We have 5 commonly talked about senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell.  There are two additional senses that occupational therapists will tell you about: proprioceptive and vestibular.

The proprioceptive sense is the sense of knowing where your body is in space.  What? You say.  This sense helps us to motor plan, know how much physical pressure to use, and how to position our body.  Someone with proprioceptive difficulties may run into things, may be unaware that they are squeezing someone's hand too hard, or difficulty remembering their batting stance. 

The vestibular sense is that of motion.  Some kids seek motion, while others avoid it.  Each can be a sign of a dysfunction in the vestibular sense.  Those that seek it, will crave amusement rides, rock, swing, spin and love trampolines.  Those that avoid it may avoid rides, lose balance often, and may have a low muscle tone. There is a range of difficulties in this area, but just to give you an idea.

I recently met with Betsy Aasland, MS, OTR/L who is the owner and founder of Beach Kids Therapy Center.  We discussed the many issues that come through her center from autism to developmental delays.  She works with kids with all kinds of sensory issues.  Some may have a sensitivity to hearing, always covering their ears, while another may have an aversion to lots of different foods (olfactory sense). 

She sees kids along the autism spectrum, offering a interesting philosophy.  Often times a child is seen by one specialist for one thing, and another specialist for another thing.  Her belief is that all the disciplines must work together to treat the child as a whole.  Although this concept is not new, in practice it can be difficult to find someone who follows this theory.  Their team evaluates each child individually, and develops a treatment plan that is specific and concise to their needs.  She believes that in some cases children with autism can recover with properly identified treatment.

In addition to working with kids on the autism spectrum, she also sees young children under 5, kids diagnosed with ADHD, and other developmental delays.  She takes most insurances, including tricare.  She also offers a free screening, if you are wondering if your child could use some help.

I will be touching upon sensory processing in future posts because I feel that this is an area where education is still behind the times and many children are in need of OT services that can assist them in the areas of social skills, education and attention.

Beach Kids Therapy offers two locations.  For a consultation, call (949) 498-5100, or visit their website at www.beachkidstherapy.com.