Sensory processing disorders (SPD) are impairments in responding and detecting to sensory stimuli. It has been found that 5% of children met the criteria for a SPD. SPD ranges in many different ways and also exhibits a large overlap in symptoms with other conditions such as learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism.
Chiropractic care was included in the care of SPD children and found an improvement in neurodevelopment. In a case study of a 4 year old child who exhibited symptoms of aggressiveness, eating a substantial amount of food and breaking out in blotchy rashes, was diagnosed with PSD. The child then received Chiropractic care and adjustments were only given on the left side of the body in an attempt to stimulate the right cerebral hemisphere.
After 10 weeks of care, the child experienced a dramatic increase in his attention span and ability to focus on one thing at a time. Moreover, his sensory stimulating behaviours, physical outbursts and behavioural outbursts significantly decreased as well. This successful intervention of Chiropractic focused on the power of vertebral subluxation removal for children battling SPD.
Studies show that subluxation results in an imbalance of sensory input into one or both sides of the brain. Then, this imbalance leads to an asymmetric function of the brain, thus leads to the loss of function. The result of the case study of the 4 year old child, Chiropractic care brought major improvement in regards to his quality of life.
Olafsson, J.T.. (2011). Improvement in a Child with Sensory Processing Disorder Following Subluxation Based Chiropractic Care & Dietary Changes. J. Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health., pp. 111-114.
