Occupational therapy using a sensory integration

Abstract

The article analyzes the use of occupational therapy with elements of sensory integration to improve functional capacity and quality of life for children who have problems with coordination of movements, hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity to certain stimuli. Principles of sensory integration and various techniques that can be used during occupational therapy are described. It was noted that occupational therapy using sensory integration can be an effective method of rehabilitation and improvement of the quality of life of children with autism, Down syndrome, mental retardation, cerebral palsy and other disorders. The goal of sensory integration therapy is to strengthen, balance and develop the processing of sensory stimuli by the central nervous system. A complex of sensory integration exercises is created based on sensory diagnostics individually for each patient. The choice of exercises and tasks for sensory integration should depend on the individual characteristics of the patient and the specific goal of therapy. The results of our study indicate that the use of sensory integration in patients with various diagnoses allows to achieve positive results in improving their physical, mental and social condition. Moreover, children love to perform these tasks, since the classes are played in a playful way. In particular, in patients with motility disorders, improvement in coordination of movements, increase in muscle tone, improvement in motor skills and balance was recorded. In children with impaired speech development, the use of sensory integration made it possible to improve the articulation of sounds, expand the vocabulary and improve coherent speech. The use of sensory integration in children with mental retardation and autism has helped to improve communication, reduce behavioral problems and increase her level of independence, learning to regulate her sensations and adapt to different types of stimuli, allowing her to function better in everyday life and be more independent.