Vestibular for Attention and Learning
Do you ever wondering why children who seem to be paying attention fall out of their chair or some children are always in motion?
Within the classroom setting, vestibular dysfunction is rapidly apparent in the student who repeatedly falls out of their chair when trying to pay attention. They are not receiving adequate vestibular signals to allow their automatic postural control systems to keep them seated. Instead, they must rely on focused attention to remain seated and have limited capacity left for engaging in learning.
For the child who is continuously in motion (self-seeking vestibular input) but never satisfies the need, a portion of their vestibular system is likely dysfunctional and not registering the sensation. Therefor, they would benefit from novel and intensive vestibular experiences to positively impact their developing system. Lived experiences show favoritisms toward lateral rotations as described by Kawar (2002; Kawar & Fricht, 2005) for a succinct and effective stronghold in promoting vestibular development in system that is under-responsive or under registering sensation.
Considering that children engage in a variety of vestibular operations throughout their school day (recess, transitions, brain breaks, travel, PE, etc), yet this system remains underdeveloped, indicates the necessity for interventions that offer novel and intensive actions to break into their system and elicit the desired response.
To effectively engage, a child’s postural control must be established, and vestibular, proprioceptive, and visual systems must be in sync (Kashfi et al., 2019). The capacity for sustained, self-directed engagement increases through the maturation of postural foundations and perceptual motor function, giving rise to focused attention, regulation, inhibition, and motor skill development (Kashfi et al., 2019; Mast et al., 2021; Lotfi et al., 2014; Lotfi et al., 2016). This mechanism of change is facilitated through prescribed vestibular interventions with children who present with generally neuro-typical characteristics and an under-responsive vestibular system manifesting in delays associated with motor development and learning (Hitier et al., 2014; Besnard, et al., 2018; Lotfi et al., 2017).
