Social Communication of Autism Spectrum Disorders: Efficacy Study of Occupational Therapy using Sensory Integration (OT-SI) among the Mizos

Abstract

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of Occupational Therapy using Sensory Integration (OT-SI) on social communication in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the Mizo community. The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) was used to assess the effects of the intervention on the participants via a pre-test/post-test design consisting of 35 participants (N=35) 29 males and 6 female aged 3-7. The outcomes showed a significant reduction of social communication deficits through intervention. The communication domain demonstrated the most improvement. This was followed by reduced restricted and repetitive behaviours and reciprocal social interaction. Results of the statistical analyses showed these changes to be significant and large. The finding supports Sensory Integration Theory and additionally, targeting primary sensory processing difficulties to ameliorate physiological stress can facilitate engagement, required for communication. According to the research, OT-SI is the most evidence-informed intervention for improving functional and social participation outcomes in ASD.