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The Discriminative Validity of the Evaluation In Ayres Sensory Integration® (EASI)
Zeynep Ender1, Sevda Asqarova2, Aymen Balikci3
1Department of Occupational Therapy, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Uskudar University, Istanbul, Türkiye.
Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics
|February 16, 2026
Summary
The Evaluation in Ayres Sensory Integration (EASI) effectively distinguishes children with sensory integration difficulties (SID) from typically developing peers. This standardized assessment demonstrates strong discriminative capacity across its subtests.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Therapy
- Pediatric Psychology
- Developmental Pediatrics
Background:
- Sensory integration (SI) is crucial for children's daily participation.
- Standardized assessments are needed to identify sensory integration difficulties (SID).
- The Evaluation in Ayres Sensory Integration (EASI) is a performance-based SI assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the discriminative validity of the EASI.
- To determine if the EASI can differentiate children with SID from typically developing (TD) peers.
- To assess the clinical utility of the EASI within the Ayres Sensory Integration framework.
Main Methods:
- 120 children (6-12 years) participated: 60 with SID and 60 TD peers.
- All participants completed the EASI.
- Discriminative validity was analyzed using chi-square, Fisher's exact, independent t tests, and ROC analyses.
Main Results:
- Children with SID performed significantly below TD peers on all EASI subtests (p < .001).
- Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses showed Area Under the Curve (AUC) values from 0.669 to 0.902.
- Subtests measuring praxis and postural control exhibited the highest discriminative accuracy.
Conclusions:
- The EASI demonstrates strong discriminative validity for identifying children with SID.
- The EASI is a valuable tool for distinguishing between children with and without SID.
- Findings support the EASI's clinical utility and profile-based interpretation in Ayres Sensory Integration practice.
