Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sensory Processing Problems in Post-Institutionalized Children: Implications for Social Work

  • Published:
Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article describes problems in sensory integration shown by some institutionalized and post-institutionalized children. The types of problems in sensory integration are discussed as well as contributing factors. Case studies are offered as examples. Implications of these findings for social work are presented.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ainsworth, M. D. (1965). Further Research Into the Adverse Effects of Maternal Deprivation. In J. Bowlby, Childcare and the Growth of Love (2nd ed., pp. 191–251). Baltimore: Penguin Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Society of International Law. (1993). Hague Conference on Private International Law: Final act of the 17th session, including the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect to Intercountry Adoption, May 29, 1993. International Legal Materials, 32:1134–46, July.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ames, E. W., Chisholm, K., Fisher, L., Morison, S. J., Thompson, S., Mainemer, H. et al (1997). The Development of Romanian Orphanage Children Adopted to Canada. National Welfare Grants Program. Human Resources Development, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ames, E. W., Fisher, L., & Savoie, L. (1994, June). Behaviour Problems of Romanian Orphanage Children Adopted to Canada. Presented at the Thirteenth Biennial Meetings of the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development.

  • Ayres, A. J. (1964). Tactile Functions: Their Relation to Hyperactive and Perceptual Motor Behavior. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 18:83–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayres, A. J. (1972). Sensory Integration and Learning Disorders. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayres, A. J. (1979). Sensory Integration and the Child. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barth, R. (1995). Adoption. In R.L. Edwards (Ed.-in-chief). Encyclopedia of Social Work, 19th Edition (pp. 48–60). Washington, DC: NASW Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blakeslee, S. (1995a, August 29). In Brain's Early Growth, Timetable May Be Crucial. New York Times, Science Times, C1–C3.

  • Blakeslee, S. (1995b, August 31). How a Bad Beginning Can Affect The Brain. New York Times, p. C1, C6.

  • Bowlby, J. (1951). Maternal Care and Mental Health. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowlby, J. (1953). Childcare and the Growth of Love (pp. 191–251). Baltimore: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, M., & Earls, F. (1997). Psychological and Neuroendocrinological Sequelae of Early Social Deprivation in Institutionalized Children in Romania. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 807:419–428.

    Google Scholar 

  • Casler, L. (1961). Maternal Deprivation: A Critical Review of the Literature. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 26(2).

  • Casler, L. (1968). Perceptual Deprivation in Institutional Settings. In G. Newton, and S. Levine (Eds.), Early Experience and Behavior. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cermak, S. (1991). Somatodyspraxia. In A.G. Fisher, E.A. Murray, and A.C. Bundy (Eds.), Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice (pp. 137–170). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cermak, S. (1994). Romanian Children Demonstrate Sensory Defensiveness. Attachment Newsletter. Evergreen, CO: The Attachment Center at Evergreen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cermak, S., & Daunhauer, L. A. (1997). Sensory Processing in the Post-Institutionalized Child. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 51:500–507.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin, H. D. (1911). The Proper Management of Foundlings and Neglected Infants. Medical Record, 79:283–288.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin, H. D. (1917). Systematized Boarding Out vs. Institutional Care for Infants and Young Children. New York Medical Journal, 105:1009–1011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chisholm, K., Carter, M. C., Ames, E. W., & Morison, S. J. (1995). Attachment Security and Indiscriminately Friendly Behavior in Children Adopted from Romanian Orphanages. Development and Psychopathology, 7:283–294.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeGangi, G. A. (1991). Assessment of Sensory, Emotional, and Attentional Problems In Regulatory Disordered Infants: Part 1. Infants and Young Children, 3(3): 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeGangi, G. A., Craft, P., & Castellan, J. (1991). Treatment of Sensory, Emotional, and Attentional Problems in Regulatory Disordered Infants: Part 2. Infants and Young Children, 3(3):9–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennis, W. (1973). Children of the Creche. New York: Appleton Century-Crofts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farber, S. (1982). Neurorehabilitation: A Multisensory Approach. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, A. G., Murray, E. A., & Bundy, A. C. (1991). Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frank, D. A., Klass, P. E., Earls, F., & Eisenberg, L. (1996). Infants and Young Children in Orphanages: One View From Pediatrics and Child Psychiatry. Pediatrics, 97(4):569–578.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freud, A., & Burlingham, D. (1973). Infants Without Families: Reports on the Hamstead Nurseries 1939–1945. New York: International Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldfarb, W. (1943a). Infant Rearing and Problem Behavior. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 15:249–265.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldfarb, W. (1943b). Effects of Early Institutional Care on Adolescent Personality. Journal of Experimental Education, 12:106–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldfarb, W. (1944). Effects of Early Institutional Care on Adolescent Personality: Rorschach Data. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 14:441–447.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldfarb, W. (1955). Emotional and Intellectual Consequences of Psychologic Deprivation in Infancy: A Re-evaluation. In P. Hoch and J. Zubin (Eds.), Psychopathology of Childhood (pp. 105–119). NY: Grune & Stratton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grandin, T. (1995). Thinking in Pictures and Other Reports from my Life with Autism. New York: Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenspan, S. (1995). The Challenging Child. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenspan, S., & Liebermann, A. F. (1988). A Clinical Approach to Attachment. In J. Belsky and T. Nezworski (Eds.), Clinical Implications of Attachment, pp. 387–424. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenspan, S., & Weider, S. (1993). Regulatory Disorders. In C. Zenah (Ed.), Handbook of Infant Mental Health (pp. 280–290). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groza, V. (In Press). International Adoption. In R.L. Edwards (Ed.-in-chief). Encyclopedia of Social Work, 19th Edition, Special Supplement (pp.). Washington, DC: NASW press.

