Sensory processing disorders are when the child’s tactile, vestibular, and/or proprioceptive systems do not work efficiently which negatively impacts their ability to interact with the world around them (Ensher et al., 2009).
Sensory integration is a type of therapy that can be provided by occupational therapists or speech therapists which will provide the child with an environment that gives them the level of challenge needed for them to form an adaptive response. This is still a fairly new form of intervention, so it is not commonly offered as the therapists need to be specially trained (Ensher et al., 2009).
Regulatory disorder is the general term which includes sleeping, feeding, and sensory disorders (Georg et al., 2021).
Occupational therapists are typically the ones that will offer sensory integration therapy. This provides the children with an opportunity to learn to process different sensory inputs that they have issues with (either where they are hyper- or hyposensitive). The therapists create an environment that is designed specifically for the child’s needs and can help them to learn to better process the information provided by their senses. Having some sort of treatment option is extremely beneficial to the relationship between the child and their parents as having a child with a sensory processing disorder can be incredibly stressful (Georg et al., 2021). Parents want to help their children succeed and experience the world but the children with these disorders do not process things the same way that their parents do so there will be challenges that they face. It is easy for parents to become frustrated or angry with these children so finding a therapeutic support for the child as well as therapy for the parent will be beneficial in the end (Georg et al., 2021).
