A West Bloomfield center is helping people
who have sensory integration dysfunction.

A relatively new field, pioneered in the 1950s
and '60s by Dr. A. Jean Ayres, sensory integration
therapy is practiced primarily by specially trained
occupational therapists, Spokojny says. Therapy
often involves motor planning sessions, deep pres-
sure massage, playing on padded gym equipment,
drawing with shaving cream and other things to
stimulate children's senses.
It's so specialized that many physicians and psy-
chologists haven't heard about SI dysfunction and,
if they have, may be skeptical.
"Part of our mission is to educate parents,
teachers and the medical system about what's

Left: farad enjoys the bubble ball bath.

Below: farad works with Kathy Dovey
on gross motor skills.

KERI GUTEN COHEN
Special to The Jewish News

A Dermitior

e all know at least one. A child who's just
slightly out of step from the pack.
Maybe he's sensitive about being touched or
fussy about the feel of his clothes or about
the textures of foods. Maybe she's withdrawn and quiet.
Maybe he's clumsy or hyperactive or impulsive.
If their behaviors are extreme, these children usually are
diagnosed with special needs or as having attention deficit
disorder or given some other label.
Yet the majority, whose behaviors aren't as overt, seem to
fall between the cracks, just getting by without any inter-
vention. Often they are bright and beautiful -- and diffi-
cult at home and school.
In her book published last year, Carol Stock Kranowitz,
a Maryland music/movement teacher, used the phrase "out
of sync" to describe these kids. Her book, The Out-of-Sync

Sensory integration is the
brain's ability to interpret
and organize information
from the senses: vision,
hearing, taste, smell,
touch, gravity, position
and movement. Problems
in sensory integration may
result in learning prob-
lems, hyperactivity, dis-
tractibility, poor balance
and behavior problems.

So u rce: T he Abi lit ies Center Inc.

Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Integration
Dysfunction (Perigee), is a practical guide written in lay-

2/19
1999

96 Detroit Jewish News

men's terms expressly for parents and teachers.
The book has been selling well and has generated so
much interest that when The Abilities Center Inc. in West
Bloomfield booked Kranowitz to speak at two workshops
last fall, both filled quickly and waiting lists formed.
Jill Spokojny, president of The Abilities Center, a com-
prehensive therapeutic center specializing in treatment of
out-of-sync children, says there's a growing thirst for infor-
mation about sensory integration (SI) and SI dysfunction.

available for these kids beyond medication," says Spokojny,
who has been building bridges with some local psycholo-
gists and pediatricians. Several have begun making referrals.
Psychologist Ira Glovinsky moved his practice to the
same Maple Road building recently so he could be con-
nected to the center. Glovinsky, who specializes in treating
young children with mood disorders and depression, now
conducts the psychological component of the center's
assessment process.
"I've been interested in SI for a long time ... I felt it was
the missing piece," says Glovinsky, admitting he's unusual
among psychologists, who tend to deal with behaviors
rather than what's underlying them.
"This is the cutting edge of a new form of multidiscipli-
nary treatment. It supplements and complements my work.
OUT OF SYNC on page 98

