Abstract
Background:
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a common lifelong condition affecting 1 in 100 people. ASD affects how a person relates to others and the world around them. Difficulty responding to sensory information (noise, touch, movement, taste, sight) is common, and might include feeling overwhelmed or distressed by loud or constant low-level noise (e.g. in the classroom). Affected children may also show little or no response to these sensory cues. These ‘sensory processing difficulties’ are associated with behaviour and socialisation problems, and affect education, relationships, and participation in daily life. Sensory Integration Therapy (SIT) is a face-to-face therapy or treatment, provided by trained occupational therapists who use play -based sensory-motor activities and the just-right challenge to influence the way the child responds to sensation, reducing distress, and improving motor skills, adaptive responses, concentration and interaction with others. With limited research into SIT, this protocol describes in detail how the intervention will be defined and evaluated.
Methods:
Two-arm pragmatic individually 1:1 Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) with internal pilot of SIT versus Usual Care (UC) for primary school aged children (4 to 11 years) with ASD and Sensory Processing (SP) difficulties. 216 children will be recruited from multiple sources. Therapy will be delivered in clinics meeting full fidelity criteria for manualised SIT over 26 weeks (face-to-face sessions: 2 per week for 10 weeks, 2 per month for 2 months; Telephone call: 1 per month for 2 months). Follow up assessments will be completed at 6 and 12 months post randomisation. Prior to recruitment: therapists will be invited to participate in focus groups/interviews to explore what is delivered as usual care in trial regions; carers will be invited to complete an online survey to map out their experience of services. Following recruitment: carers will be given diaries to record their contact with services. Following intervention, carer and therapist interviews will be completed.
Discussion:
Results of this trial will provide high quality evidence on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of SIT aimed at improving behavioural, functional, social, educational and well-being outcomes for children and well-being outcomes for carers and families.
Trial registration:
ISRCTN14716440. Registered 08/11/2016. http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN14716440
Effectiveness and Implication of Sensory Integration Therapy on School Performance of Children with Learning Disabilities