<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent source of strength and healing
Review: Dr. Heller marvelously investigates the problem of sensory defensiveness. The question is whether some people have an excessively working nervous system? Dr. Heller answers affirmatively and provides strong solutions to this mysterious yet common problem. A person with a nervous system that works excessively experiences a regular disturbance since his "senses are in overdrive" (page 2). The stuff involves with sensory defensiveness is one of the nine systems in the human body - the nervous system. Heller writes, "Under extremely stressful conditions and excess of the neurotransmitter glutamate kills cells, making the brain less able to inhibit sensory input" (9). That which prepares a person to have sensory defensiveness may be a head injury, physical or psychological abuse, or post-traumatic stress. Heller writes, "In most cases the brain is miswired" (11). Experts who have understood the problem of sensory defensiveness include Jean Ayers, Patricia Wilbarger and Julia Wilbarger. The history of sensory defensiveness involves a fairy tale of Hans Christian Andersen entitled "The Princess and the Pea" (1835) which tells the story of a woman who slept on many mattresses in order to not be hurt by a small green pea under the bottom mattress. A person with sensory defensiveness is analogous to a hungry person. Just as a person who avoids food will become hungry, the person who "avoids sensation" (7) will become touch hungry. Thus, Heller asks, "Have you been hugged today? Have you worked up a sweat? (11)." A sensory defensive person will have many signs: a nervous system that "springs at the slightest provocation" (11), "learned helplessness" (121), and a slumped posture "like a wet dishrag" (202). Heller's solutions to the problem of an excessive nervous system are logical and based on common sense. Heller writes, "Some part of you will feel abnormal and flawed and a deep loss for a healthy self" (159). She recommends that attention and 'grease' be applied to one's digestive system (Ch. 13), and muscular system (Ch. 8) and respiratory system (Ch. 11). For people who genuinely suffer from sensory defensiveness, Heller offers hope and encouragement that is worth much more than the price of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Overall, a good review,
Review: however, I wished she had spent more time discussing those on the autistic spectrum. Sensory Integration Dysfunction (DSI) is almost a defining characteristic of the disorder. Many people with high levels of sensory sensitivies who are socially unsuccesful are likely to have undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome or Nonverbal Learning Disorder (or, if with a history of head injury, Right Hemisphere Learning Disorder).
This is important because, while most vocational rehabilitation and other state agencies will NOT help a person who is just diagnosed with DSI, many will help those diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome or the other conditions I have listed above. If your sensory sensitivities have kept you from participating in social events or forming a relationship, you should definitely look into going to a qualified psychotherapist for possible diagnosis, as well as to an Occupation Therapist for evaluation (and if you receive one of the above diagnoses, voc rehab or another agency might pay for your visit to the OT, rather than you having to pay out of pocket).
Back to the book. I agree with a reviewer below that the author could have used more sources, and certainly could have footnoted better (I like to look up original sources), and that she did misuse several terms. However, as an overview of the nearly unknown invisible disability of DSI, I find it to be a valuable resource, particularly for the nonprofessional. I have already recommended it to the parents of some children I work with who are on the autistic spectrum.
For those who are friends or partners of DSI, I highly suggest the following experience: lock yourself up in a small room, with several televisions and radios, all on different stations, and all at top volume. See how long you can bear it. This is what much of the world seems like to those of us with DSI.
And my personal perspective? I have a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, though my "diagnosis" when I was a child was "autistic tendencies". I never received any therapy or special education services growing up. Now that I am an adult, I have been educating myself and trying to provide myself with a sensory diet to calm down my nerves for some years. I have been somewhat succesful, at least in that I haven't automatically turned around and whacked someone for touching me for nearly ten years.
