The Balance and Sensory Integration program helps a child's sensory systems work together more efficiently by improving balance while simultaneously coordinating balance with our other sensory systems.   

We learn about the world through our sensory systems of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.  Every waking moment, our sensory channels simultaneously receive and process information to create a seamless picture of the world that is our perception of reality.  Recent research indicates that when we store a memory in long-term memory, we simultaneously store information about that experience from our different sensory channels in different areas of the brain.  Correspondingly, when we remember that specific long-term memory, we retrieve information from those separate sensory areas of the brain where parts of the memory were originally stored and combine them into a single integrated memory.   

However, the sensory systems of children within the the autism spectrum do not synchronously and efficiently work together to receive and store information from the outside world.  Some sensory channels work inefficiently and the timing for receiving and storing information is typically slower in one area of sensory input than another.  For example, a children in the autism spectrum may process visual information faster than auditory information.  This means that when sensory information comes in from the outside world, if sensory channels do not store information at the same time, the information received from a single event will be more disconnected and may not be retrieved as a single memory.  Sensory processing difficulties lead to the development of more disorganized and less strongly cross-linked neural networks to store, retrieve, organize, and make sense of information.  

One way to integrate and synchronize the sensory systems is to develop the balance system.  The balance system in the brain, called the vestibular system, is the master sensory system that coordinates all the other senses.  The first sensory system to develop in the womb, the vestibular system provides information about the three-dimensional world and gravity, which in turn provides a framework into which all other sensory data are integrated.  Improving balance stimulates the development of neurological cross connections to the other sensory systems.   Having the children do balance exercises that combine multiple senses improves the ability of the child to receive more accurate and complete information about the outside world.  The end result is an improved ability to perceive, process, react to and organize information - leading to an overall higher level of functioning.

In the Balance and Sensory Integration Program, the child is first given beginning tasks to master.  Once these tasks are mastered, the program then guides you to increase the complexity of the tasks.   As complexity of the balancing tasks increase, there is a corresponding increase in the neural involvement required in the brain.   This has the effect of constantly building and creating more extensive neural networks. Because the neural networks that are created in the process of improving balance are the same ones that are responsible for the resolution and efficiency of the brain's visual, auditory, motor, and sensory processes, balance activities improve the efficiency of the brain.

An instruction manual and video demonstrating every exercise is included.  However, to see improvements, you must make the commitment to have your child spend 10-15 minutes twice a day doing this program, every day.  

The Balance and Sensory Integration Program is being made available to parents for the first time this year!  This affordable program brings integrative therapy within the financial reach of most  parents and professionals.  The kit comes with an easy to use instruction book, video and CD ROM illustrating every exercise. 

Balance and Sensory Integration Kit Contents

How to Use the Balance and Sensory Integration Program

The following concepts must be understood and followed in order for the balance and sensory integration program to be as effective as possible.  Maximize the benefits you may receive by adhering to the following very important parts of the program. 

First Time You Use The Program

We suggest the first thing you do, after thoroughly reading the instructions, is for you and your child to take the first few tests in the test booklet. This will demonstrate to you both the power of this program. When you see this for yourself, you will be highly motivated to adhering to the below very important concepts.

Frequency of Activities

The frequency and consistency of activities is crucial to maximizing improvement. The more often you perform activities the better! To get the most out of the products, we recommend that you use them every day, preferably for 10 to 15 minutes in the morning and 10 to 15 minutes in the afternoon or evening (just before doing homework is an ideal time to do the activities). Make this a part of you or your child's daily life, just like brushing your teeth. You can take comfort in knowing that this frequency will not go on forever, as you will see in the next section below. But we just cannot stress enough the importance of doing the exercises everyday starting right now! We realize that it is not always possible to do the exercises twice everyday, but do the very best you can. If you miss a day, just jump back in as soon as you can. Quite often, many see positive benefits right away and it may be tempting to slack off. Don't! The cumulative effect of attaining higher levels of balance can be astounding. It is better to use the program for shorter periods of time more often as opposed to a longer period of time less frequently. Choose a schedule that works for you and work to maintain it.

Length of Program

The longer you use the Balance and Sensory Integration Program, the better! Our experience indicates that people can start to experience lasting improvement in as little as 12 weeks of daily use. Many people use them for 3-6 months and are happy with the improvement they have achieved. Many others use them on a continuing basis.

Variation of Activities

Include as much variety as possible into your training routine. Use each of the different pieces of equipment you have. Don't feel as if you have to use each piece each day. If you are only doing 15 minutes of activities a day then it would be impossible to use each piece effectively in that amount of time. Feel free to use different pieces on different days. This will add variety to the program and keep the training from becoming a chore.

