Multisensory Integration & the Bio-Psycho-Social Approach:

When we learned about multisensory integration, or sensory interaction, I thought it was very cool. We learned about all the different senses: audition, taste, touch, sight, smell - but how do they connect to one another? The answer: each one of them together result in the full image of what we're perceiving. Just one of them alone is just one little piece of the picture.

I thought this was very similar to the bio-psycho-social approach. As we learned in the very first chapter: there are different ways to approach things: biologically, psychologically, and socially. Each one of these things on their own gives us a glimpse into the issue; all of them together gives us the full picture of what's really going on. 

When I was looking for a video or article relating to sensory interaction I found a really cool video: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-jqtlwfw5M.

The video explores how occupational therapy helps with sensory motor issues in young children. They talk about how occuptional therapy is a profession that's concerned with how people do activities - the kind that have meaning in people's lives. For children, this involves learning how to play and communicate with others. When things seem abnormal, children are sometimes taken to occupational therapy to discover why they can't do certain things or why they do certain things, and helping them overcome this. 

They discuss how using a sensory-integrational approach, they "slow the world down a little bit." They learn how to do the things they would normally do, and "set up an environment where they learn in a fun way about their body, how to act on the environment, and be successful and enjoy staying still and moving." 

In the video, you see all the different types of equipment used and how it helps the child realize more about themselves and their body. The skills they learn from these things, they apply them to their real-life experiences.