Occupational Therapy and Autism Ranking:

Aims and Claims

Aims

According to NHS Health Education England (201?),

“Occupational therapists help people of all ages to carry out everyday activities which are essential for health and wellbeing.”

In the case of autism, occupational therapy may be used to help the individual overcome a range of problems. For example, according to Anderson, S. (2008)

'Many children with autism receive occupational therapy services to enhance motor skill development as well as to address sensory integration issues. For example, a therapist might assist a child in developing mature grasp patterns so that the child can hold a utensil to feed him- or herself. A therapist might also incorporate sensory integration theory into treatment to assist the child in decreasing sensory-avoiding behaviors (like avoidance of brushing his or her teeth or hair), sensory sensitivities (such as sensitivities to certain fabrics or food textures), and sensory-seeking behaviors (like seeking movement input by constantly spinning, pacing, or rocking). Addressing such issues will help the child self-regulate so that he or she is able to function and learn at school.'

Claims

There have been various claims made for occupational therapy as an intervention for autistic people.  For example, the College of Occupational Therapists (2014) reports the following benefits:

• “Evidence shows that by working collaboratively with the child and the family to identify and achieve their goals, occupational therapists enable children with ASD to participate more fully in everyday life, reduce parental stress and increase feelings of confident parenting.
• Use of sensory processing strategies and sensory integration interventions may reduce autistic mannerisms.
• Occupational therapists analyse the activities of daily life in which children and young people struggle and assist them in building skills with these activities.
• Cognitive approaches can help children and young people with Aspergers learn skills to manage the everyday activities that are important to them.
• Children with ASD who received a 6 week occupational therapy programme using sensory integration made significant gains in their goal attainment scores.
• Children who received a manualized occupational therapy sensory integration programme needed significantly less assistance from carers during self-care and social activities.”

Updated

17 Jun 2022

Last Review

01 Dec 2016

Next Review

01 Nov 2022