Proprioception by a Mom/OT

Many years ago my family adopted a child from Latin America. Being a pediatric occupational therapist, I quickly recognized his proprioceptive issues. Many children who have had institutional care don't get enough consistency or intensity of care as infants. This can be one reason for sensory processing disorders. I worked diligently with him and trained my whole family to do so also. This did improve his symptoms of craving impact and pressure, but slowly and incrementally. Our real breakthrough was when he began taking drum lessons. Within 3 weeks I saw almost a disappearance of dysfunctional proprioceptive seeking.

My philosophy in treating children with proprioceptive hypo-responsivity has become that the most therapeutic treatment is a consistent, intensive, daily activity where they need to integrate some visual and/or auditory sensation with the proprioceptive. Drumming is ideal for this because the child needs to respond to a visual cue (the printed music) and he or she receives meaningful auditory stimulation simultaneously with the proprioception. Hope that's helpful to a family out there!