Importance: Occupational performance measures are essential for guiding client-centered interventions for children and for measuring progress and program outcomes. Objective: To evaluate and report on the psychometric properties of a new assessment tool, the Children’s Occupational Performance Questionnaire (COPQ). Design: Descriptive and correlational methods were used. Participants: A convenience sample primarily from the northeastern United States was recruited, consisting of the caregivers of 156 children and 25 older children who completed the COPQ as a self-report. Participants’ ages ranged from 2 mo to 19 yr. Seventy-five percent of them identified as typically developing, and 25% had a medical condition or disability affecting development. Outcomes and Measures: Data from completed questionnaires assessing children with and without disabilities were used to explore aspects of the COPQ’s content validity, including age trends and item difficulty. Internal consistency reliability was also examined for each of the five domains: Personal Activities of Daily Living, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, Social Participation, Play/Leisure, and Education/Work. Results: Each COPQ domain showed strong internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s α = .96–.99). Age trends indicated increasing competency in occupational performance with age across domains and supported occupational performance as a developmental construct. Conclusions and Relevance: The COPQ shows promise as a reliable occupational performance measure for children for both clinical and research purposes. Potential items for modification or deletion were identified to reduce redundancy and increase efficiency. Further study of the tool’s psychometrics and normative data collection are needed. What This Article Adds: The COPQ addresses all areas of occupational performance and is being developed as a valid, reliable assessment tool for children. It aims to assist in guiding occupational therapy interventions and detecting changes in occupational performance in response to treatment.

Importance: The Sensory Processing Three Dimensions (SP3D) Occupational Performance Scale (OPS) is a new parent-report measure developed for use as part of a comprehensive occupational therapy evaluation for children with sensory processing and integration challenges. Objective: To examine the internal consistency and discriminant validity of the SP3D OPS, examine relations between sensory processing subtypes and areas of occupational performance (OP), and determine the extent to which specific sensory processing challenges predict problems with OP. Design: Nonexperimental, descriptive design using correlations, group comparisons, and stepwise regression. Setting: Three outpatient clinic sites in the United States. Participants: Parents of 66 children (33 typically developing and 33 with clinical problems) ranging in age from 4 to 12 yr. Outcomes and Measures: The SP3D OPS and SP3D Inventory were completed by parents to address psychometrics of the SP3D OPS and determine the association between sensory processing and integration challenges with OP. Results: Internal consistency reliability and discriminant validity of the SP3D OPS were supported. Scores on the Dyspraxia and Sensory Overresponsivity subscales best predicted deficits in OP. Significant relations were found between sensory processing and integration and competency in multiple OP areas. Conclusions and Relevance: The SP3D OPS shows promise as a measure of OP. The OP deficits among children with sensory processing and integration challenges are in part due to subtype presentation. Further studies of the SP3D OPS’s reliability and validity are needed. What This Article Adds: This new occupational performance measure shows associations between sensory processing and OP areas. It can provide information to support therapists in identifying family concerns relevant to goal setting and intervention.

Date Presented 04/05/19 A retrospective, nonexperimental design was conducted to explore and describe the characteristics of children ages two through seven years identified as having sensory processing deficits but no other specific neurodevelopmental or behavioral diagnoses. Relations among specific types of sensory processing disorder, adaptive behavior, and psychosocial-emotional functioning were also identified to increase our understanding of sensory processing disorder as its own diagnostic entity. Primary Author and Speaker: Shelley Mulligan Additional Authors and Speakers: Sarah Douglas

Date Presented 4/22/2018 Occupational performance challenges are described in a group of children with sensory processing and integration challenges. Understanding parent concerns and priorities is critical to treatment planning. The differential effect of sensory patterns on occupational performance can inform intervention. Primary Author and Speaker: Sarah Schoen Additional Authors and Speakers: Lucy Jane Miller, Shelley Mulligan

Date Presented 4/21/2018 Internal consistency reliability and item analyses using the Rasch model were examined for the Sensory Processing 3-Dimensions Scale, a performance-based tool for measuring sensory processing in children. The scale shows promise as reliable measure for both research and practice. Primary Author and Speaker: Shelley Mulligan Additional Authors and Speakers: Sarah Schoen, Lucy Miller

Date Presented 3/31/2017 This study addresses the need to define the phenotype of sensory processing and integration subtypes, information necessary for appropriate treatment planning and creation of homogenous samples for research. Cluster analysis identified three distinct modulation subgroups with unique characteristics. Primary Author and Speaker: Sarah A. Schoen Additional Authors and Speakers: Lucy Jane Miller, Shelley Mulligan

We compared the sensory and motor behaviors of typically developing infants with those of infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), who are considered high risk for the disorder, to explore potential sensory and motor markers for use in early diagnosis of ASD. We compared frequencies of sensory and motor behaviors during 10-min, videotaped, infant–mother play sessions and during 5 min of spoon-feeding between groups of 12-mo-old infants. Data from standardized measures of development, sensory processing, and behaviors commonly associated with ASD were also analyzed descriptively for the high-risk group. The results indicated that high-risk infants demonstrated fewer movement transitions (t [23] = −2.4, p = .03) and less object manipulation (t [23] = −2.4, p = .03) than low-risk infants. The sensory and motor differences found between typical and high-risk infants suggest that early screenings for ASD should include the examination of sensory and motor behaviors.

