Communi-Sense Programme

Communication + Sensory Skills. Children with cerebral palsy, developmental delay, syndromes, that involve neurological damage, autism, deafness, vision deficits frequently have extreme difficulty processing sensory information. Often their response to the world around them is colored by an inability to filter information. The net result is a child who is stressed, for example:

• A feeding problem where a child has poor or limited tolerance of the standard range of food textures may be very aversive to anything coming near or into the mouth. Oral experiences may be unpleasant.
• Or a child may have such a poor image of where it is in space that it will either crave movement or become irritable when moved.
• Or a child may refuse to put its feet on the ground as the texture being experienced/felt becomes unpleasant to the point of aversion.

There are strong links between the motor, sensory, and autonomic systems. All sensory areas like vestibular, tactile, and proprioceptive systems interrelate with the auditory and visual systems. The way these systems relate is disrupted when the central nervous system is immature or damaged. When a person sees, hears, communicates or eats their ability to process and make sense of the sensory information required for the task is compromised.

People who need a sensory focused approach may for example:

• Avoid having their teeth brushed
• Avoid/fight having their hair brushed
• Avoid particular textures of clothing
• Dislike having their face washed
• Dislike being touched
• Dislike finger painting, playdough, sand on their skin, and may not even cope looking at the material
• Gag when foods or some textures get on their hands
• Dislike having clothes pulled over their head, wearing hats or gloves

The Communi-Sense program is planned to focus on a combination of communication and graded sensory stimulation. The basic principal of intervention is to provide as comfortable an environment as possible and to allow sufficient time for the child to adjust. The child controls the amount and frequency of the stimulus once they able to. Intervention is usually from periphery to center and different styles of touch are used e.g. firm, light, and feathery.

(Ref: Sensory Integration- A Theoretical Framework Combining Speech Therapy with Sensory Integration. S. Windeck, M. Laurel)

An example of a session:

Activity: Bubbles and water Play
Sensory	Tactile Visual Olfactory Auditory Gustatory -if mouthing occurs Vestibular
Physical	Balance Grading of movement Eye/hand co-ordination Fine motor Gross motor
Communication	Turntaking Following instructions Sharing Waiting a turn Choosing activities/materials Expressing likes and dislikes Using augmentative communication if needed.

The Communi-sense programme will run for an 8-week block during each school term.

Groups will include a maximum of 10 participants per group.

The cost for the 8-week block is $350.

For further information or to enroll for the forthcoming group contact enquiry@speechlanguagecentre.co.nz or call 021 546 917