Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Benfield et al.’s (2025) Letter to the Editor regarding Whiting et al. (2025), “Occupational Therapy Using Ayres Sensory Integration® in School-Based Practice: A Call to Action.” We appreciate the opportunity to dispel misconceptions about Ayres Sensory Integration (ASI) and describe its use as an evidence-based approach.
The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA, 2017) mandates that school-based occupational therapy practitioners focus their interventions on participation in the school setting. The primary purpose of our article was to show how occupational therapy using the principles and practices of ASI satisfies that mandate.
There is ample evidence that challenges in processing and integrating sensation influences access to, and participation in, school occupations (Gonçalves & Abreu, 2023). The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process (4th ed.; AOTA, 2020) includes sensory functions as an important aspect of occupational therapy...
