• SPD Scientific Work Group (SPD-SWG)
• SPD-SWG participants
• Sensory Integration Research Collaborative (SIRC)
• Collaborative research in print

SPD Scientific Work Group (SPD-SWG)

A group of renowned research scientists representing multiple disciplines has been meeting regularly since 2002 to discuss how their findings relate to explanations of the underlying mechanisms of Sensory Processing Disorder. Known as the SPD Scientific Work Group, this assembly also defines the additional studies needed as next steps to furthering understanding of SPD and solicits scientists to conduct the work.

The SPD Scientific Work Group collaboration began when the SPD Foundation (then the KID Foundation) sponsored a Sensory Processing Disorder research planning retreat in 2002 funded by the Wallace Research Foundation. This planning retreat brought together twelve researchers funded by National Institutes of Health grants to develop a blueprint for future research into SPD. These far-sighted planning efforts were continued at a second meeting in 2004 entitled The Neurobiology of Sensory Processing Disorder.

At the 2004 conference, the participants agreed to formalize their collaborative efforts as the Sensory Processing Disorder Scientific Work Group (SPD-SWG). In 2005, findings of many members were presented at the SPDF national conference in Bethesda, Maryland. In 2007, most of the members presented at the SPD Foundation national conference in New York City.

The SPD Scientific Work Group is engaged in research related to the following aspects of SPD. Abstracts of member studies may be found under Research, SPD-SWG in Our Library.

• Neuropathology: What are the underlying physiological, neurological, and biochemical mechanisms implicated in SPD?
• Differential Diagnosis: What is the evidence that SPD is a valid and separate condition from other developmental disorders?
• Defining Characteristics: What is the behavioral phenotype of SPD? What are necessary and specific signs and symptoms for a diagnosis of SPD?
• Treatment Effectiveness: Which treatments for SPD work effectively?
• Prevalence: What is the prevalence of SPD in the general population and in individuals with disabilities?
• Etiologies: What are the causes of SPD?
• Developmental pathway: What is the developmental trajectory of SPD?

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SPD-SWG Participants

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Sensory Integration Research Collaborative (SIRC)

The Sensory Integration Research Collaborative (SIRC) came into being after SPD Foundation Executive Director Dr. Lucy Jane Miller envisioned and obtained initial funding from the National Institutes of Health to establish the collaboration.

The mission of this collaboration is to maintain a work group that will contribute to applied research in occupational therapy with a sensory integration (OT/SI) approach. Specifically, the group's research focuses on the effectiveness of OT/SI and understanding the physiological, behavioral, and contextual differences among children with SPD, typically developing children, and children with other disorders.

The vision of the work group is to grow the body of research on evidence-based OT/SI practice so that people around the world will have access to effective OT/SI intervention.

The SPD Foundation collaborated with SIRC to research:

• Reliability and validity of goal attainment scaling under the auspices of SPIRAL Foundation of Watertown, Massachusetts
• Development of a treatment fidelity measure for OT with a sensory integration approach
• Development of an approach based on published manuals (e.g., "manualized approach") to administer OT with a sensory integration approach so that treatment studies can be replicated

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OT collaborative research in print

The following peer-reviewed research by members of the Sensory Integration Research Collaborative (SIRC) has been published or is currently in press.

Schaaf, R.C., Benevides, T., Blanche, E.I., Brett-Green, B.A., Burke, J.P., Cohn, E., Koomar, J., Lane, S.J., Miller, L.J., May-Benson, T.A., Parham, D., Reynolds, S., Schoen, S.A. (2010). Parasympathetic functions in children with sensory processing disorder. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience: doi:10.3389/fnint.2010.00004.

Using a physiological measure of parasympathetic nervous system activity, this study suggests that children with severe Sensory Modulation Disorder (SMD) have poorer regulation than their typically developing peers. Clinically, children with more severe sensory behaviors and physiological dysregulation are also at greater risk of problems in the area of social, communication and daily living activities.

Parham D, Cohn ES, Spitzer S, Koomar JA, Miller LJ, Burke JP, Brett-Green B, Mailloux Z, May-Benson TA, Smith-Roley S, Schaaf RC, Schoen SA, Summers CA. Fidelity in Sensory Integration Intervention Research. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 61, 216-227.

A fidelity to treatment measure was developed to assess the faithfulness of OT/SI intervention to the underlying therapeutic principles of sensory integration theory. Thirty four OT/SI intervention studies were analyzed for consistency of intervention description with structural and therapeutic process categories of the measure.

Mailloux Z, May-Benson TA, Summers CA, Miller LJ, Brett-Green B, Burke JP, Cohn ES, Koomar JA, Parham D, Smith-Roley S, Schaaf RC, Schoen SA. (2007). Goal Attainment Scaling as a measure of meaningful outcomes for children with Sensory Integration Disorders. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 61, 254-259.

This article identifies the recent and current applications of goal attainment scaling to occupational therapy for children with sensory integration dysfunction as well as the process, usefulness, and problems of application of the GAS methodology to this population.

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