The Bottom Line
By A. Jean Ayres, Ph.D., revised and updated by Pediatric Therapy Network; 211 pages. Subtitle: Understanding Hidden Sensory Challenges
If you've read other books on sensory integration and were left wondering about the real nitty-gritty neurology of it all, you're probably ready to read Sensory Integration and the Child. The 22nd-century redesign surely makes it easier to do that -- but that's not to be confused with the material actually being easy.
Pros
- Immensely more inviting in its new spiffed-up presentation
- Parenting tips a welcome addition
- "Making Sense of Sensory Integration" boxes help parents relate to children's struggles
- Photos are charming, engaging, and appropriate to the text
- Still the best way to really study up on the facts of sensory integration
Cons
- The content, though much prettier, is still slow going
- Chapter commentaries meant to bring the material up-to-date are less parent-friendly than the text
- Layout may be a little TOO peppy in places
- Shading behind some pages difficult for those of us with older eyes
- Better for slow pondering than for emergency help
Description
- Part I: Sensory Integration and the Brain
Chapter 1: What Is Sensory Integration? - Chapter 2: Watching Sensory Integration Develop
Chapter 3: The Nervous System Within - Part II: Sensory Integrative Dysfunction
Chapter 4: What Is Sensory Integrative Dysfunction? - Chapter 5: Disorders Involving the Vestibular System
Chapter 6: Developmental Dyspraxia - Chapter 7: Tactile Defensiveness
Chapter 8: Visual Perception and Auditory-Language Disorders - Chapter 9: The Child With Autism
- Part III: What Can Be Done About the Problem
- Chapter 10: Assessment and Intervention
Chapter 11: What Parents Can Do - Appendix A: Chapter Commentaries
Appendix B: Literature Reviews
Appendix C: Therapeutic Equipment - Appendix D: Some Questions Parents Ask -- and the Answers
Glossary
References
Additional Resources
Guide Review - Book Review: Sensory Integration and the Child
There are plenty of books that help you understand your child with sensory integration problems and find solutions that minimize distress and maximize function. Not too many of them really delve into the dense details behind those nervous-system glitches, and there's a reason for that: Easy reading, it's not.
A. Jean Ayres wrote Sensory Integration and the Child some 25 years ago in an attempt to explain it all for parents, and most of that same text is still here, with added parenting tips and expert commentaries -- and a complete redesign aimed at making it look a lot friendlier and more inviting. Every trick in the book designer's toolbox has been employed to spiff this classic up, and if nothing else, it gives you something nice to look at while you try to wrap your brain around the concepts.
In the end, there are books you read because you need answers now, and there are books you read after you've found something that works and you want to learn everything there is to know about it. Sensory Integration and the Child has been and continues to be, even with the makeover, a proud member of the latter category. There's lots of good stuff here, and it's certainly easier to absorb and organize now with all of those boxes and pictures and checklists and tips. But it's much harder work than most SI books, and therefore a better choice when you have some time to read carefully, read again, read a third time, and process at your own pace.
