive and vestibular. The proprioceptive system provides the brain with unconscious information regarding muscle work/effort and joint position. The vestibular system refers to receptos in the inner ear, which provides the brain with information about the force of gravity and movement. Sensory receptors include sight, smell, taste, sound and touch. If these receptors send "wrong" information to the brain, then motor responses can be changed. A child's action may be interferred with the messages to the brain are not interpreted accurately, or there may be a problem with areas of the brain or routes that send messages to various part of the body.