The Origins of Sensory Integration Therapy

The Origins of Sensory Integration Therapy

    Sensory Integration Therapy was born out of the pioneering work of Dr. Anna Jean Ayres who developed theory regarding sensory integration. Dr. Ayres was an occupational therapist, educational psychologist, and faculty member at UCLA (Kinnealey & Miller, 1993; Wikimedia Foundation, 2023). Through over 15 years of clinical work with children with emotional and behavioural difficulties she began to understand how sensory systems are implicated in behaviour and the neurobiological basis of behavioural and learning difficulties (Kinnealey & Miller, 1993; Lane et al., 2019). She sought to explain how sensory systems function independently and are integrated with other neurological systems (Lane et al., 2019). The theory and practice of sensory integration she developed describes how sensory information is translated into action via the nervous system and that appropriate sensory integration is the foundation of adaptive behaviour (Lane et al., 2019). In addition, she identified sensory integrative dysfunction, whereby difficulties with academic or motor learning are explained by the deficits in interpreting sensation from the body and environment (Kinnealey & Miller, 1993).
    Her first book Sensory Integration and Learning Disabilities was published in 1972 where she articulated her sensory integration theory rooted in principles of brain function (Kinnealey & Miller, 1993). Her five main assumptions were;

1. Due to brain plasticity sensory integration could effect change within the brain.
2. There is a developmental sequence to sensory integrative processes.
3. The brain operates as a unified whole, yet it consists of systems arranged in a hierarchical structure.
4. Demonstrating an adaptive response enhances sensory integration, while the capacity to generate an adaptive response relies on sensory integration.
5. Participation in sensorimotor activities is behaviour manifested via an inherent dive to develop sensory integration. (Kinnealey & Miller, 1993).

    Ayres also proposed six areas of sensory dysfunction and methods to remedy them utilizing a child-directed approach and sensory integrative equipment like hammocks, balls, or ramps (Kinnealey & Miller, 1993). She then published her first test, the Southern California Sensory Integration Tests (SCSIT), in 1975 the function of the vestibular system in learning disabilities was researched for the first time (Kinnealey & Miller, 1993). Through continued research and theory revision the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT) were developed to test and measure sensory integration and diagnose dysfunction and praxis difficulties (Kinnealey & Miller, 1993). The SIPT was then standardized for children in Canada and the United States and is still used today (Davies, 2023; Kinnealey & Miller, 1993). Since then, other tests have been developed like the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (MAP) and the McCarrom Assessment of Neuromuscular Development (MAND) (Kinnealey & Miller, 1993). Today common tests include the Sensory Processing Measure (SPM-2), Structured Observations of Sensory Integration (SOSI-M), and Evaluation in Ayres Sensory Integration (EASI) (Davies, 2023).