Building Sensorimotor Systems in Children with Developmental Trauma

Blurb

“Early trauma can often lead to sensorimotor underdevelopment in children. This book provides practical strategies for both identifying and remedying this particular type of underdevelopment, through the use of those physical activities which take place in normal, loving parent-child relationships.

Babies and young children who have experienced early adversity miss out on good, nurturing relationships, and the sensorimotor development that goes along with them. Their bodies therefore lack a solid foundation for sensory integration.

This book lays out a practice model – the Building Underdeveloped Sensorimotor Systems (BUSS) model – to help identify and assess whether these gaps are present in a child’s sensorimotor systems. It also advocates the potential of rebuilding the gaps in these systems – using games and activities that take place within loving parent-child relationships – to offer the child a healthy, attuned base from which to develop sensorimotor skills. Also included is a section on parents’ experiences of using these activities with their children.

With a positive view of approaching sensorimotor underdevelopment, these strategies and case studies all demonstrate that, with the right kind of attention, these children’s systems can be rebuilt.”

© Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2020.

Purchase from JKP website.

Endorsements

‘Beautifully written, illustrated and with hopeful stories of children’s progress, this book fills a gap in our understanding of how we can help traumatised children recover, physically, emotionally and within relationships. Sarah has demonstrated how the foundation for this recovery lies in the rebuilding of the sensorimotor systems’
– Kim Golding

‘…[Sarah] is, in the best sense, an integrationist. She brings concepts and ideas together, drawing on what appears to be antithetical traditions, in the service of providing an accessible and effective set of interventions that make a real difference to people’s lives, Here there is much innovation and development for which we should be grateful.’
– Brian Rock, Director of Education and Training and Dean of Postgraduate Studies, The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust