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How
DSI affects child and family life activities
In my experience as an occupational therapist, one
of my greatest concerns is the possible disruption in family life
because of the responses of children with DSI. Two early, important
things a parent expects to do are to comfort and to feed the baby/child.
DSI often interferes with these activities: a child may be very
fussy, unable to self-regulate, and reject the loving touch of the
mother and father. Sensitivity to food textures may make feeding
(milk drinking and/or later solids) unpleasant and unsuccessful.
A child with vestibular insufficiencies may find lying on his or
her stomach "too much work" (the vestibular system is
believed to help muscles move against gravity) and cry when placed
in this position (the head is really heavy to hold up!). If the
child has modulation issues and is fussy, the parents will often
avoid "tummy time" for positioning and play. Stomach lying
is essential for development of head control (an important contributor
to developing eye musculature); taking weight on the elbows and
pushing up on the hands/arms (at 3 to 5 months of age) are crucial
sensory motor experiences that set the shoulder girdle for stability
(the shoulder must be unmoving or stable in order for refined hand-eye
skills to develop) and stimulate movement of the thumb out of the
palm (the precursor to thumb finger movements in grasp). When the
sensory information from these experiences is processed, the body
scheme and a perceptual sense of self become more refined. I believe
this supports the child's awareness of self as the point of reference
for his or her world and is crucial for developing an internal locus
of control (as opposed to seeing forces other than oneself as responsible
for actions and events). We must also be aware that post-institutionalized
children may be deprived of many of these experiences AND may have
had to learn atypical responses (motor and social emotional) in
order to survive. The good news is that human beings are amazingly
resilient, especially children, and respond well to intervention.
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