Physical Therapy?

July 5, 2003

Hi ,

The Physical Therapist may have been describing the " Sensory Diet. "

Spinning would fall in the Vestibular Processing catagory. These are

techniques used by Occupational therapists. However, just spinning

your son 10 times on a desk chair may not be enough. The following

describes the premises of involving sensory itegration techniques.

The Vestibular system is a sensory system, which responds to motion

or change of head position and is concerned with the perception of

total body movement and gravity. The vestibular receptors in our

inner ear give us information and stimulation that helps to organize

the entire nervous system and influences balance, equilibrium,

postural responces, eye-hand cooridination, muscle tone, body

perception, speech and language development, autimatic body

adjustments, emotional development and behavior, digestion and

learning. It is also considered to be an important center for

bilateral coordination, the development of hand dominance and the

perception of direction and right and left. Slow, linear, rhythmic

swinging is calming and inhibitory to the nervous system. Rapid,

jerky, non-rhythmic, rotational swinging and spinning is more

exctatory.

It is important to watch child carefully for their reactions to

vestibular input. Sign of over-stimulation include flushed or

blanched face, increase or decrease in respiratory rate, discomfort,

excessive yawning or burping, more than normal dizziness or

disorientation.

Vestibular activities include: Swinging (encourage different

positions, i.e. stomach, back,side): bouncing or rolling on a therapy

ball: rocking chair or horse; trampoline; rolling up in a blanket;

spinning in a desk chair; merry-go-round; sliding; summersaults.

Proprioception is the sense of the position of our body parts in

relation to our own bodies. Proprioceptive information is essential

to coordinate and integrate movement as it allows us to know where

our arms and legs are in space.

Some Proprioceptive activities include: Joint compression; jumping;

crawling under, over, through obsticles; pulling, pushing and

carrying heavy objects; deep presure with soft brissle brush

stroking legs and arms (not the stomach or face);Chewy foods;

modeling clay; stringing paper clips; open and closing clothespins

Tactile receptors in our skin provide information that helps

facilitate attetion span, improve body awareness and balance out

emotional resposes to stimulation or stressful situations.

Tactile Processing include Deep presure and light touch activities

such as: Brushing program; bear hugs, back rubs; deep massage; brisk

toweling; walking barefoot on different surfaces; getting hands

messy; finger painting; sand box; playing with diffent textures i.e.

wool, sandpaper, beans.

A complete " Sensory Diet " is the best way to make sure your child

receives enough sensory input throughout the Day. Choose 2-3

activities from the vestibular and tactile groups and 3-4 activities

from the proprioceptive group and spread them through the day. Each

activity should last 15-20 minutes initially.

Take Care, Kris

July 6, 2003

She suggests I twirl

> around in the computer chair having it go around about ten times

each

> day.

Hi ,

That is some of the therapy they use for Sensory Integragation

Disorder. Get him a Sit and spin. The Out of Sync Book is wonderful.

It tells all about this disorder.

Pam

July 6, 2003

:

I can appreciate how you feel, our son is 2.5 and is not walking or crawling

yet. When we are at home, it's not an issue--we have our routine. It's

when we get around other kids his age I have to remind myself constantly not

to compare....I think at some point we all do it.

As far as the spinning, swinging, motion, etc., that has all been great for

Evan. His OT introduced it to us in his sessions. He absolutely loves it

(like your son) and you'll probably find benefits from it as well with

. We bought him a swing for outside and before starting that my

husband and I used to put him in a blanket and swing him, or I'd spin him in

my arms. Did the therapist mention that you'll want to watch his eyes and

wait until they stop moving before you spin the other way? Also, if he gets

red in the face or gets warm. These are all indications that he's taken in

enough information and you'll need to stop for the time being--at least

that's what we were told, you might want to check with your therapist.

Evan thinks the activities are really cool. I love it when you see them

having so much fun and they don't realize it's helping them. I know others

will comment on the subject probably with more input. Ours has all been

positive and continues to be.

You might check the archives out too, there were some interesting comments

on ride therapy.

All the best to you and .

Lynn (mom to Evan 31 mths)

July 6, 2003

Did the therapist mention that you'll want to watch his eyes and

> wait until they stop moving before you spin the other way?

Lynn, thanks for your input. Yes she did mention to stop moving and

wait until his eyes stop moving. I'm so excited about trying this.

July 6, 2003

Wow Kris, thanks for all the info!