You may hear that sensory integration, which has become one of the therapy methods we hear very frequently today, is applied by special education teachers in our country, or even by a physical education teacher. We don't think, 'So where does therapy fit in this?' Let's explain it this way:
The word therapy in our language means treatment. We are not surprised by this. This is exactly why clients' relatives apply to institutions; they come willingly and often with a good awareness to receive therapy. But the biggest mistake they make is that they have insufficient information about the competence of the person they will receive the service from...
The words treatment and therapy are two words that we use only in the field of health and cannot be reconciled with education. The main aim of sensory integration therapy is to make the central nervous system ready for learning, and each individual's central nervous system differs from each other. Sensations, which are the nutritional source of the brain, can lead to negative behaviors if they are not regulated by the stimuli coming from the environment. At this point, it is necessary to ensure discrimination and warn the system correctly. Completing the learning process is not only possible with warnings. The clients' knowledge, habits and experiences are integrated with these stimuli from the environment. In individuals with sensory integration disorder, many actions, including those we call simple, do not occur because the system is not ready. If the correct information is entered into the system, they will be able to create an appropriate response. Since this entire process is evaluated, anatomy, neuroanatomy, cognitive therapy, neurophysiology, physiology, and if a sensory integration disorder is suspected, the necessary measurement and evaluation must be carried out to reveal this situation, and in order to fulfill all these, it is necessary to be a healthcare therapist. Sensory integration therapy is definitely not the work of an educator, even if it involves education.
Sensory integration therapy, Dr. It started to be implemented by occupational therapist Jean Ayres in the 1960s. While occupational therapists are the only professional group in our country that receives their education within the undergraduate program and is included in the professional law, those who have the equipment we mentioned and who have this Physiotherapists and speech-language pathologists who improve themselves in the field can also apply therapy within the framework of their undergraduate disciplines. One must be inquisitive for correct treatment. Your relative needs an occupational therapist / sensory integration therapist, not a sensory integration teacher.
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