The texts that thread through the series, with the thinkers behind them.
Sensory Integration and Learning Disorders
A. Jean Ayres (Western Psychological Services, 1972). The original blue book.
Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice
Anita C. Bundy, Shelly J. Lane and Elizabeth A. Murray (F.A. Davis; 2nd ed. 2002, 3rd ed. 2020). The current textbook.
Children Adapt: A Theory of Sensorimotor-Sensory Development
Elnora M. Gilfoyle, Ann P. Grady and Josephine C. Moore (Slack; 1981, 2nd ed. 1990). The spiralling continuum Tracy returns to.
Wired to Feel: Autism as a Condition of Sensory Surplus
Sarah Bergenfield and Martha Sweezy, foreword by Beth Ann Malow (New Harbinger, 2026). The sensory surplus reframe.
The people whose work threads through the series, so you can follow whichever name speaks to you.
A. Jean Ayres. the founder of sensory integration, and the source of the just right challenge and the adaptive response.
Stephen Porges. polyvagal theory and the concept of neuroception.
Deb Dana. polyvagal theory in therapy, and the idea of a foothold in ventral.
Stanley Greenspan and Serena Wieder. DIR and Floortime, and affect as the glue of development.
Dan Siegel. interpersonal neurobiology, the river of integration, and the “mwe” space.
Jaak Panksepp. affective neuroscience and the PLAY system.
Anita Bundy. play, the Test of Playfulness, and the sensory integration textbook.
Diane Parham. play in occupational therapy.
Patti Oetter and Eileen Richter. the MORE approach and the developmental progression of space.
Mary Kawar. vestibular and ocular function, and Astronaut Training.
Daniel Stern. the movement system and the development of self.
Lois Bly. motor development.
Sally Rogers. the Early Start Denver Model.
Pat Wilbarger. the sensory diet.
Bill Greenough. experience-expectant and experience-dependent neuroplasticity.
Lisa Feldman Barrett. the predictive brain.
Ruth Lanius. the sensory matrix.
Kim Barthel. relationship and trauma-informed practice, the Behavioural Detective.
Lois Hickman. an early sensory integration pioneer and colleague of Jean Ayres.
Maria Montessori. following the child.
Jan Winhall. the Felt Sense Polyvagal Model.