Balance Difficulty

The Balance Board is designed to allow you to increase or decrease the difficulty of the board. If the activities become too easy at one balance level, then rotate the rockers and increase the difficulty. The ability to constantly challenge the level at which you can balance while doing the activities makes The Balance and Sensory Integration Program more effective.

Maintaining Control

This is very important and cannot be overlooked. Use the setup information provided to make sure you are using the equipment properly. Make sure you position the feet on the Balance Board correctly. When you do the activities make sure you can do them in a controlled manner. The ideal balance difficulty level is one where it is not too easy to balance, but not so hard to balance that you can't concentrate on the activities. Make sure you are in control of your body. Lack of body control is your brain's way of telling you that it can't keep up and is suppressing information that it cannot process. Work up to the more difficult activities and balance levels gradually.

The Theory Behind this Program

Balance as the Central Component of Sensory Integration

Because the vestibular system plays such a key role in the foundations of perception, balance problems can cause many, seemingly unrelated problems in brain function.This program can address a wide range of symptoms by working to improve this basic building block of brain function.

Multi-Sensory Integration

Human beings have five senses, but live in one world. In order to form a complete and accurate picture of the world around us, we need to integrate the information from all of our senses, so that we can match the sound of a jet engine with the small silver streak overhead, or small round object we feel with our hands with the white baseball we see with our eyes.

The three-dimensional model of the world provides the framework into which all other sensory data must be integrated. Because the vestibular system is the basis of this three-dimensional model of the world, the effectiveness of the various senses in communicating information accurately to the brain is limited by the precision of the vestibular system.

Because the sense of balance provides the framework necessary for sensory integration, this program can help people improve sensory integration.

Spatial Awareness

Spatial awareness requires that we have a model of the three dimensional space around us and it requires that we can integrate information from all of our senses. 

Studies have suggested a link between a well-developed sense of spatial awareness and artistic creativity, as well as success in math. It can also be important in the development of abstract thought. The ability to organize and classify abstract mental concepts is related to the ability to organize and classify objects in space. Visual thinkers, in particular, will tend to use their visual imagination to organize abstract thought.

Because spatial awareness is so important in all activities of human life, from the most basic to the most advanced, deficiencies in spatial awareness can hold people back from achieving their true potential. However, because spatial awareness requires integrating the information from the different senses into the three-dimensional model of the world provided by the vestibular system, activities which refine the vestubular system and develop sensory integration can refine all aspects of brain processing.

The Balance and Sensory Integration Program can help children to develop and hone their spatial awareness, and sensory integration, helping them to improve their overall level of functioning.

Integration Between the Two Hemispheres of the Brain

The human brain is composed of two hemispheres, which function like two networked computers. The left hemisphere receives motor and sensory input from the right side of the body, and the right hemisphere receives input from the left side of the body. When we bring the two systems together and begin the task of developing harmony and synchrony, the first step is to achieve an efficient balance between the two sides of the brain.

Because most mental processes involve both sides of the brain, integration problems between the two hemispheres can result in inefficiencies in brain processes. Thus, some children with reading problems, central auditory processing disorder, language delay, and other learning problems may be suffering from a lack of integration between the two sides of their brain, as appears to frequently be the case in autism.

Lack of integration between the two sides of the brain can become a vicious circle. A child who has a learning problem may suppress one eye. This can be a symptom of lack of integration between the two hemispheres. But because suppressing one eye means that the child reads with one eye only, the brain networks to support the other eye will become further disorganized through lack of use, exacerbating the lack of integration.

Since the left hemisphere of the brain controls movements on the right side of the body, and the right hemisphere of the brain controls movements on the left side of the body, a person can refine the integration between the two sides of the brain through activities involving both sides of his body. These movements bring the two systems into balance.

One of the most significant points on a child's perceptual and motor skill development continuum is the establishment of a synchronized cross pattern creep (crawling). This is the point where both sides of the body and both hemispheres of the brain are operating within the framework and under the control of a consistent timing system, a system in which the standards for measure for both sides of the body are matched perfectly. For the left leg to move forward synchronously with the right arm and for the same pattern to occur when the right leg and left arm move, requires that the time and space increments for both sides of the brain be in phase.

As the child begins to learn to walk, the sensory integration and balance requirements become much greater. In order to achieve synchrony the child must achieve a higher level of integration between his two sides. The most efficient possible walking pattern for a human is the one in which the two arms are swinging as pendulums counterbalancing the movement of the legs and setting the rhythmic pace for the total movement pattern.

Successful integration between the two sides of the brain is necessary for improving all brain processes, including those for reading, writing, academic achievement, motor skill development, and many others.

