sensory integration dysfunction

sensory integration dysfunction A neurological disorder in which there is impaired perception or processing of sensory input to the brain. In sensory integration dysfunction, the processing of information from a number of different senses may be impaired, such as sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste, the sense of movement (vestibular system), and/or the positional sense (proprioception). Symptoms range from very mild to debilitating and may involve apparent over- or undersensitivity to sensory input. It is most commonly diagnosed in children. Treatment is a form of occupational therapy in which special exercises are used, for example, to strengthen the patient’s sense of touch (tactile), sense of balance (vestibular), or sense of where the body and its parts are situated in space (proprioceptive). Also known as sensory processing disorder.