Sensory integration therapy

Sensory Integration Therapy (SIT) is a type of occupational therapy designed to help individuals with autism with sensory processing issues. The therapy aims to improve how the brain processes and integrates sensory information from the environment, leading to better motor coordination, attention, and behavior. Sensory integration therapy is designed to help people better handle multiple sensory inputs. It’s usually tailored to individual needs by occupational therapists. For example, an occupational therapist might design and implement an individual program of sensory experiences for an autistic child. There is no universally accepted protocol for how SIT should be administered. Sensory integration therapy is used to help children learn to use all their senses together – that is, touch, smell, taste, sight and hearing, as well as senses related to body movement. It’s claimed that this therapy can improve challenging behaviour and repetitive behaviour. This behaviour can be related to difficulties with processing sensory information.

Therapists also sometimes suggest that sensory integration therapy can help with other autism characteristics, like difficulties with play and emotional regulation. The idea that difficulties with processing sensory information could be related to difficulties in everyday life was first proposed in the 1950s and 1960s by A. Jean Ayres, an occupational therapist and educational psychologist. Ayres developed sensory integration therapy in the late 1970s as a treatment for children with sensory processing difficulties.

Some forms of sensory integration therapy are called Ayres Sensory Integration (ASI) intervention. This type of sensory integration therapy tends to focus on goals and is more systematic than other types of sensory integration therapy. More high-quality research is needed to find out whether sensory integration therapy helps autistic children. Some studies have suggested that it might help children achieve some goals, but there are problems with the way these studies were designed.

Also, it isn’t clear how the therapy helps children. That is, does it help with sensory processing difficulties – for example, do children become less sensitive to touch or smell? And do any changes to children’s sensory processing abilities help with their daily life or other skills?

Several studies have noted that the therapy has negative effects like increased self-harming behaviour raising this therapy as possibly dangerous.