Talk:Sensory Integration Dysfunction

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This article was nominated for deletion on September 12, 2005. The result of the discussion was keep.

Contents 1 Links to Holonomic brain theory 2 Is this really a valid description? 3 Comment 4 Edits 5 Scientific? 6 Verified 7 sensory integration dysfunction 8 I have doubts...

[edit] Links to Holonomic brain theory

It's bad form to revert someone without commenting on the talk page. It leaves no room for discussion, and leads to bad blood. That's why I'm placing this comment, to give an opportunity to for consensus to emerge. Please discuss this link prior to adding it back.
brenneman^(t)(c) 11:54, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Is this really a valid description?

Most of this article talks about lower or higher sensitivity. There is no rule that would let the neurotypical sensitivity be the norm and non-disordered while every other sensitivity would be disordered.

There is absolutely no support for the idea that differences in sensitivity would be a result of errors in integrating senses. I think this whole article is original research not backed up by any relevant research and thus should be nominated for deletion.

Response to above comment - Isn't it better to re-write showing more facts rather than delete, as such a page is needed on wikipedia. Can't a bold re-write be done? AmyNelson 22:20 12 Sep, 2005 (BST)

• I think a "controversy" section or something similar shold be added.--Rdos 06:08, 17 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Comment

Please KEEP. People must have access to this info. My son has SID- no matter what it is called. Read & refer to Carol Kranowitz' books. She has shed much light on SID. (preceding unsigned comment was from 207.69.137.26 (talk • contribs), moved from article to Talk page by MCB 23:29, 16 September 2005 (UTC))

[edit] Edits

I made some relatively large edits, but mostly cleaning up and clarifying. I did axe one paragraph that I haven't found any support for. If something needs explaining, let me know, but I don't think I've done anything controversial. 69.205.160.33 01:32, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Scientific?

Is this a medically recognized disorder or something that came up because of the common sensory difficulties of autistics? Neurodivergent 00:22, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

No. "SID" can only be diagnosed by a person holding an Occupational Therapy "qualification", but not by an MD (including, for example, a neurologist) or PhD in Psychology, since it is not recognized as a disorder by either medicine or psychology. Occupational Therapists in many cases earn healthy livings from providing "therapy" for children with "SID", such as brushing them and inducing them to wear weighted vests. Need we say more? For the curious, googling "SID" + "quackery" or "junk science" might prove illuminating. Incidentally, of those 130 peer-reviewed articles "mostly [hah!] in Occupational Therapy journals", how many were in good neurology journals, as one would expect for a purported diagnosis first defined 20+ years ago of a developmental neurological deficiency? The existence of this completely uncritical, largely unreferenced whole-hearted endorsement of one of the biggest crocks in child development "theory" by Wikipedia certainly goes far to help Wikipedia's reputation as the favorite reference material of credulous morons!

[edit] Verified

I added a reference to a text book that has an entire chapter (55 pages) on sensory integration and dysfunction. Is it now considered verified to be able to remove the not verified thingy? --aishel 05:46, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

Bump? --aishel 00:23, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] sensory integration dysfunction

My son was just diagnosed with this. In a classroom of 20 noisy kids, he goes into his own little world and prefers to play alone. He deals with the excessive noise by tuning out. I don't blame him. He doesn't want the other kids bumping into him and if they unexpectedly touch him - which must happen every couple of minutes - he perceives that the other kids are hurting him and it makes him sad.

With fewer kids, or at the playground, he makes friends easy and plays pretty well the majority of the time. He also does a lot of creative play, which Asperger kids do not.

I read that the Neuro Doc thinks that these kids and their family members have anxiety problems. I am a very outgoing person, but I have never liked groups, either. I get a little overwhelmed by the noise in a classroom, too. I don't want 20 kids bumping into me constantly, either. I've never been given an anxiety diagnosis nor has anyone in our family. I think kids who get this diagnosis are probably just extremely sensitive to stimuli.

My son has been sensitive since he came out of the womb. He's always given startled responses to certain noises and as an infant, he prefered to lay down flat on his back when he was really tired. Being rocked or constantly held was too much tactile stimuli for him.

