Before learning of SPD we never understood why our son would love to visit with Grandma and work. Work at vacuuming her floors. ha – I know it sounds strange and we were so baffled, he enjoyed and loved to vacuum. Of course we went right along with it – ha- go ahead, honey – sure – you can vacuum all you want. Grandma appreciates her floors being so clean! While vacuuming he was calm and he did really well -so, why stop him? Right?
After learning about SPD…we understood why vacuuming was so important to our son.
“Proprioception is the process by which the body can vary muscle contraction in immediate response to incoming information regarding external forces, by utilizing stretch receptors in the muscles to keep track of the joint position in the body.
Proprioception and kinesthesia, the sensation of joint motion and acceleration, are the sensory feedback mechanisms for motor control and posture. These mechanisms along with the vestibular system, a fluid filled network within the inner ear that can feel the pull of gravity and helps the body keep oriented and balanced, are unconsciously utilized by the brain to provide a constant influx of sensory information. The brain can then send out immediate and unconscious adjustments to the muscles and joints in order to achieve movement and balance.
Proprioception, also often referred to as the sixth sense, was developed by the nervous system as a means to keep track of and control the different parts of the body. An example that enables one to best understand this sensory system is one showing what happens if this sensory system is no longer there. A normal person is able to move a finger, knowing where and what the finger is doing, with little effort. The normal person could just volunteer the finger to move back and forth and proprioception would make this an easy task. Without proprioception, the brain cannot feel what the finger is doing, and the process must be carried out in more conscious and calculated steps. The person must use vision to compensate for the lost feedback on the progress of the finger.” (www.spdaustralia.com.au)
The vestibular sense, or movement and balance sense, gives us information about where our head and body are in space. It allows us to stay up right while we sit, stand, and walk.
This is so hard to comprehend that all of these years the reason our son has been falling, which we thought was attention seeking, why he seemed to never be coordinated, why he spilled seemingly everything, why he couldn’t learn to move his arms properly and to kick his feet to swim, why it was so difficult for him to pedal and to steer his bike at the same time, why he couldn’t tie his shoes, why he never wanted to play soccer or basketball like his big brother, or why he couldn’t move his pieces on a game-board with us all being nervous the whole board was going to be knocked, why he ran and crashed into things, slammed into things, broke his toys, and so much more was because of his lack of proprioception and his vestibular sense. It all makes so much sense now. What a relief – really. Although poor little, guy, I cannot image how he feels not having the sense of body awareness. We feel unconsciously the gravitational pull – he doesn’t feel it like we do. His foot may be moving forward but, he’ll miss that step -he tries -but, not knowing if he landed it or not….until. Can you imagine? I can’t. How scary it must be.
So, back to Grandma’s house and him working so hard to keep those floors spotless. While he was pushing and pulling that semi-heavy vaccum cleaner he was stimulating his own proprioceptive sense by compressing his joints and working his muscles and regaining his sense of awareness. He relearned the positions of and the sense of his limbs and head and he was always so very calm after vacuuming…and now we know why.
Also, now our son’s OT begins each session with the 2 below and I now understand why:
1) cuddle swing and (helps to organize and regulate the sensory system)
2) joint compression (regains body awareness)
It has made such a big difference learning this “exercise”, if you will, joint compression, to help our son feel more confident and to gain his body control. (The cuddle swing is in the making for his daily use in the house.)
It has been such a blessing learning and understanding our son…even if it has taken 7 years. We hit the top of the mountain and it is now a downward slope for him – easier – even if he has to have a vacuum in hand. 😉
Naturevine SPD 