This question is often asked but not so easy a question to
answer. The words “discriminating tastes”
bombard us on our TV’s, radios, iPads and billboards. Implying that if
you ONLY do this ONE thing you will be a
discriminating connoisseur of ______________________________your whatever.
Such popular definitions can lead to Wishful thinking that
can be all at once falsely uplifting, defeating, damaging, misleading, and
often incorrect and for the layman, new parent, inexperienced care giver
leaving in its wake a pile of misconceptions that leaves a parent truly trying
to help her child but who is currently overwhelmed by an avalanche of theories
and words that are pouring over the parent turning this barrage of information
into a Mother’s Guilt Trip Tsumani.
So let’s pedal back to some very basic definitions of
perception itself before with deal with the over-lay of perceptual interactions
that eventually emerge as what is commonly referred to as "Processing”.
Without wanting to go too deep into the neurology of the eye
the structures within the brain it touch, overlaps and influences lets think of
perceptual processing as different instruments in an orchestra. Like an
orchestra the perceptual system has its “players’ and functions and only when
they all work in harmony do we get the real music of understanding. (i.e. cognitive understanding)
First Chairs always go to the basic discriminators—theses guys let us all know we are here
and more or less in the “seats” we should be in.
Continuing with the "Orchestra Metaphor" think of the brain as described below (an oversimplification, of course)--
Supporting the First Chairs Discriminators and the General Memory players. These folks remember the most of the music
but are really good at playing it immediately after hearing it.
The next section is for gets everyone in their right place
and lets them know when they out of their proper place; visual spatial relationships. This section may have the
least orderly section with chairs pointed all which ways, but this is the group
that has to sound as ONE no matter which way their seats are turned and whether
or not their seats turn, straight or backward. All there players have specific relationships with each
other.
Our next section has a lot of similar instruments some
larger, some smaller but all making similar and/harmonious sounds this included
reading their music and those of the other guys so that they can stay on track
with the other players. In visual
perceptual terms these are your Visual
Form Constancy players.
Then comes Percussion loud when the need to be, soft when
required that put the accent marks on well placed melodies while all the other
music is going on, these players are your Visual
Figure Ground Players.
But last but not least a real orchestra needs a conductor
and that is your Visual Closure
System. Just like the conductor
can hear the slightest from the back as clearly as he does with those from the
front, the Visual Closure System organizes what is only partially seen and
brings it forth as a full and integral player for our everyday “orchestra” call
LIFE.
And it happens in nano-seconds, automatically as if it is on
“auto-pilot. That is for most of us.
When these systems are not working (for whatever reason research as not as yet
clearly defined) the child experiences life out of sync, discordant and at
variance with their environment which may include peers, Teachers, therapists,
etc. producing and child that may outwardly appear to be argumentative, have
poor impulse control, conflicted, harsh to self and others all the while
displaying a self that is inharmonious to both self and others.
Think of yourself with really good table manners invited to
eat dinner, elegantly laid out and served on the main deck of a cruiser
crossing the over to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.; a 2-hour almost always
a smooth as glass trip …….but…..expected
rough currents appear the plates shift the food spills and after initial shock
and dither the repair mode sets in.
Imagine time after time knowing how the music should sound,
being invited to the best seat at the best table and then never getting there
because “something happens’. For little
children the “something that happens” is all too often incorrectly absorbed as
their fault and so they try with their limited repertoire of management
behaviors to try to “fix it” and it gets worse and their self-esteem plummets
producing an array of behaviors from isolation to acting out.
While indeed sensory integration is a huge part of out
lives, there are other related systems that must be regarded as well.
Independently and in conjunction within our neuro-muscular cognitive
neighborhood called our body. We all are
the sum of many parts that create the whole of our unique selves.
Children are no different. Their impulse behaviors may not
be as mature, their ability to delay gratification may be more frail, they may have
all their emotions right on top and for the most part, their “honesty button”
is always on. Subtle is on their
vocabulary list and “wait” is a concept readily used, often selecting more
reactionary behaviors.
With computers giving us “popcorn brains” and fast food
getting even faster, it is no wonder that we gravitate to fast answers as well.
