– development through Sensory IntegrationThe Guyana Autistic Society (GAS), which recently ended its one-week programme at the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre has implemented certain procedures that are used to deal with children with Autism.According to Revathi Narayanan, Psychologist and Sensory Integration Therapist, an autistic person may seem to withstand pain or fear better than the norm and do risky things such as walk on high ledges because he has no fear of falling.Revathi Narayanan, Psychologist and Sensory Integration Therapist in training with an Autistic child. She added that there are different phases and one such is Sensory Integration, which is the neurological process that organises sensory information from our bodies and the environment and allows us to use our body to effectively respond.The Sensory systems and their receptors are: Eyes respond to visual input,Discount NFL Jerseys, ears respond to sound input, nose responds to taste input, tongue responds to taste inputs and skin responds to touch input.She said there are also two (2) more hidden senses which are; Propioception and Vestibular.Propioception are receptors in muscles and joints which respond to heavy work and deep touch types of sensation. Vestibular provides us with information about balance and speed and direction of movement.It was noted of all the puzzling aspects of autism, perhaps none is more baffling than Sensory Integration. Through a complex series of atypical signals/connections in the brain,NFL Jerseys China, a child or adult with Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD) experiences sights, sounds, smells, tastes and gravity in a manner profoundly different from those of typically developing children/adults.For some children with ASD it can result in a hyper-acute sensory system (which gives extra messages to the brain). This leads to sensory overload and resulting inability to focus and also the inability in many cases to process more than one sensory modality at a time.She explained some useful exercises for an ASD child in the home and school environment would be: to satisfy the child’s sensory needs in the home or school environment.Another exercise would be finger painting; which is done in a shallow tray that helps the child to experiment with different textures and viscosities by squirting small amounts of poster paints, shaving cream, bath gels etc. and letting them use their hands to play/make patterns.In addition, fine motor skills that many autistic children have problems with are: buttoning shirts, tying shoelaces, properly gripping pencils and crayons and pulling up their shorts/trousers/underpants.It was noted these are partly due to eye/hand co-ordination but are also due to lack of stimulation to the fingers and fingertips. One solution might be to stick to Velcro shoes and T-shirts but at some point the child has to learn these skills so its better to start early.It was further explained that some useful exercises may include having the child button up a shirt with large enough buttons for grip that he is not wearing,Cheap NBA Jerseys China, using the hand-over-hand technique.According to Dr. Kala Ramnath, autistic children should be encouraged to roll up or down or across different textures for example grass, carpet, roll while wrapped in a blanket, wool or cotton.She added having obstacle course in the garden or the park or even inside the house, line up some obstacles (small stools and tables to climb up and then jump down, hoops to crawl through, items to put in a basket,Jerseys NFL China, etc.,China NFL Jerseys, at each stage instructing and directing the child as to what task is required (jump up, jump down,Cheap Authentic Jerseys, climb over, go around, jump 5 times etc. This can be done with siblings/friends where ASD children can also learn the concepts of turn-taking and waiting.Hopping and running are great for the body movement and synchronisation.Another exercise would be Food Fun, which would entail preparing bread/roti, give the child some flour to mix with his hands so he can feel the texture. Forget about mess, it’s about helping him to feel and understand his body.Give him a small piece of the flour and let him enjoy rolling the dough and cutting shapes with a cookie cutter or a small plastic drinking glass.Anyone that is interested and needs further information can contact the Guyana Autism Society Therapy Centre at the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre on Carmichael Street Georgetown. (Rabindra Rooplall)