Rating:
Summary: An answer to a life long question
Review: I have spent my entire life dodging bright light and loud music/noise. My inability to handle The simple sound of crunching or a change in the temp. during the day made me feel crazy and lonely. After years of this, my system has shut down so badly that I am physically ill to the point that I have had to take semesters off from school and shut out my entire life just to get by. This is the first time in my entire life that it not only makes sense but it changes it. I can't believe the diffrence it makes just to know what is wrong with me and that it is 't in my head. This book should be read, not just by people suffering this horably debilitating disorder but everyone. When u think your friend is being picky or emotional, it may not be. S/he could be suffering more than u know. Possibly one of the most important books I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Did Sharon Heller interview me??
Review: I truly feel as if Sharon Heller came to my house and interviewed me for her book. I could really identify with so much of what was written and I thought it explained so wonderfully to those who don't have a sensory defensive disorder what it feels like for those who do. For so many years I have known that I was somehow odd, or laughed with my friends because I knew I had a lot of rules about how I lived. Now I know there is a name for what I experience. I am very excited to try some of the ideas Ms. Heller gives on how to cope better like massage, craniosacral, and controlling my breathing. I highly recommend this book for adults who may feel as if they are more sensitive than others to sights, sounds, textures. As a busy mom of 3 kids I read this 300+ page book in a day and a half!!
Rating:
Summary: Did Sharon Heller interview me??
Review: I truly feel as if Sharon Heller came to my house and interviewed me for her book. I could really identify with so much of what was written and I thought it explained so wonderfully to those who don't have a sensory defensive disorder what it feels like for those who do. For so many years I have known that I was somehow odd, or laughed with my friends because I knew I had a lot of rules about how I lived. Now I know there is a name for what I experience. I am very excited to try some of the ideas Ms. Heller gives on how to cope better like massage, craniosacral, and controlling my breathing. I highly recommend this book for adults who may feel as if they are more sensitive than others to sights, sounds, textures. As a busy mom of 3 kids I read this 300+ page book in a day and a half!!
Rating:
Summary: Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover
Review: This book is well written, comprehensive, and way overdue. If you are a person who gets gets irritated (or loses it) over stimuli that other people seem to tolerate without difficulty, or if you know such a person, then this is the book for you. While other books address the issue of sensory integration in children, this is the only book that I know of that addresses sensory defensiveness as a problem in adults. Among the many strongpoints of the book are its discussions about how sensory defensiveness can be misdiagnosed as other disorders, what it is like to live with sensory defensiveness, and how to improve the ability to cope. The only bad thing about the book is that the five-color dust jacket is a little on the busy side (although not nearly as horrible as the blinking colon signs you see on some digital clocks). Of course, you always have the option of removing the dust jacket. Thank you Dr. Heller.
Rating: 
Summary: I can't believe this book is rated with 5 stars
Review: While this book does offer some insight to a disease about which many people aren't aware, this writer, with a supposed Ph.D., makes common errors that I as a college student picked up on. For example, for those of you with books, refer to page 41 where she refers to "touch and taste" as "distal, or "far" senses. I'm afraid those would definately fall under the "near" senses. But then she contradicts herself two paragraphs down when she includes "light touch" as a near sense. Is there a different between touch and "light touch?" She also includes "light touch" and the "tactile sense" as two different near senses, but as I recall, those refer to the same sense.
Now refer to the Harlow study on page 44 where she claims a terrycloth "monkey mother" was better received than the wire "monkey mother." While this holds true, she fails to bring up the temperature of the mothers, which played a huge part in the experiment.
The last two examples I will bring up fall on page 50 when she refers to the brainstem as being responsible for the "four f's: feeding, fleeing, fighting, and ... reproduction." While the brainstem does play a part in this, she fails to mention that the hypothalamus plays a huge role in the four f's. In the next paragraph, she lists the "four A's: awake, asleep, arousal, and attention." Once again, she fails to realize that there are only "THREE A's: alertness (which includes 'awake and asleep'), arousal, and attention."
These errors are all in chapter two alone. People may also notice that she fails to cite references in places where it is needed. She could have paid special attention to naming a source when she claims that , "as many as 15 percent of otherwise normal adults have a nervous system that is overly sensitive to sensation."
For those of you who enjoy this book, just remember not to believe everything you read.
<< 1 >>
|
