The President nominates Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court, read his remarks and get to know her. May 26, 2009. (Public Domain)
Tags: President, Barack, Obama, Nominates, Sonia, Sotomayor, Supreme, Court, Empathy, Civil, Rights, whitehouse
Many children with Sensory Integration Disorders exhibit symptoms of tactile defensiveness. In layman's terms this simply means that they have hypersensitivity to touch and/or tactile input. This in turn may cause:
-Difficulty transitioning between activities
-Lack of attention or focus
-A fear or resistance to being touched
Your child may advantage from what is commonly known to most parents as "Brushing Therapy". It is known in Occupational Therapy circles as The Wilbarger Deep Pressure and Proprioceptive Technique (Dppt) & Oral Tactile Technique (Ott). It was industrialized by Dr. Patricia Wilbarger, Med, Otr, Faota, an occupational therapist and clinical psychologist that has been working with sensory processing theories for over 30 years.
When first introduced to this, many parents are a bit skeptical. How can "brushing" my child help them with their sensory integration issues and tactile defensiveness? The system behind it is that our skin is the human body's largest sensory organ, and therefore it is in constant touch with our nervous system; relaying information that allows us to interact effectively with our environment. Often times, the inability for the human body to process sensory input effectively can cause motor skill delays, tactile defensiveness, or group and emotional difficulties. Brushing therapy seeks to use this relationship between the skin and the nervous system to sustain kids who may be having difficulty organizing sensory information properly.
It is thankfully, quite easy to implement. The first step in the therapy involves using a soft, plastic, surgical brush which is run over the child's skin, using a very firm pressure, beginning at the arms and working down to the feet. The chest and stomach area are all the time avoided as these are sensitive areas that can cause adverse reactions. There can be some drama at first, until the child becomes accustomed to the therapy, but most children find it pleasurable after a few sessions and may even ask for it when they are feeling "off". Along with the brushing, most practitioners will also designate joint compressions. In this phase of the treatment, the therapist or a parent trained by a therapist provides gentle compressions of each of the child's major joints for a count of ten. Finally, the therapist may also advise the Oral Tactile Technique, or Ott. This technique involves using a finger to swipe along the inside of the child's mouth. This has been found to help with some children who have an issue with what is known as oral defensiveness. If your child is adverse to new foods because of their texture, or has a severe aversion to having their teeth brushed, they may have an issue with oral defensiveness.
If you think that your child would advantage from this form of therapy, it is foremost to seek advice from an Occupational Therapist. Performing the therapy in a manner other than taught by a trained expert can be, at best, useless and could possibly do more harm then good.
Tactile Defensiveness - The Facts About the Wilbarger Brushing ProtocolTEDxYonsei - Sungjoon Lee - The show must go on Video Clips. Duration : 25.07 Mins.Are you right- or left-handed? Do you remember your first day of school? What are you thinking right now? The answers to these questions go right to the "brains of the operation," the incredible nervous system of the human body. This second part of The Human Body series explores the brain, spinal cord, nerves and the trillions of neurons, or nerve cells, that make our bodies uniquely human.
Experts in neuroscience help us understand why the human brain is a marvel of structure and function. Viewers learn about left brain and right brain activities, and the purpose and function of the cerebellum, cerebrum, cranial nerves and other parts of the brain. The program also examines the interaction of the spinal cord and nerve endings, as well as fascinating concepts like involuntary and voluntary brain activity and reflex and feedback functions.
Viewers explore the five senses: our eyes, which transform shades of light into the phenomenon of sight; our ears, which convert variations in air pressure into hearing; our nerve endings, which translate contact to touch; and our tongues and noses which give us taste and smell. The sixth sense -- balance -- is also explained.
The Human Body -- The Nervous System offers fascinating insight into how our brain sets us apart from all other vertebrates. It gives us the ability to speak, reason, remember and engage in complex thought, as well as the capacity to feel compassion, sadness, anger, joy and love.
The Just the Facts Learning Series brings you the finest in educational programming and features a fast-paced format that makes learning fun. Other videos in The Human Body series include The Musculoskeletal System and Major Systems and Organs.