What's it like?

A sensory integration room is designed to make the child want to run into it and play ⁽¹⁾. During sensory integration therapy, the child interacts one-on-one with the occupational therapist and performs an activity that combines sensory input with motion ^{(1, 2, 4)}. Examples of such activities include:

• swinging in a hammock (movement through space);
• dancing to music (sound);
• playing in boxes filled with beans (touch);
• crawling through tunnels (touch and movement through space);
• hitting swinging balls (eye-hand coordination);
• spinning on a chair (balance and vision); and
• balancing on a beam (balance).

The child is guided through all of these activities in a way that is stimulating and challenging ⁽¹⁾. The focus of sensory integration therapy is helping children with autism combine appropriate movements with input they get from the different senses.

A parent can integrate sensory integration into the home by providing many opportunities for a child to move in different ways and feel different things. For example, a swing set can be a form of sensory integration therapy, as can a ball pit or a lambskin rug.