Brain Timing/Reaction Time

Brain timing is very closely related to integration between the two hemispheres of the brain.  Successful integration of the two hemispheres of the brain cannot be accomplished apart from efficient brain timing. The most basic element of a computer chip is its clock. The clock speed of the chip is the most significant measure of its ability to process information.

For the brain to process information more efficiently, the processing speed must be faster. Because slower brain processing speed is manifested in motor skill deficiencies, a simple concept will provide a framework for analysis of movement: the greater the balance requirements, the faster the brain must process information provided by the various senses and the faster the brain must process the interaction of the two hemispheres of the brain.

When we observe movement, we can indirectly observe the efficiency of brain processing. Smooth, coordinated movements are the result of precise timing and good integration between the two sides of the brain. Suppressions, rigidity, and uncoordinated movements are the result of bad timing and faulty integration, and are indicative of poor brain processing ability that can manifest itself in learning problems, and learning disabilities, poor academic performance, and many other struggles in life.

These inefficiencies resulting from poor brain timing or slow reaction time may improve with activities that improve the timing processes in the brain. Activities that require the individual to move both sides of his body synchronously are dependent upon the timing resolution in the brain. Brain timing can be improved by engaging in these types of activities.

Varying the Difficulty Level of Activities

As the difficulty level of an activity increases, the brain must utilize more neurons to achieve the precision necessary to complete the activity. For example, throwing a ball and hitting a small target at 8 meters as opposed to 4 meters requires the brain to involve sixty-four (2 ⁶) times as many neurons to achieve the same degree of accuracy. Therefore, increasing the difficulty level of a task increases the brain integration (neural involvement) needed to complete the task.

If a person has difficulty executing a particular sensory integration activity, this may be because the activity is more complex than their brain is currently capable of organizing to complete. In order to avoid a crippling sense of failure, then, everyone should start out with activities that are simple enough for them to perform, and gradually increase the difficulty level. At each stage, the neural networks in the brain will improve their organization, which enables them to be stretched to reach the next level.

As the difficulty level of an activity increases, it requires increased spatial awareness, enhanced integration between the two sides of the brain, and more precise brain timing.

We understand the importance of being able to vary the difficulty level of activities, and have designed the Balance and Sensory Integration Program with the goal of providing a set of activities that can help people at every level.

Sequencing

Studies have validated the premise that attention deficit disorder is a reliable predictor of motor skill deficiencies. Additionally, it has become apparent that approximately half of all children with developmental coordination disorders suffer from varying degrees of ADHD and that children with motor skill disorders experience restricted reading abilities. Further studies have indicated that a variety of motor skill and sequencing abilities are necessary for interactions with others and the environment. Children must be able to construct complex patterns in order to carry out multistep activities both at home and at school. There is significant interaction between the neural networks involved in ADD/ADHD and those involved in the regulation of brain timing and motor skill and planning.

An individual’s ability to improve motor skill efficiency and brain timing impacts his or her ability to sequence. It is apparent that these abilities are necessary for academic achievement and that the failure to master these abilities is a significant inhibitor of academic success. Activities that are designed to address the inefficiencies in the neural networks that are involved can be very helpful in changing the physiological conditions in the brain that are contributing to the difficulty.

The Balance and Sensory Integration Program  may help to improve brain sequencing.

Binocular Teaming

Binocular teaming is the ability of both eyes to work together to provide accurate information to the brain. Binocularity and stereopsis (the working together of the two eyes in providing different views to the brain which are integrated into one image) are important visual processing skills and are responsible for providing depth perception. These visual perception skills are necessary in order to perform a variety of visual tasks such as tracking, fixating, converging, and visual motor integration. These tasks are important for reading, writing, and functioning in the classroom or workplace. Inability to perform these tasks well has a detrimental effect on an individual’s ability to function in society. It also has a tremendous negative effect on children in the classroom.

In order to deal with binocular deficiencies it is important to become involved in some type of vision therapy. There are many types of therapies available which help to address these problems. When choosing vision therapy it important to remember that vision is a brain process of which the eyes are only a part. It is also important to remember that vision is not a process unto itself but is integrated and dependent upon the vestibular system.  A variety of vision problems occur when both eyes do not work properly together. For instance, one eye might not be processing as much information as the other, one or both eyes may not focus at a specific point due to over or under-convergence, and there may be vertical or horizontal alignment problems that cause the aim of the eyes to be incorrect.

Since the visual system is integrated with the vestibular system or sense of balance, the Balance and Sensory Integration Program  has products and activities that stimulate balance while also integrating the visual system to improve binocular teaming and visual processing.

