Jul 06 2009
Parenting Book Review: Sensory Integration, A Guide for Preschool Teachers
Sensory Integration: A Guide for Preschool Teachers
by Christy Isbell and Rebecca Isbell
Gryphon House, ISBN 0876590607
I came across this book when the book I wanted wasn’t checked in at the local library. It gives a really great overview of Sensory Integration Theory (SI) and how children who are sensory seeking or sensory avoiding or under-responding may behave. It breaks down each of the sensory categories (visual, auditory, tactile, vestibular & proprioceptive) and explains them in a way that makes it easy to understand. There are also case studies which describe how children with different types of behaviours act and what they may be seeking or avoiding.
This book is written for a classroom setting, but a lot of the ideas on how to make the environment comfortable to children can be easily translated to the home. There are even instructions at the end of the book on different sensory items that can be made easily which are fairly inexpensive but could help your child a lot.
I recommend this book as a great introduction to Sensory Integration. It really explains how some children’s behaviours can be attributed to sensory input and how some small changes can make a big difference with them. I’m finding that a lot of B’s behaviours are sensory related and now that I understand that, I’m finding ways to help her get the sensory input that she needs to help her succeed.
