Common signs of the dysfunction are excess irritation caused by clothing like a tag in the back of a shirt or a toe seam in your sock. Others symptoms include problems with motor skills, eating disorders, and hyperactivity. I often think back 20 years ago and wonder about people in mental hospitals, whether or not this was a piece of their problems or their problem altogether.'' Sensory integration dysfunction was first diagnosed 40 years ago by a Colorado psychologist who recognized a pattern of sensory problems while working with people with learning disabilities. In the past two decades, several SID treatment and research centers have opened around the United States. One of the earliest was OTA-Watertown, which was founded in 1983 and now handles about 200 patients a week, most of them between the ages of 4 and 9 years old.
Treatment takes places in rooms akin to miniature gymnasiums.
They are filled with various types of mats, swings, and different-sized balls, which are used to challenge the SID child. A child with poor motor skills, for example, may undergo something called postural challenges - an obstacle course of padded ladders and padded barrels that help therapists measure balance and coordination skills. Abrams said, ''not just by parents, but by experts, by doctors. My experience is most doctors aren't sensitive to this. Mass. General's Rosenberger said many of his colleagues won't even acknowledge its existence, mostly because there has been no controlled studies of the disorder.