Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2020c) as “a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges” (2020). According to the CDC (2020a), 1 in 54 children in the United States are diagnosed with ASD, which costs the U.S. $236-262 billion annually to provide care and support for these individuals (Buescher et al., 2014). With increasing healthcare rates, this also increases U.S. financial spending to provide for autism services. Common characteristics of children with ASD are restrictive or repetitive behaviors, delayed motor skills, delayed cognitive skills, and challenges with social communication and interaction skills (CDC, 2020b).
Social interaction skills are foundational to engaging in occupations, including social participation, IADLs, education, work, play, and leisure, as well as developing meaningful relationships with others. Social interaction skills typically begin developing by the time a child is two months old, and continue evolving and maturing as the child develops (CDC, 2021). However, for children with ASD, the development of these social interaction skills can be delayed and more difficult to use appropriately. Delays in cognitive skills can lead to children with ASD experiencing difficulty in regulating and expressing their emotions appropriately, which can impact the way they interact and build meaningful relationships with other people (Torrado et al., 2017). Families/caregivers benefit from early education and training to learn how to support their child to live a meaningful life by successfully engaging in activities such as social participation, school, play, and work (Liptak et al., 2011; Lorenz et al, 2016).
Occupational therapists are skilled professionals that work on increasing independence, improving quality of life, and preventing long-term need for services, ultimately decreasing healthcare costs for families. Occupational therapists can use sensory-based interventions with children with ASD to promote growth of social interaction skills, build emotional regulation abilities, and develop individualized strategies to modulate their sensory system to improve engagement in social participation (AOTA, 2015; AOTA, 2017; AOTA, n.d.). Sensory-based interventions should ideally be formulated based on the clients behavioral response (active or passive), threshold level (high or low), and systems affected (taste, vision, hearing, vestibular, smell, touch, proprioception, and/or interoception; Metz et al., 2019). Common assessments used to objectively measure sensory deficits include the Sensory Processing Measure or Sensory Profile-2 to identify needs and inform treatment plans. The use of sensory integration interventions can also be applied in a multitude of practice settings (i.e. home health, school-based, outpatient, summer camp) for accessibility to the client.