Understanding
Ayres Sensory Integration
Smith Roley et al. published an article with the same title in 2007, when the term Ayres Sensory Integration was trademarked. The trademark has an educational purpose, and the article provided the intended education about ASI®.
Sensory Integration theory was generated by an occupational therapist (OT) and developed primarily within the profession of OT as you can easily verify by researching the authors of valid, peer reviewed studies of SI. (Valid = the study adheres to the ASI® Fidelity Measure). Ayres' SI theory and its clinical application provide an important, evidence-based frame of reference for OT practitioners worldwide.
In most countries, health and education professionals recognize that OT is the go-to profession for SI and sensory processing.
A study found that 99% of OTs apply principles of SI in their work with children with autism. OT-SI was identified as one of the three most requested approaches by parents and seen as the most effective one.
See full references in the article "Understanding Ayres Sensory Integration"
The ASI® approach addresses and aims to remediate the underlying sensory issues that cause problems in daily occupations and participation. Research has established clear links between specific sensory integrative dysfunctions and problems in occupational performance.
In 1972, Ayres wrote about one of the most important features of her theory: the aspect of sensory integration itself. She proposed that sensory systems do not develop independently of one another; rather, visual and auditory processing depends on the foundational body-centered senses.
According to Ayres, sensory information is not processed in isolation and, given this essential feature of the central nervous system, therapeutic intervention that incorporates sensation to affect multisensory perception will influence learning and behavior.
Ayres proposed that through the development of these sensorimotor functions and, specifically, by facilitating adaptive somatomotor responses, a person can develop improved learning, reading, math, visual and auditory perception, and
skilled motor tasks.
