Health and Physical Education Commons^™

Sensory Integration Dysfunction In Urban Head Start Populations: Why Children Have This Disorder And What Teachers Can Do About It, Helen Frazier

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper addresses the environmental causes of and treatment for sensory integration disorder among children living in urban poverty. Established and current research is examined in order to provide a foundation for the practical aspects of this paper. This paper presents a general description of a Head Start program designed to support sensory integration and includes specific activities that support the tactile, proprioceptive and vestibular sensory systems. It concludes that, as a result of pre- and post-natal environmental factors that interfere with effective sensory integration, many Head Start children are not yet ready to learn to read.