Module III: Intervention of Sensory and Motor Issues in Individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome

Discrimination

After the nervous system registers the sensory input from the environment and responds to it, then it can begin use this information for the purpose of skill development. This process is called Sensory Discrimination. Sensory discrimination is the processing of sensory input for the purpose of skill development.^1,3 Let’s take each of the sensory systems individually and talk about how we respond to them and what skills they are responsible for developing.

Tactile

Touch input coming in through the skin receptors of the body provides information about the size, shape, and texture of objects. For instance if a person were to put a hand in his or her pocket and feel several different objects, he or she would be able to tell a quarter from a key without the use of vision because of our prior experience of pairing vision with touch. Our hands, therefore, automatically adjust to grasp different objects such as cups, eating utensils, writing utensils, etc. Our feet determine the difference between carpeting and hard flooring or between a round ladder ring or a rectangular step. Our mouths feel the difference between crunchy food and smooth food. We can see from this how important tactile discrimination is for completing activities of daily living and developing functional abilities. ^1,3

Proprioceptive

As we discussed above, proprioceptive input comes from the muscles and joints of the body. It gives us information about the body’s position in space and about the amount of force required when using tools.^1,3 For example, imagine maneuvering a grocery cart through a busy grocery store. Our proprioceptive receptors are interpreting information they are receiving as to how we can maneuver the cart better. We know how hard we have to push on the cart to make it go and how hard we should grasp different objects such as different fruits and vegetables so as not to drop them or smoosh them. All of this happens instantly and we are barely aware of it until something goes wrong and we bang into the bin of apples toppling them all to the ground!

People with Asperger’s Syndrome often seek out heavy work input to their bodies to get more information about where their bodies are in space. Kenneth Hall writes, “I love rough and tumble play and climbing on Chris’s shoulders. It is a bit strange but I also love being squashed tight.”(p.42).⁴

Vestibular

The vestibular sense picks up information from the semicircular canals and gravity receptors of the inner ear. It gives us the awareness of where our head is in relationship to gravity. Therefore it is directly responsible for recognizing the speed and direction of movement. It also contributes to achieving balance and equilibrium, postural stability, and ocular motor skill development (following objects, seeing objects in the periphery, and quickly localizing our eyes to a steady or moving object). Along with the proprioceptive and visual system, the vestibular system is responsible for safe and effective movement throughout the environment.^1,3 When the vestibular system is working adequately, we are able to stand, sit, and move without losing balance and falling over. We are able to scan the environment while we move for obstacles in our paths. We are also able to protect ourselves when we are about to lose our balance and fall. Think about being out on a boat on a moderately windy day with some swells in the water. Your vestibular sense is picking up the direction of the movement of your head and is giving you information about the speed of the boat. While this is happening, the vestibular system is helping you gauge how to move yourself and balance while walking from the back of the boat to the front of the boat. If the boat tips a certain way and your body starts to tip with it, the vestibular system sends signals to help the body right itself and balance itself so you won’t fall over.

Some people with Asperger’s Syndrome seek a great deal of movement in order to get more information into their vestibular systems. Kenneth Hall writes, “I often find it hard to stay still and I have a lot of energy. I do stunts in the hall which I am quite good at. Quite often I don’t stop jumping and twirling around…I also love leaping around the furniture. I like to do this approximately every half hour, or even every fifteen minutes if I can manage it. Sometimes I get dizzy which can be a nice feeling.”(p. 42).⁴

Auditory

After the receptors in the ear pick up different sounds and register them, a person can then listen and attend to a variety of auditory stimuli. This means that a person can automatically listen to someone talking and understand what they are saying while other extraneous noises are happening in the background.^1,3 When the auditory system is functioning appropriately, we can easily take in, understand, and respond to verbal instructions, even when in a busy environment. For example, think of the last time you went to a play. Now imagine that you are at this play and the people behind you are continuously whispering and talking to each other. You’re sitting rather far from the stage, and the actors are not using microphones. You may be finding it very hard to attend to the lines that the actors are speaking.

Gustatory and Olfactory

The receptors in the nose and mouth are responsible for smelling and tasting different food and non-food substances. They are both important systems and can be pleasurable and protective.¹ For example, think about cooking an apple pie. The recipe calls for cinnamon so you look in your spice cabinet and pull out something that looks like cinnamon. The label has come off of the bottle, so you do not know for sure if it is cinnamon or something else that looks like cinnamon such as paprika or chili powder. If your olfactory and gustatory receptors are working adequately, you just have to take a whiff or a small taste to know whether it is paprika or cinnamon. Even something more subtle such as determining cinnamon from nutmeg can be achieved with these senses. You might also want to know if you have put enough salt into your chicken soup or enough garlic into your tomato sauce. The feedback you get from your taste and smell receptors can often tell you if you have seasoned your food properly.

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