What is the vestibular system and how does vestibular processing and movement play a key role in development?
Has your child’s therapist mentioned the vestibular system, but you wonder, “What exactly is it?”
The vestibular system is one of the key foundations of Jean Ayres’s sensory integration theory. Dr. Ayres pioneered our understanding of the pivotal role that movement and vestibular processing play in essential sensory-motor functions. The vestibular system lays the groundwork for our understanding of ourselves, our world, and how they interact to give meaning and purpose to our daily lives.
The vestibular system is “mighty” because it affects all aspects of our daily lives. It helps us develop our sense of self and assists us in our interactions with our environment. Vestibular processing can be thought of as movement and the position of our head in space. Movement and gravity are perceived through the vestibular sense, which allows people to hold themselves upright and maintain their balance. This affects many aspects of development, including, but not limited to: attention, social skills, body awareness, spatial awareness, problem-solving, postural control, bilateral coordination, the use of both sides of our body, sensory modulation, and sensory discrimination.
Evaluation of the vestibular system can come from various methods. The sensory organs for hearing and balance/vestibular system are found in the ear. An ear, nose, and throat doctor or an audiologist can examine the structures of the ear. Therapists can assess the vestibular system through clinical observations of what we call adaptive responses. We can use motor assessments, neuromotor assessments, clinical observations of eye functions (tracking), postural functions, balance, reflex integration, bilateral coordination, spatial awareness, body awareness, problem-solving, social skills, and attention to assess the vestibular system. Evaluation of the vestibular system is ongoing and part of every treatment. As we stated above, the vestibular system is “mighty” because it affects all aspects of our daily lives.
Keys to treatment of the vestibular system focus around one of Dr. Ayres’s sensory integration core principles: an adaptive response to a “just right challenge.” Dr. Ayres’s definition of an adaptive response is “an efficient and flexible response to a challenge or demand that results in a higher level of skill than before the challenge.” – Ayres, 1979. Key treatment principles include the use of a purposeful activity, a child-directed activity that is motivating, the use and influence of the sensory experience, a just-right challenge, and finally, an adaptive response.
Now you have learned a little bit more about our Mighty Vestibular System—what it does, how we can evaluate it, and how we can treat it to improve someone’s level of skills, independence, and success in their daily lives.
-Written by Alicia McCarten, OTR/L. This information was taken from the Medbridge course titled “The Mighty Vestibular System.”