Best Practice For Addressing Sensory Processing in Early Intervention Kelsey Wallace, OTDS - Doctoral Program in Occupational Therapy - Huntington University

Project description

Sensory processing disorders (SPD) occur in infants or children when they have trouble interpreting their daily surroundings and responding to it throughout their daily life (Ryley Children’s Health, 2022). Identifying developmental delays and providing early interventions is critical to ensuring strong future outcomes for children with language, cognitive, motor, or social-emotional difficulties. Early intervention (EI) services have been widely utilized in the United States since IDEA Part C was passed. In 2016, there were approximately 373,000 children who received EI services through IDEA Part C. IDEA is a federal law that was passed in 1975 and has gone through many changes since, but it now provides EI service for ages 0-2. Differences in sensory processing and integration have been shown to negatively affect participation in meaningful childhood occupations such as peer relationships and school participation (Reynolds et. al., 2017). Children and infants with poor sensory processing commonly show delays in fine motor skills, poor balance, and difficulties with coordination. These children also exhibit behaviors such as distractibility, tactile defensiveness, and behavior issues. In order to improve future outcomes for children ages birth-3 with sensory processing difficulties, it is important to determine what is best practice. For my capstone project and through research and observation, I will be developing a “best practice intervention” chart to help support evidence for this project. I will also be sending out surveys to EI occupational therapists and COTAs to determine the best practice assessments, interventions, and outcome measures for addressing sensory processing difficulties in ages birth-3. Lastly, I will be immersing myself in the early intervention setting in order to gain hands-on experience in working with this population. The overall goal of my project is to improve the future outcomes of children ages birth-3 who experience sensory processing difficulties by determining what is best practice. This project will give occupational therapists and parents the necessary information needed to best treat these children.

Needs Assessment & Literature Review

• Sensory processing difficulties can occur in infants or children when their brain is unable to record, modulate, and discriminate sensory input to evoke an adaptive response (Lane et al., 2019).
• Identifying these challenges as early as possible is vital to help the child or infant function effectively in their day-to-day activities.
• Early intervention (EI) serves infants and children who struggle with sensory processing, and occupational therapists can work within the EI setting with these individuals.
• Within the United States SPD affects 5-16% of children to the extent that that have trouble participating in their ADLs (Ahn et. al, 2004). There is an even higher prevalence of SPD in children who have disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder at 56-70% (Baranek et. al, 2007).
• All 8 occupational therapists whom I interviewed stated that it is challenging to find the best interventions for treating SPD since it is very individualized. They stated that it is hard to find “best practice” interventions since there is so many differing ideas on how best to treat SPD. They also all shared the importance of addressing SPD as early as possible to limit the degree to which it negatively affects the child’s life. One OT also stated that it is challenging to implement sensory interventions in EI since a lot of it is heavily reliant on the parent follow through.

Project Mission statement

To determine best practice for addressing sensory processing difficulties in early intervention ages birth-3 years through survey research and clinical experience

Project vision statement

To improve the future outcomes of children ages birth-3 years with sensory processing difficulties

Project leader

The project leader was responsible for all components of the current project including planning, implementation, management, dissemination, and sustainability components while initiating correspondence with all key stakeholders.

Project mentors

Dr. Cara Click, OTD, OTR/L holds a Doctorate Degree in Occupational Therapy from Huntington University. She currently works in outpatient pediatrics at Hand In Hand Comprehensive Therapy Specialists Inc. as well as through Early On to provide early intervention OT services. She supported the project leader in gaining hands-on clinical experience in the early intervention setting and sharing her expertise in sensory processing and early intervention.

Dr. Patricia Henton, OTD, OTR/L, ICA, CEIM is an associate professor at Huntington University. She has extensive experience working in the early intervention setting. She provided support to the project leader by sharing her expertise in the areas of early intervention and sensory processing.

My Impact

• Project completion has resulted in the student’s gained knowledge on sensory processing disorders in children ages 0-3 through research, clinical experience, and also through the findings of the research study.
• The research study completed suggested that most OT practitioners (OTPs) reported using best practice to treat sensory processing in the birth-three population.
• Though most OTPs indicated using best practice, they also identified missing elements that impact administering best practice. Future research should focus on the development of user-friendly, functional, and family-centered training and resources for sensory processing in EI.
• OT practitioners may use the current research to guide the development of further research and resources.

Future plans

Following graduation, I plan to practice in a pediatric setting and continue to gain additional knowledge on how best to treat and manage sensory processing challenges in young children. I also plan to use the skills obtained from my continuing education courses to better help these children.

contact information

kelsey.k.wallace@gmail.com

References

Ahn, R. R., Miller, L. J., Milberger, S., & McIntosh, D. N. (2004). Prevalence of parents' perceptions of sensory processing disorders among kindergarten children. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 58(3), 287-293. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.58.3.28

Baranek, G. T., David, F. J., Poe, M. D., Stone, W. L., & Watson, L. R. (2006). Sensory experiences questionnaire: Discriminating sensory features in young children with autism, developmental delays, and typical development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 47(6), 591-601. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01546.x

Clifford O’Brien, J. & Kuhaneck, H. (2020). Case-Smith’s occupational therapy for children and adolescents (8th ed.). Elsevier.

Lane, S. J., Mailloux, Z., Schoen, S., Bundy, A., May-Benson, T. A., Parham, L. D., Smith Roley, S., & Schaaf, R. C. (2019). Neural foundations of Ayres Sensory Integration®. Brain sciences, 9(7), 153. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci9070153

Reynolds, S., Glennon, T. J., Ausderau, K., Bendixen, R. M., Kuhaneck, H. M., Pfeiffer, B., Watling, R., Wilkinson, K., & Bodison, S. C. (2017). Using a Multifaceted Approach to Working With Children Who Have Differences in Sensory Processing and Integration. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71(2). https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2017.019281

Riley Children’s Hospital. (2020). Sensory Processing Disorders. https://www.rileychildrens.org/health-info/sensory- processing-disorders?msclkid=9ba746a4cf0f11ecaaa90340777ca006

US Department of Education. (2017). IDEA Section 618: Data products: State level data files, part C: Child count and settings, 2016-17. http://www2.ed.gov/programs/osepidea/618-data/statelevel- data- files/index.html#cccs