About Face: Evaluating and Managing Tactile Impairment at the Time of Autism Diagnosis.

Evaluation for sensory impairment is a routine part of autism diagnosis. Sensory impairment of hearing, vision, or touch results in developmental delay and must be addressed before delay can resolve. Recent studies confirm that tactile impairment is present in autism and can be effectively treated with a tactile stimulation protocol.

Early Intervention with a Parent-Delivered Massage Protocol Directed at Tactile Abnormalities Decreases Severity of Autism and Improves Child-to-Parent Interactions: A Replication Study.

Tactile abnormalities are severe and universal in preschool children with autism. They respond well to treatment with a daily massage protocol directed at tactile abnormalities (QST massage for autism). Treatment is based on a model for autism proposing that tactile impairment poses a barrier to development.

Treatment of tactile impairment in young children with autism: results with qigong massage.

Background: Following the inclusion of sensory abnormalities in the diagnostic criteria for autism, evidence has emerged showing that tactile abnormalities in young children with autism are severe, universally present, and directly related to delay of early self-regulation milestones required for social development. Parent touch is the most effective means of stimulating early self-regulation, yet parents of children with autism avoid touch because their children respond abnormally to it. This suggests that tactile abnormalities pose a barrier to parent touch in autism, and that treatment of tactile abnormalities may improve developmental outcomes.

Outcomes for children with deaf-blindness with cochlear implants: a multisite observational study.

Introduction: Children with dual sensory impairments are receiving cochlear implants; however, little is known regarding their language outcomes.

Materials And Methods: Children between the ages of 6 months and 8 years with dual sensory impairment and cochlear implant(s) were recruited from across the United States to participate in an evaluation of language skills using the Reynell-Zinkin Developmental Scales, a tool validated on children with vision impairment and adapted for children with hearing loss. Basic demographic information was also collected from care givers.

Qigong massage for motor skills in young children with cerebral palsy and Down syndrome.

In this article, we present a small randomized controlled study evaluating the effect of a dual parent- and trainer-delivered qigong massage methodology on motor skills and sensory responses in 28 children under age 4 with developmental delay and motor tone abnormalities. Fourteen children had high motor tone as a result of cerebral palsy (CP), and 14 children had low motor tone as a result of Down syndrome. Multivariate analysis and post hoc analysis of variance showed large effect-size improvements in Peabody Gross Motor Scale (PGMS) Object Manipulation scores (p < .

Sense and self-regulation checklist, a measure of comorbid autism symptoms: initial psychometric evidence.

Sensory and self-regulatory symptoms make up most of the comorbid symptoms in autism and are associated with increased autism severity. We validated a parent-caregiver measure of comorbid symptoms in autism, the Sense and Self-Regulation Checklist (SSC), in 265 children <6 yr with typical development (n = 138), autism (n = 99), or other developmental delay (n = 28); Cronbach's α was .87.

Early intervention for autism with a parent-delivered Qigong massage program: a randomized controlled trial.

A recent randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a dual parent and trainer-delivered qigong massage intervention for young children with autism resulted in improvement of measures of autism as well as improvement of abnormal sensory responses and self-regulation. The RCT evaluated the effects of the parent-delivered component of the intervention. Forty-seven children were randomly assigned to treatment and wait-list control groups.

A model and treatment for autism at the convergence of Chinese medicine and Western science: first 130 cases.

Objective: To present a model for autism showing that impairment of sensory and self-regulation is the core deficit that underlies delays in social/language skills and abnormal behavior in autism; and to demonstrate the efficacy of a treatment for autism based on Chinese medicine.

Methods: Children with autism under 6 years of age were assigned to treatment or wait-list conditions. A total of 130 children were treated and the results compared with 45 wait-list controls.

Autism Parenting Stress Index: initial psychometric evidence.

Data validating the Autism Parenting Stress Index (APSI) is presented for 274 children under age six. Cronbach's alpha was .827.

Qigong massage treatment for sensory and self-regulation problems in young children with autism: a randomized controlled trial.

Autism is commonly associated with sensory and self-regulatory disturbances. This article presents a randomized controlled study evaluating the effect of a 5-month intervention directed toward improving sensory impairment, digestion, and sleep in 46 children with autism < age 6. The intervention, Qigong Sensory Training (QST), is a qigong massage intervention based in Chinese medicine.

Outcomes of a pilot training program in a qigong massage intervention for young children with autism.

Sensory impairment is a common and significant feature of children on the autism spectrum. In 2005, a qigong massage intervention based on Chinese medicine and delivered by a doctor of Chinese medicine was shown to improve sensory impairment and adaptive behavior in a small controlled study of young children with autism. In 2006, the Qigong Sensory Training (QST) program was developed to train early intervention professionals to provide the QST intervention.