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<< Tillbaka| Överskrift | Autistic children's attentiveness and responsitivity improved after touch therapy |
|---|---|
| Upplaga | 27 |
| Sidor | 329-334 |
| Överskrift | Autistic children's attentiveness and responsitivity improved after touch therapy |
| Beskrivning | Autism affects 2 to 5 of 10,000 children. Although once considered primarily psychiatric in nature, autism is now generally thought to be an organic defect in brain development. Characterized by a failure to develop language or other forms of social communication, symptoms of autism include (a) withdrawal from or failure to develop normal relationships with people; (b) abnormal responses to one or more types of sensory stimuli (usually sound); (c) atypical movement, including immobility and hyperkinesis; (d) limited attention span and excessive off-task behavior; and (e) touch aversion. A variety of therapies have been tried with autistic children including structured activities, behavior modification, sensorimotor, and sensory integrative approaches. Touch therapy may also be beneficial for autistic children. Previous studies, for example, have shown that touch therapy alleviated anxiety and decreased cortisol levels and depression in child psychiatric patients (Field et al., 1992). In another study, vagal activity increased during touch therapy (Field, 1990). Since increased vagal activity has been associated with increased attention span (Porges, 1991), touch therapy may reduce the off-task behavior noted in children with autism. This study investigated the effects of touch therapy on three problems commonly asssociated with autism including inattentiveness (of-task behavior), touch aversion, and withdrawal. |
| Källa | Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders |
| Publicerad | 1996 |
| Författare | Dowling M, Field T, Henteleff T, Lasko D, Mundy P, Talpins S |