Category: sensory integration

After last night’s Coffee and Chat about Neurodiversity in the Workplace, we launched Today we are celebrating neurodiversity at the start of day 2 of our Mental health, Trauma and Wellbeing Workshop with our lecture about neurodiversity. Great reads about ways to adapt the environment and tasks to support people with neurodiversity in the workplace and at home. Find more here Recommended Reading in our Amazon Shop.

For more resources to support your practice including to share with schools and businesses some great resources are available at:

This intensive course is now offered in English, by published Occupational Therapist and researcher Valeria Isaac. Valeria’s presentations at the European Sensory Integration Congress have always been thought provoking, providing knowledge to inform clinical practice.

Suitable for those seeking post-certification education in Ayres SI, this course focuses specifically on the auditory system, addressing modulation and perception processing in-depth. This workshop has a strong focus on neurobiology and updated scientific evidence impacting behaviour and learning relating to auditory processing.  

This course doesn’t address particular clinical assessment techniques or specific treatment methods but rather aims to develop discussion and clinical reasoning using scientific evidence to address auditory difficulties in clinical practices.

This course consists of two modules, which include the following topics:

Module 1:  May, Saturday 15 and Sunday 16
·       Introduction to the auditory system from a sensory integration perspective
·       Historical evidence and evolutionary development of the auditory system
·       Neuroanatomical review of auditory organs and neuronal circuits
·       Afferent and efferent neurophysiology
·       Central brain structures for auditory perception and integration

Module 2:  May, Saturday 22, and Sunday 23
·       The auditory system in childhood development
·       How auditory processing influences learning and behaviour
·       Auditory modulation and perception in sensory integration
·       Audition and cognition
·     Current research findings regarding auditory processes in sensory integration

If you are interested in this subject and would like to participate, you can send an e-mail to Equipo en Vuelo, they are the ones organizing this course. Book Here [email :equipoenvuelo.formacion@gmail.com]

About Profesora Mg. T.O. Valeria Isaac

Graduated in Occupational Therapy [University of Chile]. Director of Neurosens, Valeria has a Master’s in Medical and Biological Sciences [Neurosciences]. Valeria received her post-graduate certification in Sensory Integration from the University of Southern California, USA.

She completed her Certification in Sensory Integration and Praxis Testing by Western Psychological Services USA. Valeria is the founding member of the SITA Foundation® (Sensory Integration Therapy Approach) and a Director of the postgraduate course “OT in Child Neuropsychiatry with a focus on Sensory Integration” at the University of San Sebastián in Santiago. As an active member of the Chilean Society of Neurosciences, she is leading research projects in the area of ​​sensory integration at the University of Chile.

Valeria’s publication about ADHD can be accessed via this link: Altered Cervical Vestibular-Evoked Myogenic Potential in Children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder

Join us for coffee and chat in Neurodiversity Celebration Week to explore ways Occupational Therapists support and promote neurodiversity in the workplace. This week we are considering the importance of occupation, with experts in this our member occupational therapists; supporting occupation through the senses.

People often ask about DCD and Sensory Integration and processing difficulties. This article reminds us of the importance of thorough assessment. At ASI Wise we would recommend through assessment beyond parent/teacher report – as data that drives intervention ensures therapy is targetted and specific, meaning it is likely to be more effective in addressing difficulties in sensory integration and processing contributing to problems with participation in activities of everyday life like school, self-care eg eating, dressing, washing, play, communication and interaction with others and even sleep.

The aims of this study were to identify sensory processing profiles specific to preschoolers with DCD in a community sample and examine the association of sensory processing problems with motor coordination difficulties in these children. Sixty-three 5-year-old children with DCD and without other neurodevelopmental disorders and 106 age-matched typically developing children participated in this study. Sensory processing problems were assessed using the Sensory Profile. Our results demonstrated problems in wide sensory processing patterns (low registration, sensitivity and avoiding) and areas (auditory, vestibular, touch and oral) in children with DCD compared with typically developing children. Additionally, the association of problems in sensory processing patterns (sensitivity and avoiding) and areas (touch and auditory) with motor coordination difficulties were identified in children with DCD alone. Our findings indicate that sensory processing abnormalities may contribute to the pathophysiology of DCD, suggesting the importance of assessing sensory processing functions in children with DCD.

Mikami, M., Hirota, T., Takahashi, M. et al. (2020) Atypical Sensory Processing Profiles and Their Associations With Motor Problems In Preschoolers With Developmental Coordination Disorder. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev . https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-020-01013-5

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