Public release date: 25-Apr-2008

Contact: Eryn Jelesiewicz
dobeck@temple.edu
215-707-0730
Temple University

Parents of children with autism are increasingly turning to sensory
integration treatment to help their children deal with the disorder,
and they're seeing good results. In 2007, 71 percent of parents who
pursued alternatives to traditional treatment used sensory
integration methods, and 91 percent found these methods helpful.

A new study from Temple University researchers, presented this month
at the American Occupational Therapy Association's 2008 conference,
found that children with autistic spectrum disorders who underwent
sensory integration therapy exhibited fewer autistic mannerisms
compared to children who received standard treatments. Such
mannerisms, including repetitive hand movements or actions, making
noises, jumping or having highly restricted interests, often
interfere with paying attention and learning.

The children assigned to the sensory integration intervention group
also reached more goals specified by their parents and therapists,
said study authors Beth Pfeiffer, Ph.D., OTR/L, BCP, and Moya
Kinnealey, Ph.D., OTR/L, from the Occupational Therapy Department in
Temple University's College of Health Professions. The children made
progress toward goals in the areas of sensory processing/regulation,
social-emotional and functional motor tasks.

Sensory integration is the ability of the brain to properly integrate
and adapt to the onslaught of information coming in through the
senses. Dysfunction in this area makes it difficult for people with
autism to adapt to and function like others in their environment.
They may be hypersensitive to sound or touch, or unable to screen out
distracting noise or clothing textures. Their response might be
impulsive motor acts, making noises or running away.

Pfeiffer and Kinnealey are part of a group of researchers seeking to
bring more scientific understanding to occupational therapy using a
sensory integration approach.

"It's been heavily documented that children on the autistic spectrum
have differences in the way they process sensory information and
respond motorically," Pfeiffer said. "While more families are seeking
out the sensory integration approach because of its positive results,
more research is needed to scientifically establish its effectiveness."

Children receiving sensory integration therapy typically participate
in sensory-based activities to enable them to better regulate their
behavioral responses to sensations and situations that they find
disturbing or painful. A child who is oversensitive to light touch
may enjoy rolling and playing in a giant foam pillow, after which he
might be more able to calmly explore, touch and play with other
textures. This in turn makes self-care such as dressing and washing
and classroom activities that require touch more manageable.

Interpreting the child's behavior as intentional and controllable and
not recognizing the underlying cause and hypersensitivities is common
in educational and home settings, but is an approach that Kinnealey
discourages as stressful for the child.

The study took place this past summer at a camp near Allentown, Pa.,
for children with autism. Participants were between the ages of 6 and
12 years old and diagnosed with autism or Pervasive Developmental
Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS).

One group (17) received traditional fine motor therapy and the other
group (20) received sensory integration therapy. Each child received
18 treatment sessions over a period of six weeks.

A statistician randomly assigned the participants to groups; this
information was provided to the project coordinator at the site. The
primary researchers were blinded to group assignment and served as
evaluators before and after the study.

Parents were also blinded to the interventions that their children
were assigned to and were not on site. However, there was the
potential for the verbal children to talk about the activities that
they participated in, which may have influenced the blinding for the
parents.

For their outcome data, researchers used a series of scales that
measure behavior. While both groups showed significant improvements,
the children in the sensory integration group showed more progress in
specific areas at the end of the study.

"This pilot study provided a foundation for how we should design
randomized control trials for sensory integration interventions with
larger sample sizes," Pfeiffer said. "Specifically, it identified
issues with measurement such as the sensitivity of evaluation tools
to measure changes in this population.

"Sensory integration treatment is a widely used intervention in
occupational therapy. There is a real need for research such as
randomized control trials to validate what we are doing with sensory
integration in the profession," she added.



The other presenter was Kristie Koenig, Ph.D., OTR/L, Steinhardt
School of Culture, Education and Human Development, New York
University. Funding was provided by Autism Speaks, which is dedicated
to funding global biomedical research into the causes, prevention,
treatments, and cure for autism and raising public awareness about
autism and its effects on individuals, families, and society.

This video, created by 27 year old Amanda Baggs, who has Autism, was featured yesterday on the NYT Well Blog, written by Tara Parker Hope.  The video is called "In My Language," and is a compelling glimpse inside Amanda's mind, language and experience with the world.  Especially interesting is her way of communicating through all of her senses with her immediate environment.  In the first three minutes of the video, we see her rocking back and forth, waving paper in the air, burying her face in a book, flapping her hands in the air, and more.  She goes on, in the second half of the video, to explain eloquently  (via computerized voice) how her actions are communicative.  Here is an excerpt from the  video:

"My language is not about designing words or even visual symbols for people to interpret. It is about being in a constant conversation with every aspect of my environment, reacting physically to all parts of my surroundings.

Far from being purposeless, the way that I move is an ongoing response to what is around me….The way I naturally think and respond to things looks and feels so different from standard concepts or even visualization that some people do not consider it thought at all. But it is a way of thinking in its own right."

To read the blog and reader comments, click here. 

To read the WIRED article about Amanda, click here.

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Support the development of our line of clothing for children with sensory sensitivity, associated with Autism, Aspergers and Sensory Processing Disorder. All proceeds from this chic and practical bag go to our start-up costs!

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  .. Misc Notes -->.. /Misc Notes -->.. CafePress Product Description -->                 From school, to carrying your laptop, to a hip alternative diaper bag, our versatile, spacious messenger bag is practically all you need to get you through every stage of your life – and look hip doing it.

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Check out this video: Dramautism



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At Soft (clothing for all children)®, we are a small start-up with BIG ideas.  We want to change the way children wear clothing, especially our most sensitive dressers.  We want to give parents a break, by providing them with a one-stop-shop where they can find reliably comfortable clothing for all occasions.  We want to promote inclusion by creating clothing that is appealing to ALL children, designed with the specific needs of children with Autism, Sensory Integrative Dysfunction, and sensory sensitivities in mind.  To do all of this and more by our launch date in December 2008, we will need your help! 

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