Under-responsive to Proprioceptive Input

The first time my son managed to climb out of his crib he was not even two years old. I heard a thump and ran into his room to find him sitting on the floor next to his crib. He was not upset or crying. This was just the start of his daredevil antics. He would try and throw himself out of our arms and he loved to climb on top of things and jump off. It was almost as if he couldn't feel pain. He was certainly falling hard enough to get bruises but he would have no reaction. Although I was concerned my husband would reassure me that boys would be boys.

This is not normal

I accepted that he was a rambunctious little boy and did my best to keep him safe. One day my son came out of his room and told me very calmly that his light was hot. I concurred that his light was hot and he should stay away from it. It wasn't until a few hours later that I noticed he had a burn blister on his finger and learned he had touched the light bulb directly. After this scary incident I realized that this was not normal. I scheduled an appointment with an Occupational Therapist to get him evaluated. My son was almost three when he went to his evaluation.

Under-responsive to proprioceptive input

The Occupational Therapist played with and observed our son for about an hour. At one point she was stacking a ramp when our son climbed up and jumped off before she could blink. She did raise an eyebrow at that but she assured us that he was in the range of normal. What she did notice was that he was under-responsive to proprioceptive input. Proprioception is a human sense that is not talked about a lot. According to The American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary, proprioception is the unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself.

Building Bridges Through Sensory Integration explains, "Proprioception is the unconscious awareness of body position. It tells us about the position of our body parts, their relation to each other, and their relation to other people and objects. It communicates how much force is necessary for muscles to exert and allows us to grade our movements. Receptors for the proprioceptive system are located in the muscles, tendons (where the muscles attach to the bone), ligaments, joint capsules (the protective lining of each joint), and connective tissue." Instinctively we may use proprioceptive input to screen out uncomfortable sensations. For example we may tense our body before hearing bad news.

Moving forward - heavy play

Our Occupational Therapist did have some recommendations to help our son moving forward. She advised us to keep him in sports even if he wasn't very good. Since he does not get enough feedback from his muscles and joints, he needs to get that extra sensation in an appropriate and safe way. We help him get his daily quota by doing heavy play. Examples of this are carrying heavy objects; wrapping him up like a burrito and have him struggle to get free; and jumping on the trampoline. When we see him exhibiting risky behaviors we know we need to step up the heavy play. I am happy to have an explanation for his behavior and steps that I can take to help him get the sensory input that he needs to be a happy and well developed little man.

Sources:

http://books.google.com/books?id=v_PhDJZMpR0C&dq=Building+bridges+through+sensory+integration&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=W2zTScKvLtfplQeWzJj7Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result

The American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary

Building Bridges Through Sensory Integration
By Paula Aquilla, Shirley Sutton, Ellen Yack