Proprioception

The brain constantly engages in a process designed to position our bodies based upon the information it receives from our senses. This ability is made possible because of the existence of proprioceptive processes. Proprioception can be explained as the awareness of movement and body position. Sometimes proprioception is defined as the body’s joint positioning system. Effective proprioceptive processes are dependant upon the ability of the brain to integrate information from all of the sensory systems including feedback from muscles, joints, vision, the tactile sense (touch/pressure) and the sense of balance or vestibular system.

Joint stabilization is the ability of muscles that have been appropriately activated to stabilize a joint. The process of joint stabilization/joint positioning is critical to athletic performance and injury prevention. Often times an athlete who has suffered multiple ankle injuries will assume that he or she has ‘weak’ ankles. This may not be the case considering the fact that the athlete is probably in excellent physical shape. The more likely scenario is that the joint positioning systems (proprioceptive processes) that the brain uses are not positioning the joint properly in the midst of athletic movements. Over time, this poor joint positioning will lead to injury. By improving the brain’s ability to integrate all the information being received from the various senses and formulate appropriate movement responses the chances of poor joint positioning and injury are reduced.

Balance activities that integrate the visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile, and vestibular senses have the effect of improving the proprioceptive processes that help to reduce injuries and improve performance. These improvements can be realized because sensory integration activities increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the neural processes in the brain. As neural capability and efficiency increases, a variety of other benefits are realized. Timing improves, vision improves, sense of balance improves, mental processing improves, reaction time improves, proprioception improves. In short, athletic performance improves.

Because balance therapy is so foundational to efficient brain processing, activities that improve brain processing will improve performance in both academics and athletics. This is important for the student athlete because the Balance and Sensory Integration Program  provides a program that will improve academic success and athletic performance at the same time.

The History of the Balance and Sensory Integration Program

Many of the parents in those programs were scientists associated with the NASA space program.   Since the 1960's, NASA has supported and funded some of the basic scientific research that has attempted to understand how the sense of balance, or vestibular system, operates, and how balance effects brain processing and sensory integration. This research has changed our understanding of how the brain works. It has shown that activities that involve balance can have a significant effect on visual processing, reading, and learning efficiency and academic performance.  The insights of the parents at NASA helped to direct Dr. Belgau's attention to the effect of balance on learning processes and, to the development of the Belgau Balance Board.  

Since then Dr. Belgau has observed the effect of activities done on the Belgau Balance Board with his own children and with children in many school programs in this country and in Japan. The Balance and Sensory Integration Program is the result of Dr. Belgau's observations and interactions over many years.   The program includes those materials and activities that Dr. Belgau has found to be the most effective in showing a consistent improvement in reading, academic achievement and developing intelligence.

Additional Theory

When a person views an object through a prism the object appears to shift its position in space. This is because the rays of light that bring the object into the visual field are bent as they pass through the prism. The result is that the object appears to be in a different spot than it actually is. The object doesn't really move, it only appears to move. This experiment demonstrates one of the fundamentals of visual processing. What we see is sensed by the eye, processed by the brain, and projected into space. The accuracy of our visual perception, the extent to which it matches reality, is dependent not only upon the acuity of our vision, but also on the efficiency of the brain processes that created the images we see. It is important to understand that vision is a brain process of which the eyes are only one component.

The objects and images we see in the space around us are created in the brain using a complex system of neural networks. Neural networks are the mechanism the brain uses to process information. They are made up of many neurons within the brain that transmit information by emitting small electrical impulses. As we look at an object, the brain uses the information gathered by our eyes to begin the visual process. The objects that we see with our eyes are only a part of the information our brains use to duplicate the images in our brain and give them meaning. Data stored in the motion processing and memory systems of our brains provides a large part of the information our brain uses to create the images we see.

The system that the brain uses to project the images we see as well as determine the motion of the object in the space around us is based upon an inertial gravitational process. That is to say that the brain goes through a complex series of events as it processes the information we see and uses the force of gravity to make those determinations. It can best be explained using the following analogy.

As a quarterback, in the game of football, receives the ball from the center and drops back to pass, his brain must begin to process and plan a complex series of events. The quarterback must locate the receiver and determine the receiver's rate and direction of motion. He must plan a trajectory for the football, an intercept point for the ball and the receiver, and the amount of energy he needs to impart to the ball. He must maintain a high degree of balance throughout the throwing motion. In order to do this, his brain must compute a counter-balancing movement in order to compensate for the missile launching or throwing motion. All of these calculations must be completed by the brain prior to any action taking place. This is not only a visual process. His ability to execute such a complex series of actions depends on many different brain processes which have been developed over many years and which must work together effectively in order for the pass to be completed.

