Sensory Integration Disorder and
Sensory Processing Disorder

Proprioception is the ability to sense stimuli arising within the body regarding position, motion and equilibrium. This sense is extremely important when taking about the spine, vertebra and nervous system. The vestibular sense is also intertwined with balance and coordination, and has a huge impact on the function of the nervous system. Where it all goes wrong and we start to see a child express themselves with problems processing and sensing this world is when they are Subluxated, specifically in the upper cervical part of the nervous system.

A Subluxation of C1 and C2 will affect the vestibular nerve, affecting balance and coordination. It will also affect many of the five most common senses, which are innervated by the upper cervical spine. It gets deeper than that, though, because a Subluxation in any part of the spine will cause a decrease in proprioception (or awareness) and will cause an inverse increase in nocioception (or noxious stimuli) that then bombards the nervous system in that specific area causing protection, tightness, dysfunction and even pain.

So, an upper cervical Subluxation stemming from a traumatic birth and a bunch of chemicals (for example) will disrupt our sensory perception which then, in turn, affects our efferent (or motor) control. In simple terms, it is a garbage in, garbage out problem. When the sensory system is not able to function correctly because of stress, imbalance and Subluxation, it produces less than optimal motor function. The INPUT affects the OUTPUT, leading to a prime example.

Dyspraxia: (Please see Sensory Integration Disorder) A label for children who struggle with motor skill development. When understanding issues with the efferent control (or the motor control) of the nervous system, we have to consider how the input is being also being perceived. If the input is not being understood, the output will in turn be affected.

Keep in mind both systems will be affected when in a state of fight/flight, which stunts our development.

Either way you spin it, a Subluxation of the upper cervical spine can affect our ability to speak, read, write and comprehend. The interference on the nervous system disrupts the connection between perception and expression. There is a disconnect between the afferent and efferent nervous systems, which can be expressed with inadequate sensory perception and processing OR poor motor skill development.

Both sensory and motor dysfunction can be improved when a Subluxation is removed.

Sensory Disorders | (828) 505-1584