Sensory challenges and the impact on perceptual skills

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbeyIG7Fz8s&feature=related

Consider the sensory challenges in children with autism:  how may this impact perceptual skills?

Sensory processing is a challenge with many children who have an ASD. The study by Minshew (2008),  reports that a significant proportion of individuals with autism of all ages experience sensory sensitivities. This can lead to developmental, social, and academic delays.  Difficulty processing information, by parent report may be one of the first indicators of autism.  Unfortunately unless sensory  integration dysfunction is severe, people in the community and sometimes even parents mistake sensory processing difficulties with bad behavior, trouble learning in school, or just slow to process.  Four A’ have been developed to summarize and group sensory processing deficits in persons’ with an ASD (Miller-Kuhaneck 2010).  They include arousal, attention, affect, and action.  Arousal is the ability to remain alert and transition between sleeping and waking.  Attention is the ability to focus on something specific without becoming over or understimulated.  Affect is the behavior component and can lead to social adversion, fear, anxiety, emotional lability, or a flat affect.  The 4^th A is action.  This is the goal-directed behavior and when not carried out effectively can lead to clumsiness, decreased fine and gross motor skills, and praxis deficits (Miller-Kuhaneck 2010, page 137).  Each of the 4 A’s is influenced by the others and all interrelate.  If one area is affected therefore a person will demonstrate challenges in all areas.    

Perceptual skills involve an active process of discriminating sensory information, filtering out irrelevant information, and discriminating specific object and environment characteristics by actively exploring  Miller-Kuhaneck (2010 pg. 392).  Dr. Ayres described sensation as  ” food for the brain” (Ayers,J).  It is easy to understand if you are getting "too much or not enough food" and sensations are not being properly processed, that your perception of the world can be misconstrued.   The following is a clip developed by a person with autism to give us a glimpse into his world when he receives too much sensory  information: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPDTEuotHe0&feature=related.   Once children with an ASD and their families understand sensory integration all aspects of their lives can be better managed, therefore improving the quality of life!

References:

Ayres,J.,& Robbins,J. (2005).  Sensory Integration and the Child:  understanding hidden sensory challenges. http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=-7NeFNFswo0C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=sensory+integration&ots=iJfqwfPaMi&sig=181VM3DTQARFhd0kXGkQLe6BMOY#v=onepage&q&f=false

Autism: A Comprehensive Occupational Therapy Approach 3rd edition Miller-Kuhaneck and Watling

Minshew, N. & Hobson, J. (2008) Sensory sensitivities and performance on sensory  perceptual tasks in high functioning individuals with autism. J Autism Dev Disorders, 38: 1485 – 1498.