Sensory Integration Education

The SI Network is a founder member of the International Council for Education in Ayres Sensory Integration. The Network is inspired by and indebted to the work of Dr Jean Ayres, a ground breaking Occupational Therapist based in California, who was responsible for identifying and developing the concept which is now recognised as Sensory Integration.... The theory and application of Sensory Integration focused on the way in which sensory processing and motor planning disorders could interfere with activities and daily living/learning, and might be involved in the treatment of young people with a range of difficulties. Since the 1994s, when Dr Ayres first brought these ideas to wider attention, knowledge and expertise has grown and been built on thanks to the research, teaching and experience of a wide range of professionals in the field of neuropsychology and child development, supported by the encouraging and demonstrable results amongst those participating in treatment regimes utilising Sensory Integration therapies. In the UK, formative work was done by the Study Group on Perception in the late 1970s, the brainchild of two Occupational Therapists from Scotland. At around the same time the Sensory Integration Association, the British Institute for Sensory Integration in the United Kingdom and the Irish Sensory Integration Association were established: each organisation with its own membership and training courses... and inevitable duplication of work. These four groups united in 1994 and founded the Sensory Integration Network UK and Ireland Limited with a not-for-profit educational structure. Membership has expanded from an initial 300 to the current level of almost 2,000, and is open to Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, and Speech and Language Therapists, as well Colleges, Libraries, other professionals, and parents and carers with an interest in learning more about and sharing their experience of Sensory Integration. The Network's courses have gained international recognition, attracting participants ...Read More