  • Groza, V., & Ileana, D. (1996). A Follow-up Study of Adopted Children From Romania. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 13(6):541–565.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haradon, G., Bascom, B., Dragomir, C., & Scripcaru, V. (1994). Sensory Functions of Institutionalized Romanian Infants: A Pilot Study. Occupational Therapy International, 1:250–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlow, H. F. (1958). The Nature of Love. The American Psychologist, 13:673–685.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlow, H. F., & Harlow, M. K. (1966). Learning to Love. American Scientist, 54:244–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlow, H. F., & Suomi, S. J. (1970). The Nature of Love-Simplified. American Psychologist, 25: 162–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaler, S. R., & Freeman, B. J. (1994). An Analysis of Environmental Deprivation: Cognitive and Social Development in Romanian Orphans. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 35(4):769–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimball, J. G. (1993). Sensory Integrative Frame of Reference. In P. Kramer & J. Hinojosa (Eds.), Frames of Reference for Pediatric Occupational Therapy (pp. 87–175). Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinnealey, M., Oliver, B., & Wilbarger, P. (1995). A Phenomenological Study of Sensory Defensiveness in Adults. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 49:444–451.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knickerbocker, B. (1980). A Holistic Approach to Learning Disabilities. Thorofare, NJ: Slack.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koomar, J. (1993, Winter). Sensory Integration: Theory Update. The Sensory Connection (pp. 1–2). Occupational Therapy Associates. Watertown, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koomar, J., & Bundy, J. (1991). The Art and Science of Creating Direct Intervention From Theory. In A.G. Fisher, E.A. Murray, and A.C. Bundy (Eds.), Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice (pp. 251–314). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kraemer, G. W. (1992). A Psychobiological Theory Of Attachment. Behavior and Brain Sciences, 15:493–511.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kraemer, G. W. (1994). Significance of Social Attachment In Primate Infants: The Infant-Caregiver Relationship And Volition. In C.R. Pryce, R.D. Martin, and D. Skuse (Eds.). Motherhood in Human and Nonhuman Primates, 3rd Schultz-Biegert Symposium (pp. 152–161). Basel: Karger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mainemer, H., & Gilman, L. (1992, June 13). The Experience of Canadian Parents Adopting Children from Romanian Orphanages. Symposium on Development of Romanian Orphanage Children Adopted to Canada. Proceedings (pp. 21–30): Canadian Psychological Association. Quebec City, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcovitch, S., Cesaroni, L., Roberts, W., & Swanson, C. (1995). Romanian Adoption: Parents Dreams, Nightmares, and Realities. Child Welfare, LXXIV(5):993–1017.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montagu, A. (1986). Touching: The Significance of the Human Skin (3rd ed.). New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morison, S., Ames, E., & Chisholm, K. (1995). The Development of Children Adopted From Romanian Orphanages. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 41(4): 411–430.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (aka NCCAN). (1993). National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, Working Paper 2. Gaithersburg, MD: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Provence, S., & Lipton, R. C. (1962). Infants in Institutions. New York: International Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Royeen, C. B., & Lane, S. J. (1991). Tactile Processing and Sensory Defensiveness. In A. G. Fisher, E. A. Murray, & A. C. Bundy (Eds.), Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice (pp. 108–136). Philadelphia: F. A. Davis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M., Quinton, D., Hay, D., Dunn, J., O'Connor, T., & Marvin, R. (1995). The Social and Intellectual Development of Children Adopted into England from Romania. Report prepared for the Department of Health, United Kingdom.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sapolsky, R. M. (1997). The Importance of a Well-Groomed Child. Science, 277:1620–1621.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schanberg, S., Kuhn, C., Field, T., & Bartolome, J. (1990). Maternal Deprivation and Growth Suppression. In N. Gunzenhauser (Ed.), Advances In Touch: New Implications In Human Development. Pediatric Roudtable 14, pp. 3–10. Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products.

