Sensory Integration Education

As a Physiotherapist, your role is to help individuals optimise their movement, enhance their physical function, and improve their overall quality of life. Whether working with children with developmental delays, adults recovering from neurological injury, or older adults managing age-related functional decline, your interventions depend on a clear understanding of how the body moves, and, critically, why certain movement challenges exist.

What may be less commonly addressed in traditional physiotherapy training, however, is the central role that sensory processing plays in human movement and postural control.

Sensory processing refers to the way the nervous system receives, organises, and interprets sensory input from the body (e.g., proprioceptive, vestibular, tactile, visual, auditory) and the environment. When this system is not functioning optimally, it can disrupt the foundational elements of motor performance, including body awareness, balance, coordination, and postural stability.

Sensory Integration (SI) is the theory and clinical framework originally developed by Dr. A. Jean Ayres, which explains how effective sensory processing underpins purposeful and adaptive motor responses. For physiotherapists, applying sensory integration principles allows a deeper understanding of the sensory-motor foundations of function. It helps explain why some clients exhibit poor core stability, delayed motor milestones, gait disturbances, or difficulty with motor planning (dyspraxia), even when no overt musculoskeletal abnormality is present.

By incorporating sensory-informed assessment and intervention strategies, physiotherapists can:

• Enhance diagnostic accuracy by identifying whether sensory modulation or discrimination difficulties are contributing to motor or functional limitations.

• Tailor therapeutic interventions more precisely to meet the individual sensory needs of the client, particularly in populations such as children with autism, individuals with cerebral palsy, adults post-stroke, or those with vestibular dysfunction.

• Support neuroplasticity and motor learning through enriched, sensory-informed environments and activities that promote adaptive responses and engagement.

Our evidence-informed CPD courses and recognised Sensory Integration Practitioner qualification are designed to help physiotherapists develop this specialist knowledge and apply it within their scope of practice. Courses are grounded in neuroscience, motor control theory, and occupational science, and are aligned with international standards for sensory integration education.

Through these training opportunities, you will:

• Deepen your understanding of how sensory processing influences postural control, balance, and functional movement across the lifespan.

• Gain understanding of appropriate structured assessment tools such as the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT), Sensory Processing Measure (SPM), or Adult/Child Sensory Profile, which help identify sensory processing challenges in both paediatric and adult populations.

• Learn to apply evidence-based sensory strategies that support developmental progression, motor recovery, rehabilitation, and improved participation in daily activities.

Sensory integration knowledge empowers physiotherapists to look beyond surface-level motor symptoms and consider the underlying sensory foundations of movement. This broader lens promotes more holistic, client-centred care and improved therapeutic outcomes.