SI Interventions

The contribution of three research papers push forwards my hypothesis that occupational therapy has the power to grant indispensable rehabilitation for adolescents with an autistic disorder. For instance, seventeen children in one study as its experiment group received manualized OT/SI (occupational therapy using sensory integration) intervention adhering to the principles of sensory integration around, “sensory motor factors affecting the child’s functional behaviors and individually-tailored sensory motor activities were developed to address….[these components in adaptive ways in order the] intervention is contextualized in play with active involvement of the child and conducted in a large gym equipped…[with chances for] active, guided, sensory

The prevalence rate of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has risen drastically in the last 10-15 years. In 2008 the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that an estimated 1 in 150 individuals had been diagnosed with ASD, the 2014 report now estimates that 1 in 68 individuals have been diagnosed with ASD, roughly a 120% increase (CDC 2007 & 2014). This rising trend necessitates a greater number of programs and intervention strategies to improve the quality of life of individuals with ASD. One of the primary professions responsible for implementing and designing these new strategies and programs are occupational therapy (OT) practitioners. Occupational therapists are responsible for providing services that increase performance and participation of individuals with ASD. It is essential that occupational therapists utilize interventions proven to be efficacious and are continually improving and redesigning their program strategies (AOTA Ethics and IDEA). There is a wide range of interventions utilized by occupational therapists when treating individuals with ASD due to the various manifestations of deficits and positive symptoms that can occur.

There is little research to examine experiences and needs of individuals with ASD, or proper and effective support systems such as educational and family support needed for young adults making this transition. Most information that is provided on this topic is based on professional’s experience and knowledge. It is essential more research is provided to develop programs to help individuals transition from secondary education to higher

ASDs are chronic conditions that begin in childhood and have potential to affect outcomes into adulthood. Primarily, ASDs are neurodevelopmental disorders. They are characterized by heterogeneous severity of the core impairments (social interaction, communication, behavioral). Their other symptoms include language delay and intellectual disability. Although ASDs have not been reported to be completely cured, the evidence-based interventions have been reported to improve the core impairments and their other symptoms. However, because of the expense associated with behavioral interventions, financing these evidence-based interventions to improve outcomes for children with ASDs has often been the subject of debate. In fact, to improve access to behavioral interventions for children with ASDs, several states have passed mandates. Additionally, evidence suggests improvement in insurance coverage for children with ASDs after the passage of mandate. Therefore, economic evaluation of evidence-based interventions for children with ASDs can contribute to development and dissemination of best practice standards, and also support policies to ensure access to effective

Smoking is still a pressing issue for Americans, despite efforts to regulate and lessen tobacco use. One in every five Americans still regularly smokes a cigarette, and those who attempt to quit aren’t utilizing all the assistance resources available to them. With these treatments being more prominent now than ever before, there is evidence that supports the effects of a quitter using aid compared to one who does not. Providing brief interventions about tobacco cessation may encourage more quit attempts and use of appropriate treatments, such as a quit-lines or medication. Despite many efforts, healthcare providers are still failing to provide brief interventions to patients, which therefore exposes flaws in a healthcare-based strategy to drive

Source: Schell, B.A., Gillen G., and Scaffa M. (2014). Willard and Spackman's Occupational Therapy, 12th Edition, Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.

Brief interventions (BIs) are aimed at preventing the onset of more serious and detrimental health behaviours. Brief alcohol interventions, in particular, have shown to be a valuable tool within the public health sector to assist in screening for alcohol problems and reducing levels of alcohol consumption (Walton, Goldstein, Chermack, McCammon, Cunningham, Barry, & Blow, 2008; Saitz, 2010). Online interventions have been developed to address harmful substance use and have been shown to be efficacious in meta-analytic studies (Portnoy, Scott-Sheldon, Johnson, & Carey, 2008; Riper, Spek, Boon, Conijn, Kramer, Martin-Abello et al., 2011; White, Kavanagh, Stallman, Klein, Kay-Lambkin, Proudfoot et al., 2010). The most effective online health promotion

