In the interview, moderated by the Occupational Therapy Club of Istanbul Gelisim University, current issues on sensory integration therapy were discussed with the participation of Specialist Occupational Therapist Emre Savaş.
Speaker Specialist Occupational Therapist Emre Savaş graduated from Üsküdar University Occupational Therapy Department and completed his master's degree in neuroscience in 2020 with his thesis on "The Effect of Sensory Integration Therapy on the Development of Motor Planning Skills in Children with Autism".
In the conversation, our teacher gave place to his knowledge and experience on the general framework of sensory integration, its working principle and the reasons why it is needed. The reasons and processes of the problem occurring in the lowest step, where the motor development steps in children are connected like a pyramid, affecting all the steps were evaluated. It was discussed that the 0-3 age period is the most suitable period for brain development, and the more experienced this period, the more positive it will affect their simultaneous development. It was noted that the sense of taste develops in the 0-3 age period and that children do not eat certain foods during this period. It was mentioned that we know where our arm is when we are blindfolded that we have body awareness thanks to our tactile (touch) and proprioceptive (muscle-joint sense) senses, which are out of our 5 senses, and some case examples are given. Talking about hyposensitivity and hypersensitivity, examples were given about children's seeking or avoidance of sensory seeking. Information was given on the importance of individual regulation and keeping one's own motivation at a high level.
The event was completed by answering the questions of the students and thanking our guest in the interview, which was held online and included more than a hundred participants.