  • Schneider, M. L. (1987). A Rhesus monkey model of human infant individual differences. Ph.D. dissertation. The University of Wisconsin-Madison.

  • Sears, C. J. (1981). The Tactilely Defensive Child. Academic Therapy, 16:563–569.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sears, C. J. (1994). Recognizing and Coping with Tactile Defensiveness in Young Children. Infants and Young Children, 6(4):46–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Short, M. (1985). Vestibular Stimulation as Early Experience: Historical Perspectives and Research Implication. In K. J. Ottenbacher & M. A. Short (Eds.), Vestibular Processing Dysfunction in Children (pp. 135–152). New York: The Haworth Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spitz, R. (1945). Hospitalism: An Inquiry Into The Genesis Of Psychiatric Conditions In Early Childhood. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, Vol. 1. New York: International Universities Press, 53–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spitz, R. A. (1949). The Role of Ecological Factors in Emotional Development in Infancy. Child Development, 20 145–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spitzer, S., Roley, S., Clark, F., & Parham, D. (1996). Sensory Integration: Current Trends in the United States. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 3(3):123–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stein, D. G., Brailowsky, S., & Will, B. (1995). Brain Repair. New York: Oxford University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sweeney, J. K., & Bascom, B. B. (1995). Motor Development and Self-Stimulatory Movement in Institutionalized Romanian Children. Pediatric Physical Therapy, 7:124–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tizard, B., Cooperman, O., Joseph, A., & Tizard, J. (1972). Environmental Effects on Language Development: A Study of Young Children in Long-Stay Residential Nurseries. Child Development, 43:337–358.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tizard, B., & Joseph, A. (1970). Cognitive Development of Young Children in Residential Care: A Study of Children Ages 24 Months. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 11:177–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tizard, B., & Rees, J. (1974). A Comparison of the Effects of Adoption, Restoration to the Natural Mother, and Continued Institutionalization on the Cognitive Development of Four Year Old Children. Child Development, 45:92–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tizard, B., & Rees, J. (1975). The Effect of Early Institutional Rearing on the Behaviour Problems and Affectional Relationships of Four-Year-Old Children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 75:61–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tizard, B., & Hodges, J. (1977). The Effect of Early Institutional Rearing on the Development of Eight Year Old Children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 19:99–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilbarger, P. (1984). Planning an Adequate “Sensory Diet”: Application of Sensory Processing Theory During The First Year of Life. Zero to Three, 7–12.

  • Wilbarger, P. (1995) The Sensory Diet: Activity Programs Based on Sensory Processing Theory. Sensory Integration Special Interest Section Newsletter, 18(2):1–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilbarger, P., & Wilbarger, J. (1991). Sensory Defensiveness in Children Aged 2–12. Avanti Educational Programs, 642 Island View Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilbarger, P., & Wilbarger, J. (1995). Sensory Defensiveness and Related Social, Emotional and Neurological Problems. Seminar, Boston, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, M. S., & Shellenberger, S. (1994). An Introduction to How Does Your Engine Run: The Alert Program for Self-regulation. Albuquerque, NM: Therapy Works.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerman, M. (1994). Behavioral Expressions and Biosocial Bases of Sensation Seeking. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sargent College of Allied Health Professions, Department of Occupational Therapy, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts

    Sharon Cermak (Ed.D., OTR/L, is affiliated with)

  2. Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio

    Victor Groza (LISW, Ph.D., is affiliated with)

Authors
  1. Sharon Cermak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Victor Groza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cermak, S., Groza, V. Sensory Processing Problems in Post-Institutionalized Children: Implications for Social Work . Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 15, 5–37 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022241403962

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022241403962

Keywords

Search

Navigation