People with ASD, more than other DD populations, exhibit an increased risk for developing or engaging in SIB (Minshawi et al., 2014). This may result from the vast array of challenges children with ASD face depending on severity of symptoms, early intervention, and personal and environmental risk factors. Predictors of SIB include: the diagnosis of intellectual disability (ID) and degree of intellectual impairment, impairment of adaptive function skills (communication deficits, social skill deficits, motor impairments, lack of self-care skills), sleep

The ASD is an early intervention field due to having a relevant obstacle in the research agenda at a "pre-paradigmatic" stage (Kuhn, 1962)-which is a stage where practices are informed by competing meta-theoretical orientations (e.g., behavioral theory, cognitive theory, and developmental theory) operate in consonance with disparate vocabularies and criteria used for appraising evidence (Ingersoll, 2010; Smith, 2014). Different treatments of individualization and combination have to generate testable prognosis, current frameworks of "pre-paradigmatic" should be developed into full-fledged scientific theories which utilize parameters and constraints to formulate treatment targets and therapeutic change of hypothesized nature. In this research, the hypothesis of treatment used will oblige the reformulation of rationales treatment in four sets of explicit terms of explanatory/predictive

Overall, we expect to observe an average increase in the scores for each construct, noting a general improvement in the core symptoms and severity of ASD compared to the control groups, which had relied on parent and family training interventions. Potentially, I think we will see an average increase in scores of measures related to cognitive and behavioral

One intervention which has been found to be to beneficial for the improvement of communication skills for individuals with ASDs is video modeling. Prelock and McCauley (2012), defined video modeling as an instructional method used to teach a behavior or a skill from viewing images of a demonstration of the targeted behavior. This intervention can be accomplished through self-modeling or the modeling by others (Prelock & McCauley, 2012).

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First, in order to better understand the extent of treatment gains, there needs to be research that includes long-term follow-ups with the children who participated (Ehrenreich-May et al., 2014). Currently, most of the research does not investigate beyond the six-month follow-up mark. Introducing long-term follow-ups will help us to better understand just what kind of effect CBT treatment is having on anxiety in children with ASD (Ehrenreich-May et al., 2014). It is important to know if these results last long-term, as many of these children can experience severe problems with anxiety later on in life (Farrugia & Hudson, 2006; Gillott & Standen, 2007). Another important aspect of the research that needs to be further investigated is how these treatment gains transition into more complex academic and social environments (Reaven et al., 2012). Since academic and social environments are where these children face the majority of their anxiety and spend a good amount of time, it is crucial to see if the CBT treatment gains withstand even in these complex environments (Reaven et al., 2012). Also, extended research is needed on daily living skills interventions for children with ASD and comorbid anxiety. Daily living skills are often impacted when children with ASD are dealing with the symptoms of anxiety, which can cause a decrease in independence and more of a reliance on parents (Drahota et al., 2011). Extended research needs to investigate whether or not daily living skill gains resulting from CBT can be maintained over the course of many years, rather than a few months (Drahota et al., 2011). In children with ASD and comorbid anxiety, acquiring daily living skills are crucial in attaining age-appropriate levels of independence (Drahota et al., 2011). Overall, the research makes it clear that CBT that has been modified for individuals with ASD is having an impact on

A person with ASD doesn’t always understand that an SIB will hurt them, they just understand this is the response that fits the situation. Matthews’s team will start with a very basic replacement behavior, a HELP PEC. Matthew will be taught that instead of a SIB, he can use a HELP PEC at any time during his day to receive assistance from a staff member. The PEC will need to be modeled several times and will need prompting in the beginning but prompts will be faded out over time. Matthew has some verbal ability so he will be asked to state the word help along with the

On researching the historical, theoretical and clinical perspectives regarding ASD, I found the information concerning the Triad of Impairments especially interesting as it explains the main difficulties I encounter within my profession, being that of problems in social communication, interaction and imagination. I had previously considered these secondary issues resulting from ASD and not the primary aspects. On realising this, it has helped me revise my practice into dealing with these principal characteristics instead of treating them as a derivative cause.