A final thought on the "overdiagnosis of SID" is that kids are being expected to do more and more at earlier ages in this country. When they can't conform, they are taken to Pediatric Neurologists who prefer to give an ADH/DD diagnosis so they can put them on Ritalin or a similar prescription. If we were living in Germany, my son would attend Kindergarten at age 5 for 3 hours a day. He would be expected to play, not to work on the alphabet, do lengthy circle times, read "site" words or sit quietly with books for a half hour. If we lived in Japan, he would start school the spring after his 6th birthday.

He's just turned 5 and the PreK teacher "knows" that he can write his name. As his mom, I know he can't and is just not ready yet.

Research shows that children who learn to read and write at an early age post no gains over kids who learn at later ages. By the 3rd Grade, they all level out. Early dropout intervention programs are created to focus on third-graders now since it has been determined that the kids who drop out of school begin planning to drop out as early as in the 3rd Grade. So pushing kids to do more at earlier ages may actually be contributing to the drop-out rates.

In about 7 months, my son will need to conform to this country's requirements of Kindergarten, where they, in my opinion, create ADHD kids by changing the activities every 15 minutes throughout the day. I am a substitute teacher in the public schools and in our county, the children aren't even allowed to have recess. Try to imagine 6 1/2-hour days with 20+ kids who are not allowed to release their energy in a constructive way. Recess is age-appropriate and if anything, provides more oxygen to the brain for learning.

My son has an attention span better than most adults and can play happily in one spot for a few hours. The constant transitioning in PreK really is a challenge for him.

Hopefully OT will desensitize him to his sensitivities enough that he will be ready for Kindergarten this fall. That's why the diagnosis was important for us. I don't care if it's a scientifically-proven fact that he's not processing anything correctly, I just want to find a way for him to be able to handle the large class sizes that cause him to shut down and withdraw.

Sensitivity is not an enviable trait to have in this country. With estimates of SID at 15+ percent of the population, it doesn't look like the sensitive types are going anywhere anytime soon. Maybe more research will be forthcoming to help sensitive children and adults adapt better. But whether it's called SID or something else, it does exist.

I'd like to comment on that. I was diagnosed around 8 to 10 years of age, and have been living with this condition pretty much all my life. I had been seeing two occupational therapists over the span of around 6 years. Your son having such a diagnosis at an early age does seem rather premature, since children at that age have not developed the coping skills that older kids have-- of course they are sensitive at that age, and I would be concerned if they were not. If you do not believe this is the case with your son, I highly recommend another opinion, because he will develop other problems if he grows with some label on his head.

I do not know all your son's symptoms, but I can tell you that sentitivity is not the only one. What happens to us is that we sort of have a limited capacity for filtering stimulation, so it is not just a matter of feeling too much. When there are too many lights, sounds and other stimulli, I go sensory "deaf" and become confused easily, while other times I feel like I am having an anxiety attack from over stimulation-- this is not just with social situations, because I like to be alone and will still feel the same way. If I were you, observe your son while he his by himself: turn on the TV and a radio, put a lot of lights on, then watch him play. Talk to him after a few minutes, and see if there is a difference when there is not as much distraction. solstice

I think most school systems are pretty bad, just having a forced system is bad. It should be more free, the kids should get to do what interested them in the moment, in the now. Be that outdoor/sport activities, music/arts/theatre or watching movies/reading books, whatever. You learn the best when your interested or having fun, and you cant force someone to be interested or have fun. Our greatest minds were not created by schools, they were created by the persons wielding them, by their genuine interests. Move somewhere your kids arent forced, todays schools are like nazi concentration camps all over again. /w

[edit] I have doubts...

I truly have doubts about the validity of 'SID' as a diagnosis, or even as a recognized syndrome. I'm not going to upset anyone by telling exactly what I think of "SID." However, it is undeniable that there have been numerous books written on SIDs. Articles and discussions on SID. Scientists and doctors postulate and theorize about it... and yes, children are being diagnosed with it. It's out there and widely publicized.

Therefore, when someone wants to know about a topic and they go to Wikipedia, they should find a page describing it in some detail. That's what I did. How can this page be recommended for deletion? There are countless entries for ridiculous concepts whose very existence is dubious. For the reasons in the previous paragraph, this article is vital.71.101.196.29 23:08, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

• This isn't up for deletion anymore. It was put up to vote about a year ago, but as you can see, the article has made great improvements since then, and is of course, here to stay. --aishel 23:34, 26 September 2006 (UTC)