Sensory processing therapy
This therapy retains all of the above-mentioned four principles and adds:
Intensity (person attends therapy daily for a prolonged period of time)
Developmental approach (therapist adapts to the developmental age of the person, against actual age)
Test-retest systematic evaluation (all clients are evaluated before and after)
Process driven vs. activity driven (therapist focuses on the "just right" emotional connection and the process that reinforces the relationship)
Parent education (parent education sessions are scheduled into the therapy process)
"Joie de vivre" (happiness of life is therapys main goal, attained through social participation, self-regulation, and self-esteem)
Combination of best practice interventions (is often accompanied by integrated listening system therapy, floor time, and electronic media such as Xbox Kinect, Nintendo Wii, Makoto II machine training and others)While occupational therapists using a sensory integration frame of reference work on increasing a childs ability to adequately process sensory input, other OTs may focus on environmental accommodations that parents and school staff can use to enhance the childs function at home, school, and in the community. These may include selecting soft, tag-free clothing, avoiding fluorescent lighting, and providing ear plugs for "emergency" use (such as for fire drills). Evaluation of treatment effectiveness
A 2019 review found sensory integration therapy to be effective for autism spectrum disorder.
Sensory processing disorder (SPD, formerly known as sensory integration dysfunction) is a condition in which multisensory input is not adequately processed in order to provide appropriate responses to the demands of the environment. Sensory processing disorder is present in many people with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Individuals with SPD may inadequately process visual, auditory, olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), tactile (touch), vestibular (balance), proprioception (body awareness), and interoception (internal body senses) sensory stimuli. Sensory integration was defined by occupational therapist Anna Jean Ayres in 1972 as "the neurological process that organizes sensation from ones own body and from the environment and makes it possible to use the body effectively within the environment". Sensory processing disorder has been characterized as the source of significant problems in organizing sensation coming from the body and the environment and is manifested by difficulties in the performance in one or more of the main areas of life: productivity, leisure and play or activities of daily living.Sources debate whether SPD is an independent disorder or represents the observed symptoms of various other, more well-established, disorders. SPD is not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended in 2012 that pediatricians not use SPD as a stand-alone diagnosis. Signs and symptoms
Sensory integration difficulties or sensory processing disorder (SPD) are characterized by persistent challenges with neurological processing of sensory stimuli that interfere with a persons ability to participate in everyday life.