Senses in the Spotlight: The Vestibular System---Moving the Body

I knew when Jaimie was very young, probably Sophie's age, that her body needed something extra in terms of movement, I just never had a name for it. She'd hang upside down on the couch--lower body on the couch, upper body hanging off with her head resting on the ground. Or she'd do a Downward Facing Dog-type of thing for as long as I'd let her. But when you tried lifting her off the ground to spin her or hang her upside down, she'd completely melt down. It took us awhile to figure out the fact that hanging upside down or any of such movements was okay with Jaimie as long as her feet were still on the ground.

Before I even knew about The Out Of Sync Child or Sensational Kids even what SPD was (or that Jaimie lived with it), I knew about this mysterious system in Jaimie's body that was supposed to rule how she moved or when or told her how far she was off the ground or when she'd spun around enough. The system in charge of all of these forms of movement, and more, is called the vestibular system and it's our Sense in the Spotlight today.

This will be the first in a series of articles I'll be putting up here on the vestibular system. One of our themes for this month is using music to help our kids with learning and their vestibular issues. This is like our introduction to this system. Next time, we'll talk about important tools to include in your 'sensory stash' to help your child get in tuned with his vestibular system and strengthen it.

A Rundown on the Vestibular System:

This is the “gravity sense” that tells the brain about movement. This sense tells the body whether we’re moving or not and what direction we’re going in. The vestibular system is also in charge of our coordination, balance, and muscle tone, and it helps us to feel safe in our environment.


This system also works closely with the auditory system to help us with balance, coordination, and head movement, and it also relies on the visual system to assist through eye movement, tracking, and focusing. Both of these systems also work together with gravity to help us stay in an upright position and balanced. Receptors in the inner ear (cochlear system) pick up messages about gravity from the world around us and then tell the body how it should be moving or whether we aren’t balanced the way we should be.

As with other systems, children can be over- or under-responsive to vestibular stimuli, or they can bounce back and forth between the two, depending on what their bodies need at a given time. When this system isn’t functioning properly, not only will balance and coordination seem “off”, but vision may also be affected (eg: they may have difficulty focusing on moving objects, they may get 'dizzy' trying to focus on moving objects, or they may struggle trying to read), and they may have trouble with learning language, speech, and writing.

There are several characteristics that indicate vestibular dysfunction (this list combines potential indicators of intolerance of movement, gravitational insecurity, underresponsiveness, seeking, and posture problems). If your child experiences difficulty with his vestibular senses, he may:

• Avoid activities that involve swinging, spinning, sliding, or going upside down (such children may become anxious about recess or gym) or, alternatively, he may crave continuous movement such as hanging upside down, spinning, or sliding, and never seem to get dizzy or bored of such movement;

• Move slowly, cautiously, and avoid taking risks out of fear of falling, or, alternatively, move constantly and take risks that may cause injury;

• Be terrified of heights even if it’s only the height of a curb or stair and scream whenever he’s lifted up;

• Be frightened of elevators or escalators;

• Be greatly dependent upon a trusted adult to help her with most physical activities or chores;

• Be fearful when another person tries moving her body or tipping her backwards (eg: swimming or washing hair);

• Seem obsessed with keeping environment, and the people in it, the same way she’s used to;

• Repeat motions such as shaking his head, rocking, jumping, or shaking;

• Need intense movement like jumping on the couch/bed, spinning in a swivel chair, staying in an upside down position, stomping feet, or spinning around on the floor on his knees;

• Be unable to feel when her body is falling and not try to protect herself from injury;

• Show difficulty with keeping his balance or taking part in activities in which he doesn’t use both feet at the same time, such as riding a bike, standing on one foot, jumping jacks, etc.;

• Have what’s called a “rag-doll” or “wet noodle” body when picked up—muscles seem to have low tone;

• Have a loose hand grip and show difficulty with using pens/pencils, scissors, eating utensils, brushing teeth, etc. or, alternatively, she may handle objects with too much pressure to make up for not being able to get a good grip (Does she press too hard with pens/pencils? Squeeze the family pet when holding it? etc.)

• Tire easily during activities or outings;

• Have poor gross and fine motor skills;

* Often feels sick in the car (or train) or, alternatively, feels calmness with such movement;

• Struggle with games requiring him to cross his midline (some examples would be games like “Simon Says” or song/movement activities like “Head-Shoulders-Knees and Toes”);

• Struggle with organizing, carrying out activities requiring many steps, or with absorbing things they’ve just learned in order to be able to go on to something else;

I remember once not too long ago, we got a computer dance game for Jaimie. It’s similar to the popular Wii games but plugs into the VCR and is geared for younger children. There was a mat with arrows pointing up, down, left and right, and Jaimie had to step on the arrow when she saw it on the screen to “beat” the game. She seemed very excited to try the game, because she loves both music and dance. But once the game began and the arrows scrolled up the screen, she wasn’t able to watch the arrows, coordinate her feet, and stomp at the right time all at once. Her body seemed to get tangled up and then she crumpled in a ball on the floor, crying, and said, “I can’t do it, Mama—there’s too much to do. My feet aren’t listening to my eyes.”

This system, along with the proprioceptive system, aren't as well known and often considered the 'invisible' issues our kids deal with until they are properly assessed. My Jaimie has rather severe vestibular issues, which we never realized until her reassessment this past fall. We were focusing on her more obvious tactile, auditory and visual issues and didn't realize how much help she needed in this area. For the remainder of this month, we'll be giving you some tips and suggestions on how to help your child cope with his vestibular needs, including using music---I HUGE passion of mine with Jaimie. In fact, it's our theme of this month's issue of "The Gift"--using music to help with learning. (So be sure to sign up or sign someone else up! It'll be a GREAT issue, I promise you!)

Be sure to come back for our next segment! =)

Part of the above segment is from Chynna's upcoming book, "At-Home Strategies for Managing Sensory Processing Disorder: A Guide For Parents".
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A phenomenal resource to learn more about the Vestibular system is http://www.vestibular.org/. This site has everything you need to, or want to, know about the vestibular system, the various disorders that can affect it and wonderful resources, including exercises, to help cope with vestibular difficulties.