As the act of passing the ball is executed, the vestibular system (sense of balance), the visual, auditory, and motor systems, as well as many other systems in the brain which are not directly linked to the main special sense organs (eyes, ears, etc), begin the process of evaluating the result of the throwing action compared to the plan. The brain then goes through a process of recalibrating itself. It stores the information gained from the event for future planning. There are four distinct phases in this sequence of events: planning, executing, evaluating, and recalibrating for future use.

In the example, the quarterback had to overcome inertial and gravitational elements in order to be successful. The visual and auditory projection of objects out into space requires the brain to overcome the same inertial and gravitational elements that the quarterback had to overcome.

In order for the brain to overcome the inertial and gravitational problems that it encounters in a variety of different activities, it relies on the vestibular system (balance sense) located in the inner ear. The vestibular system is the primary inertial and gravitational sense. It is able to sense linear and angular accelerations or movements of the head. It accomplishes this by using information received from two separate motion sensors in the inner ear, the semicircular canals and the otoliths, as well as other sensory systems. The semicircular canals can sense angular or rotational movement in three dimensions while the otolith organs sense transient linear movement in any direction as well as changes in tilt (orientation relative to gravity).

The first sensory system to develop and provide the brain with meaningful information is the vestibular system or balance sense. Soon after conception, the human brain begins developing an intelligent response to its environment by utilizing its ability to sense three-dimensional movement and reference it to the force of gravity. The ability for an individual to perform motor actions, control various parts of the body in space, and project objects into visual and auditory space is possible because of the ability of the vestibular system to overcome the inertial and gravitational problems encountered in these types of activities.

The motor system and other brain systems that control body, limb, finger, tongue, lip, jaw, and eye position, and which are responsible for gross and fine motor skill, also sense movement and position in space utilizing gravitational and inertial information. These senses, as well as the auditory and visual systems, are built on, integrated with, and highly dependent upon the inertial and gravitational foundations provided by the vestibular system.

The three dimensional referencing system provided by the vestibular system allows our brain to develop structures to create language, to think and create linguistically, and to read and write. The coordination of all of the brain's timing processes is probably dependent upon and referenced to inertial gravitational information provided by the vestibular system. In order for the brain to successfully integrate it's many senses and systems it must depend on a stable, highly evolved coordinating mechanism. It is most likely that the mechanism the brain uses to accomplish this task relies heavily upon the information provided by the inner ear with regard to the acceleration of gravity. The brain's ability, or inability, to achieve the necessary resolution required in this process determines the resolution and efficiency of all other brain processes. The resolution of this calibration is also relative to the resolution of an individual's balance. To put it simply, the individual's ability to balance is indicative of the efficiency of his or her brain processes.

The brain is not a static system. It changes over time and is subject to manipulation depending on the inputs it receives. As we already know, every act of the human brain involves a recalibration component. In order to recalibrate an instrument one must have a reliable standard of reference. The acceleration of gravity is the standard of reference for the brain as it uses information provided by the visual, auditory, motor, and secondary systems to perform the complex operations required in reading, writing, playing music, athletics, etc. In short, a person's ability to learn is dependent upon their ability to process information effectively. Many people who have a learning disability have poor brain processing ability. The brain's inability to process information from the various senses efficiently is commonly called sensory integration disorder.

Sensory integration activities that require individuals to balance precisely, make spatial judgments and provide a means of allowing feedback are the most powerful and effective activities available for maintaining and improving brain-processing efficiency and allowing an individual to become an efficient learner and improve academic success.

When a person engages in balance exercises that includes motor activities involving many different sensory systems, the brain utilizes neural networks to organize and execute the activities effectively. As the difficulty of a task increases, the number of neurons the network requires to perform the task increases. This truth is demonstrated in the following example.

If a person throws a ball to a small target at four meters distance, the release window for the ball leaving the hand is eleven one thousandths of a second. If the same target is moved to eight meters distance, the release window decreases to ¼ of one thousandth of a second. The brain requires 64 times as many neurons to fire at precisely the right time to hit the target at eight meters as it does at four meters.

We understand that the complexity of the task dictates the level of neural involvement required. Balance activities that incorporate increasing levels of difficulty on the Belgau Balance Board have the effect of constantly building and creating more extensive neural networks. Because the neural networks that are created in this process are the same ones that are responsible for the resolution and efficiency of the brain's visual, auditory, motor, and sensory processes, balance activities improve the efficiency of the brain.

We have the ability to learn because of the existence of these many brain systems. It follows that the ability to learn is relative to the resolution and efficiency of these systems.