Sensory Integration

As first described by A. Jean Ayres (1989), sensory integration is defined as “the neurological process that organizes sensation from one’s own body and from the environment and makes it possible to use the body effectively within the environment” (p. 5). It is this process that enables us to make sense of our world by receiving, registering, modulating, and interpreting information that comes to our brains from our senses. Ayres is known as a pioneer in the development of sensory integration theory as an approach for occupational therapists to use in treatment. She approached sensory integration with a neurobiologic model and linked the neuropsychological processes to abilities and observed behaviors. As with all theories, sensory integration has a set of assumptions underlying it that propose ...