Sensory Intervention for Children With Autism

Inclusion criteria

Male children 6 years, 0 months to 8 years, 6 months of age with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) will qualify for inclusion. Our inclusion age ensures all study participants will complete intervention/control conditions and be retested before they turn 9 years of age. Additional inclusion criteria include:

• The families of children will have access to transportation to attend intervention sessions 2 times per week for 16-weeks.
• Children who qualify will be verbal, and will speak and understand English. The native language of caregivers can include Spanish.
• Children who qualify will have sensorimotor delays as assessed by the study team using the standardized, norm-referenced assessments described in this research proposal (z-scores on 3 of 5 tests -1.0 or lower).

Exclusion criteria

Children younger than 6 years of age or older than 8 years, 6 months of age will be excluded. Additional exclusion criteria include:

• Female children
• Auditory hyperresponsivity as assessed during screening procedures.
• Medical co-morbidities such as extreme prematurity (less than 28 weeks), blindness, deafness, cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, or head-injury with loss of consciousness.
• History of individual occupational therapy services in a clinical setting that includes sensory equipment.
• Non-removable metal in the head or body (e.g. dental fillings & braces, metal pins, screws or plates).
• Children unable to complete neurocognitive or sensorimotor testing.
• Children unsuccessful in 3 mock scanning sessions during baseline testing.