Sensory therapy contraindicated for autism

December, 2012

A review has concluded that there is no evidence that sensory integration therapy helps autistic children.

A review of 25 major studies investigating the value of sensory integration therapy (SIT) for autistic children has concluded that this most popular of therapies has no scientific support.

Only three of the 25 studies found benefits from SIT, and these three all had serious methodological flaws. Eight of the studies found mixed results, while 14 studies reported no benefits. Many of the reviewed studies had serious methodological flaws.

It has been suggested that SIT may even be harmful, in that it may lead to an increase in undesirable behavior. Regardless, by taking up time that could otherwise be spent on effective therapies, the use of SIT is not recommended.

The only scientifically valid treatment and intervention for individuals on the autism spectrum is said to be applied behavior analysis, in which, unfortunately, few are trained. With applied behavior analysis, the therapist teaches children age-appropriate skills and offers systematic, repetitious positive reinforcement for desired behaviors.

Reference: 

[3183] Lang, R., O’Reilly M., Healy O., Rispoli M., Lydon H., Streusand W., et al. (2012).  Sensory integration therapy for autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. 6(3), 1004 - 1018.

Recent posts at Mynd

Marshmallows on plate

There's been a lot of talk in education about the message from research that self-control in pre-schoolers predicts their later success in the...

Assuredly one of my biggest problems! and I'm sure I'm not alone, is the ever-present difficulty in not getting sidetracked. So much to do! So...

PikiWiki Israel 14267 Ramat Gan National Park

The New York Times' New Old Age blog has a lovely and helpful account of how a group of friends are supporting a friend with Alzheimer’s....

Carbon cycle diagram

Following the (historically) brief period when we became fixated on text as the sole reliable source of information and means of...

Fruit, Vegetables and Grain

Analysis of eight studies on diet and stroke published between 1990 and 2012 has found that risk of first-time stroke dropped with every 7g...

Sweaty face

Matching patterns of sales data for lottery games in one American county for a year against daily temperature has revealed that sales for...

honeybee

Caffeine occurs naturally in the nectar of coffee and citrus flowers. A study of honeybees has revealed that those fed on caffeinated nectar...

Tai chi

Data from the very large, long-running UK National Child Development Study has revealed that those who exercised at least four times weekly as...

deep brain surgery

A 2-year trial involving 251 patients with Parkinson's disease and early motor complications (mean age, 52 years; mean duration of disease, 7.5...

astrocyte in culture

More evidence for the importance of glia...

Nurse tending patient

A study involving 520 intensive care patients who had been put on ventilators for acute lung injury (ALI), of whom 186 patients of the 275...

sphygmomanometer

Brain scans of 61 older adults (65-90), of whom 30 were cognitively healthy, 24 cognitively impaired and 7 diagnosed with dementia, found that,...

A study involving 187 children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis, plus 44 who experienced their first neurologic episode (clinically...

Toddler with mop

In the first study to analyze parent praise in a real-world setting, it’s been found that the kind of praise parents give their babies and...

Knapsack problem

A study involving 180 13-year-olds who had been assessed every year since kindergarten has found that their understanding of the number system...

Numbers, comic image

"The general consensus is that math anxiety doesn't affect children much before fourth grade.” New research contests that.

...