Vestibular dysfunction is the inefficient processing in the brain of sensations perceived through the inner ear. This may cause problems in incorporating information about movement, gravity, balance and space. The child that has vestibular dysfunction may be late in learning how to crawl and walk and may have problems sitting upright. These children usually appear clumsy. Some children may be hypersensitive to vestibular stimulation and fear emotional feedback to ordinary movement activities (for example: afraid of swings, slides, ramps etc..) Other children may be hypo-sensitive to vestibular stimulation and seek very intense sensory experiences such as excessive spinning, jumping and climbing for example.
Vestibular activities that influence postural responses, eye movements, muscle tone, body perception, language development, balance, behavior and learning:
* swinging * rocking chairs or rocking horses * riding on a scooter board lying on stomach pulling with hands or pushing self backward with hands * rolling up and unrolling in a blanket * spinning on tire swing, merry go round or Sit-n-Spin * sliding down slide at the playground * jumping on a trampoline * jogging