Building on established relationships between the constructs of sensory integration in typical and special needs populations, in this retrospective study we examined patterns of sensory integrative dysfunction in 273 children ages 4–9 who had received occupational therapy evaluations in two private practice settings. Test results on the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests, portions of the Sensory Processing Measure representing tactile overresponsiveness, and parent report of attention and activity level were included in the analyses. Exploratory factor analysis identified patterns similar to those found in early studies by Ayres (1965 , 1966a , 1966b , 1969 , 1972b , 1977 , & 1989 ), namely Visuodyspraxia and Somatodyspraxia, Vestibular and Proprioceptive Bilateral Integration and Sequencing, Tactile and Visual Discrimination, and Tactile Defensiveness and Attention. Findings reinforce associations between constructs of sensory integration and assist with understanding sensory integration disorders that may affect childhood occupation. Limitations include the potential for subjective interpretation in factor analysis and inability to adjust measures available in charts in a retrospective research.

OBJECTIVE. This quasi-experimental study sought to determine whether children with possible sensory processing deficits, as measured by the Sensory Profile, performed less well on an occupational performance measure compared to children with typical Sensory Profile scores. METHOD. Sixty-eight children were administered both the Assessment of Motor Process Skills (AMPS) and the Sensory Profile. After the assessments were completed, children were divided into two groups based on their Sensory Profile scores. RESULTS. Independent t tests indicated statistically significant differences between groups on the AMPS ADL [Activities of Daily Living] Motor and ADL Process measures (p < .05), with the children with atypical Sensory Profile scores showing more functional difficulties. Correlations revealed significant relationships among the measures. CONCLUSION. The results suggest that children identified with sensory processing deficits on the Sensory Profile are likely to experience some challenges in performing everyday occupations.

Objective. This study evaluated a five factor model of sensory integration dysfunction on the basis of scores of children on the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT).The purpose of the study was to determine a plausible model for understanding sensory integration dysfunction. Method. The hypothesized model of sensory integration dysfunction tested was derived from previous multivariate analyses and consisted of five patterns of dysfunction, including: bilateral integration and sequencing, somatosensory, somatopraxis, visuopraxis, and postural ocular motor. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the SIPT scores of 10,475 children and the scores of a subgroup of 995 children with learning disabilities were used to evaluate the model. Results. The CFA of the hypothesized model indicated numerous weaknesses with it and, therefore, was rejected. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was then performed with the same data set to identify a better-fitting, more parsimonious model o/sensory integration dysfunction. A second-order, four-factor model using generalized practic dysfunction as the second-order factor and four first-order factors (dyspraxia, bilateral integration and sequencing deficit, visuoperceptual deficit, somatosensory deficit) were pro-posed. The CFA supported this model as the better-fitting model. The proposed model held true when tested with the subgroup of children with learning disabilities. Conclusions. The modified model of sensory integration dysfunction proposed indicated that it was a good fit for the data and improved on the initial model. Clinical implications of the findings relate to the interpretation of SIPT scores and provide suggestions for test development measuring sensory integration functions. The proposed model has applications for occupational therapy intervention using sensory integration as the primary frame of reference.

Objectives. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the score patterns of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT) and to determine whether their score patterns differ significantly from those of children without ADHD. Method. In this retrospective study, the score patterns of 309 children with ADHD were compared with a group of 309 children without ADHD. The children were matched by norm group (reflecting age), gender, and the presence or absence of a learning disability. Both descriptive statistics and multivariate techniques were used. Results. Subjects with ADHD demonstrated relative strengths in the areas of nonmotor visual perception and localization of tactile input and weaknesses with vestibular processing and in most areas of praxis or motor planning. Certain SIPT scores of subjects with ADHD were found to differ significantly from those of subjects without ADHD. The SIPT test that best discriminated the two groups was Space Visualization. Conclusions. The results suggest that it may be helpful for therapists to consider the areas of praxis and vestibular processing in the evaluation and treatment of children with ADHD and that in clinical practice, it would be difficult to distinguish children with ADHD from those without on the basis of their SIPT scores. However, the ways in which the SIPT score patterns of children with ADHD differed from those without assist our understanding of the brain areas and neurological systems involved in children with ADHD.