It looked like carpeted toilet paper roll, just much larger (big enough for a large child) and sturdier. I watched it roll from one end of the room to the other, as Carol, my daughter’s OT (occupational therapist) walked next to it, giving it an assisting push when necessary. My three and a half year-old daughter’s voice came somewhere from within the tube, filled with laughter, “Mo! Mo!”

I had arrived early from running an errand and had some time to watch one of Aubry’s therapy sessions.

“How long has she been doing this? I’d be dizzy and sick after thirty seconds.” I felt nauseous just watching her. My daughter rolled by me and I bent down to see her lying flat, arms above her head.

“Mama!”

Carol’s calm answer was, “Awhile, about fifteen minutes. Aubry, that’s enough. We’re going to do something else.”

“No!”

“Come on. It’s time to take a break. You can play with something else.” Carol stopped the tube and helped Aubry scramble out. My daughter had a huge smile on her face.

Aubry quickly made a direct bee-line to the container of dry cool navy beans. She stood steadily over the beans, in search of the minute buried treasures.

“She’s not dizzy. Oh, my gosh, I’d be falling down.”

Carol’s calm voice answered me again, “We’ve been working on her vestibular function. As you can see, it’s not integrated.”

Aubry was still in the first days of therapy and I was just beginning to realize the scope of what she was dealing with. I had read The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder, but it was hard to absorb on the first reading. I intended to read the chapter on the vestibular system that evening.

Vestibular: the sense/system that processes information necessary

for movement and balance, gravitational security, visual-spatial

processing, motor planning, bi-lateral co-ordination, muscle tone,

auditory language processing, and emotional security.

“Can it be integrated?”

“Yes. She needs to swing, and spin and roll so that her system can integrate. Have you seen her spinning or twirling?”

“I haven’t,” I responded.

“Keep an eye on her. She will start to. Encourage her. Do you have a swing set?”

I nodded.

“Go out and swing and spin with the swings. It’s what she seeks. She’ll be trying to integrate her system.”

I felt overwhelmed, but excited. Part of the mystery of Aubry’s disorder was being unveiled. I teared-up and Carol saw it. Offering me a hug she said, “It’ll take some time and a lot of therapy and work at home, but she’ll get better.”

After putting the kids to bed that night I sat down to read what I consider to be the bible on sensory integration, The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder. I read the chapter on the vestibular system, taking notes and coming up with a few questions as they related to my daughter. It was all beginning to make sense. I found myself overcome - with hope.

More Sensory Integration resources:

The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun, Revised Edition: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder

Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Integration Issues

Sensational Kids: Hope and Help for Children with Sensory Processing Disorder

Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight: What to Do If You Are Sensory Defensive in an Overstimulating World

Judy’s essays and articles have appeared in parenting magazines. Her story, “Souls Speak”, is featured in A Cup of Comfort for Adoptive Families: Stories that celebrate a special gift of love. “Healing the Roots of Our Grafted Tree” is featured in the upcoming Pieces of Me: Who Do I Want to Be? (EMK Press, September, 2009). Judy is an editor for Story Circle Network. She is a contributing writer for the adoption network, Grown in My Heart and blogs at The International Mom’s Blog.