Difficulties of Tactile Sensory System Sensory Integration of Children with Down Syndrome

Abstract

Sensory integration is the organization of the sense for their use. It is a neuro-biological activity that allows the reception and processing of sensory information, which in large quantity arrive to the brain, at all times. The brain's ability to successfully process tactile information allows the child to feel safe and develop a connection with those around they. Children with Down syndrome may have difficulties of sensory integration. Decreased awareness and attention to tactile stimulation is possible, which leads to a reduction in tactile discrimination and difficult manipulation of objects, or to an increased response to sensory stimuli in the form of tactile defense. The aim of the study is to examine the prevalence of sensory integration of the tactile sensory system of children with Down syndrome, and to determine the statistical significance of differences in relation to children without developmental disabilities. The total sample of respondents (N=30) consisted of two subsamples. The first subsample of respondents (N=15) consisted of children with Down syndrome, and the second subsample of respondents (N=15) consisted of children without developmental disabilities. The measurement instrument „Questionnaire for testing tactile sensory sensitivity“ with 11 variables and offered answers of possible sensory response was applied. The Mann-Whitney U test and the Wilcoxon W test at the level of statistical significance of p<0.05 were used to test the statistical significance of the differences between the subsamples of the respondents. The results of the study showed that 66.67% of children with Down syndrome have difficulties with sensory integration of the tactile sensory system. 26.67% of children are hypersensitive and 6.67% are hyposensitive. 33.33% of children with Down syndrome have a mixed type of tactile sensory response. Children with Down syndrome compared to children without developmental disabilities show better results of sensory integration of the tactile sensory system on two variables; „Walking barefoot“ and „Certain types of fabric, seams, labels, belts, cuffs, etc.“. There is a statistically significant difference at the level of p<0.05 between children with Down syndrome and children without developmental disabilities on 5 variables.