However with developing children with sensory motor perceptual growing
constantly going on sometimes a slower more careful look both by observing and
testing can give the best result for formulating a protocol that will help your
child express their potential, ease into learning, and most of all develop a
healthy curiosity that stimulates a life-long habit of wanting to learn.
The following checklist is provided for parents and teachers
to begin the conversation IT IS NOT A DIAGNOISTIC TOOL. If more that 2 items in
each are noted a full occupational screening is advised. Check items “yes” or
“no” ONLY (“well he does do this
sometimes would be counted as a “no”) Remember we are looking for mastery,
skills done without assistance and with proper form.
It can be used in part with a formal screening or as a
checklist for teachers and related educational professionals.
CHILDREN'S SPECIAL SERVICES, LLC DEVELOPMENTAL CHECKLIST
SELF CARE
__Problems taking on/off
coat
__Cannot tie shoes
__Cannot manipulate
buttons, snaps, zippers
__Unkempt
|
__Needs reminders to keep
track of belongings
__Rejects certain fabrics
__Always wears socks,
resists bare feet
__Habituates wearing 1-2
specific outfits
__Other__________________________
|
MOTOR SKILLS
__Poor motor learning (new
skills)
__Mixed and/or no hand
preference
__Poor handwriting
__Frustrated with fine
motor tasks
__Difficulty copying from
desk/board
__Writing “floats” off the
writing line
__Poor gross motor (Running,
jumping, skipping)
__Looses place when
reading or copying
|
__Poor grasp (awkward use of pencil/crayon)
__Poor writing pressure
__Works unusually slowly
__Cannot make numbers in a column
__Cannot color inside the lines as needed
__Poor reproduction of shapes/forms/
designs
__Reverse letters or numbers when reading or writing
__mix up his/her right and left sides
__Other__________________________
|
TASK BEHAVIORS
__Difficulty staying
focused
__Disorganized
__Over-organized
__Overly dependent on teacher/parent
__Forgets homework/bookbag,
etc.
__Poor sequencing skills
__Sloppy desk/notebook
__Easily distracted
__Gets easily into a
“white noise space: so he startles with unexpected noises.
|
__Difficulty initiating
tasks
__Difficulty transitioning
from one skill/task to another
__Needs instructions
repeated
__Gets confused easily
__Habitually late coming
in from activities
__Difficulty skimming page
for information
__Poor spelling
__Refuses to get hands
dirty
__Gets upset if too many
papers, toys in personal area
__Cannot stay with task
for any long period of time
__Other__________________________
|
SOCIAL
__Not many or few friends
__Complains that “someone
hit” them
__Difficulty with
cooperative tasks
__Multiple somatic
(physical) complaints
__Poor eye contact when
speaking to peers, adults, new acquaintances (circle one)
__Limited or absent
awareness of ambient social cues (i.e. facial expressions, etc.)
__Needs teacher to soothe
so that child can nap
___Stays to the fringes of
the group instead of interacting with peers
__Talks or gestures to
peers while eating
__Shares toys is able to
give up a toy easily and go on to another one with minimal disruption
__Withdraws when an
unfamiliar person enters area/class/playground etc.
__Messy
eater
|
__Hesitant to interact
with peers
__Problems lining up with
classmates
__Difficulty discerning
personal space
__Poor expression of
thought, ideas, and feelings
__Overly sensitive to
corrective remarks (criticisms)
__Avoid talking out in
class, and/or participating in discussions
__Easily frustrated
__Speaks but only to 1-2
people otherwise very quiet or not speaking at all
--We work well briefly
however gives up when first “mistake’ is made
__Not understand jokes
__Waits to watch the
actions of peers before entering into an activity
__Has a hard time
accepting “no” from teacher
__Has to have his name
said many times before a reaction is elicited
__Difficulty reading body
language or facial expressions
__Refuses utensils
|
The
checklist was designed and created by Susan N. Schriber Orloff, OTR/L, FAOTA from various sources and may be use with
written permission and source recognition only .It is the intellectual property
of Children's Special Services, LLC
