Using the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests to measure change: a pilot study

Area of Science:

• Occupational therapy
• Pediatric neuroscience
• Sensory integration

Background:

• Children with sensory processing difficulties often benefit from targeted interventions.
• The Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT) is a tool to assess these difficulties.
• Previous assessments like the Southern California Sensory Integration Tests had limitations in documenting progress.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of sensory integration intervention in children aged 6-8 years.
• To determine if the preliminary Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT) could document changes following intervention.
• To compare the SIPT's utility with earlier versions of sensory integration tests.

Main Methods:

• A pretest-posttest design was used with 19 boys aged 6-8 years.
• Participants received 6 months of twice-weekly occupational therapy focused on sensory integration.
• The preliminary Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT) were administered before and after the intervention.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements were observed in grouped data for praxis, somatosensory-vestibular functioning, and bilateral integration and sequencing.
• 17 out of 19 boys showed individual improvements on the Western Psychological Services ChromaGraphs.
• The SIPT demonstrated sensitivity in detecting changes resulting from sensory integrative techniques.

Conclusions:

• Sensory integration intervention shows promise for improving specific functional skills in children.
• The preliminary Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT) appears to be a viable tool for measuring outcomes in sensory integration therapy.
• These findings support the use of the SIPT for documenting therapeutic progress in pediatric occupational therapy.