The effects of sensory diets on children with sensory processing disorder

Date

12/17/2018

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Abstract

Sensory diets are one of the interventions occupational therapists use in school-based settings to manage manifestations of sensory processing disorder. However, very few studies have investigated the effectiveness of sensory diets, and the results of these studies were mixed (Devlin, Healy, Leader, & Hughes, 2011; Fazlioğlu & Baran, 2008; Lopez & Swinth, 2008). Past studies also had methodological limitations (Case-Smith, Weaver, & Fristad, 2015; Watling & Hauer, 2015). Therefore, this study investigated the effect of sensory diets on children's sensory processing skills, psychosocial skills, and engagement in classroom activities. This study used a single-subject ABCA design. Five children between the ages of five and eleven years participated in the study. The study consisted of an intial baseline phase A₁, the control intervention phase B, sensory diets intervention phase C, and the second baseline phase A₂. Each phase lasted for seven days. The PI videotaped each participant for fifteen minutes each school day during all phases to collect the data. The participants were videotaped during classroom group activities. Visual analysis of the data showed that sensory diets had a positive effect on participants' sensory processing, psychosocial skills, and classroom engagement.

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Keywords

sensory diets, sensory-based interventions, sensory processing disorder, autism, pediatric occupatinal therapy, occupational therapy

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