Sensory Integration Disorder in Adults

The human brain is an amazing processing center made up of several systems that work together as one. As a result, problems in one system are likely to lead to problems with another system. Sensory integration disorder in adults is the result of a communication breakdown between various systems in the brain.

Identification

• Sensory integration disorder (SID) in adults is a condition in which individuals have difficulty processing incoming sensory information. Problems with movement and orientation also appear with this disorder. Sensory integration involves the use of the five senses---touch, vision, auditory, taste, and olfactory---to process information. Processing involves integrating incoming information with past knowledge and memories. The centers of the brain involved in movement and orientation also have difficulty relating new information with past experience. As a result, individuals can have problems with equilibrium which often result in pain, or confusion.

Function

• The brain integrates incoming data through the central nervous system. Neural processing pathways in the brain are set up to send information to the various brain regions. Information is processed according to its intensity, its complexity, its newness, and its duration. It's the brain's responsibility to sort out incoming stimuli according to the knowledge it already holds. For adults with sensory integration disorder, incoming stimuli may become jumbled to the point where a person fails to notice aspects of an environment or situation that are plainly apparent to others. In some cases, the brain may be more sensitive to certain stimulus---like sound or light---than others, causing a person to overreact to the stimulus because of how his brain is processing incoming stimuli.

Types

• There are three diagnostic classifications for sensory processing disorders---Type 1, Type II and Type III. Type I, or sensory modulation disorder, refers to individuals who are over- or under-sensitive to incoming stimuli. Type II, or sensory-based motor disorder, refers to problems with motor skills caused by the brain's inability to process the physical, or spatial environment. Type III, or sensory discrimination disorder, refers to the brain's inability to build relationships between incoming information and past knowledge or memories.

Effects

• The effects of sensory integration disorder can vary from person to person depending on how a person's brain processes information. Symptoms of this condition can range from mild where a person is hardly affected, to severe where difficulties affect a person's ability to carry out daily tasks. Problems with motor skill processes can appear as clumsiness, or someone who's accident prone. Problems involving under- or over-sensitivity may appear as an aversion to light, sound or touch. Problems involving sensory discrimination may be present in a person who seems inattentive or unable to keep up with a conversation.

Considerations

• The brain's sensory processing functions can affect many aspects of a person's behavioral functioning. Adult symptoms of sensory integration disorder can have indirect effects in terms of a person's ability to learn or attend to tasks. Individuals whose brain processes are under-stimulated may be mistaken for hyperactive or inattentive. In some cases, an underlying neurological condition may be affecting a person's ability to process sensory information in which case sensory integration disorder is just a symptom of a larger condition.

  As of yet there is no cure for this condition, however it is treatable. Occupational therapy methods implement a series of techniques and practices called a "sensory diet". These methods are designed to meet the needs of an individual's central processing system, and correct for faulty processing mechanisms in the brain.