Comparison of Sensory Profile and SensOR scores of children with and without Autism Sarah Dobbs MSOT/S 12

Background Literature Autism Spectrum Disorders DSM IV criteria: issues in social interaction, communication, and repeated behaviors Sensory issues are NOT part of criteria 30%-100% of children with ASD have sensory- perceptual abnormalities of some sort Watling, 2001

Sensory Issues Sensory Processing Disorder-sensory system does not regulate information with correct responses Sensory Modulation Disorder-difficulty responding to sensory input with behavior that is graded relative to the degree, nature, or intensity of the sensory information. hyposensitivies and hypersensitivies Miller (2007)

Sensory relation to OT Sensory processing can influence developmental milestones as well as behavior. This can impact areas of ▫ADLs ▫IADLs ▫Work ▫Leisure

Sensory Assessments in OT Sensory processing is often gathered by OT’s to initiate a baseline to help determine ▫Effective sensory treatment ▫Sensory appropriate goal setting ▫Relations to children’s occupations based on sensory processing information

Sensory Assessments: Sensory Profile Developed by Dunn in item questionnaire Describes responses to sensory events and potential processing problems (1-5 pt scale) Eight categories Standardized Uses Dunn’s sensory quadrants

Background Lit-Sensory Quadrants Dunn

Sensory Assessments: SensOR Developed in 2008 Based on objective data 7 sensory domains 11 scoring options

Problem Statement A child’s sensory baseline information is gathered by a caregiver or teacher in the form of a questionnaires of current standard practice. The problem is they are not observational measures. Shift in sensory assessment towards objective data needs to occur.

Problem Statement The purpose of this study is to determine if caregiver or teacher perspectives of a child sensory system are adequate by the comparison of the Sensory Profile of a child to the same child’s score on the clinically observable SensOR Inventory Assessment.

Hypothesis Although the Sensory Profile has been ruled to be reliable and valid, for the purposes of this study I predict that there will be discrepancies between the data gathered by the Sensory Profile verses data from the SensOR.

Target Population 50 children with and without ASD Clayton Academy Attempt to control for age/gender

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