O Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA) inclui em seu diagnóstico diversos sintomas, apresentando uma ampla variedade nos níveis de desenvolvimento e funcionamento. Embora não central ao diagnóstico, diversos pesquisadores têm associado déficits motores e dispraxia a esse diagnóstico. Além disso, tem-se associado prejuízos funcionais decorrentes da dispraxia em crianças com TEA. Na literatura são poucos os estudos que avaliam dispraxia em crianças com TEA, nenhum destes estudos no Brasil. Assim, nosso objetivo foi verificar se as crianças com TEA apresentam um perfil de dispraxia característico. Para isso realizamos coleta com 03 grupos distintos, cada um composto por 30 crianças, foram eles: TEA (G-TEA) nível 1, Síndrome de Down (G-SD) e controle (G-C). Para avaliação da praxia, optamos pelo teste Sensory Integration and Praxis Test (SIPT), que avalia diversas funções de praxia e já foi utilizado em estudos com a população alvo de nosso estudo. Além disso, utilizamos a Escala de Comportamento Adaptativo Vineland (para verificar o nível adaptativo dos indivíduos participantes), escala de Avaliação de Traços Autísticos (ATA) para sustentação diagnóstica do G-TEA e utilizamos a Escala de Classe Social de Pelotas, para verificar se a classe social teria impacto na amostra. Como resultado, as crianças do G-C apresentaram escores dentro da faixa de normalidade, sendo todos os escores positivos, as crianças do G-TEA apresentaram escores mais baixos do que o G-C, no entanto, apenas em 07 dos 17 testes tiveram prejuízos, com desempenho abaixo do normal, sendo estes testes relacionados à praxia (imitação de posturas, movimentos e oral, além de praxia sem indicação visual), função vestibular (equilíbrio e nistagmo) e, estereognosia. As crianças do G-SD apresentaram desempenho abaixo do normal em todos os testes aplicados, possivelmente isso é decorrente da comorbidade da síndrome com deficiência intelectual. Além disso, encontramos uma diferença significativa maior no escore da Vineland relacionado à Atividade de Vida Cotidiana, ao compararmos crianças com TEA com grupo controle. Estudos corroboram o achado em nossa pesquisa, indicando que, crianças com TEA apresentam dispraxia que parece ser característica deste transtorno. Alguns estudos encontraram que as crianças com TEA apresentam prejuízos nas mesmas áreas dos encontrados por nós. Os profissionais embora defendam a intervenção com essas crianças, têm usado poucas avaliações que justifiquem tais intervenções, dessa forma, acreditamos que é importante o uso de instrumentos para avaliação da praxia em crianças com TEA, visando direcionar o planejamento terapêutico e ganhos funcionais para essas crianças / Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) includes in its diagnostic several symptoms, with a wide variety in the levels of development and functioning. Although motor deficits and dyspraxia are not relevant to the diagnosis, several researchers have done this association. In addition, functional impairments due to dyspraxia have been associated in children with ASD. In the literature, there are few studies evaluating dyspraxia in children with ASD none of these studies in Brazil. Our aim was to verify if children with ASD have a characteristic dyspraxia profile. To do this, we performed a collection of three different groups, each composed of 30 children: ASD (G-ASD) level 1, Down Syndrome (G-DS) and control (G-C). In order to evaluate praxis, we decided to use the Sensory Integration and Praxis Test (SIPT), which evaluates several praxis functions and has already been used in studies with the target population of our study. In addition, we used the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (to verify the adaptive level of the participants), Autistic Trait Scale (ATA) for diagnostic support of G-ASD and used the Pelotas Social Class Scale to verify if social class would have an impact on the sample. As a result, G-C presented scores within the range of normal, and all scores were positive, G-ASD children presented lower scores than GC, however, only in 07 of 17 tests with performance below of the normal, being these tests related to praxis (imitation of postures, movements and oral, besides praxis without visual indication), vestibular function (balance and nystagmus) and stereognosis. The G-DS children presented below-normal performance in all applied tests, possibly due to the comorbidity of the syndrome with intellectual disability. In addition, we found a major significant difference in the Vineland score related to Daily Living Activity, when comparing children with ASD with the control group. Studies corroborate the finding in our study, indicating that children with ASD have dyspraxia that appears to be characteristic of this disorder. Some studies have found that children with ASD has same difficulties that we found. Although practitioners advocate intervention with these children, they have used few evaluations instruments to justify such interventions, so we believe that it is important to use instruments to assess praxis in children with ASD, in order to direct the therapeutic planning and functional gains for these children

Neste estudo foi avaliado o efeito de procedimentos transitórios e duradouros sobre a adaptação de respostas posturais reativas a perturbações externas e durante postura ereta quieta de participantes que sofreram acidente vascular encefálico (AVE). O Experimento 1 teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito do toque suave com a ponta do dedo indicador em superfície estável na recuperação do equilíbrio de participantes pós-AVE após perturbação mecânica e durante postura ereta quieta, em comparação a idosos sadios. Os resultados em postura quieta mostraram que o toque suave em superfície estável induziu oscilações mais lentas e de menor magnitude do centro de pressão (CP). Em resposta a uma perturbação mecânica imprevisível, os resultados indicaram que o toque suave induziu menor deslocamento do CP e do centro de massa (CM) em relação à condição sem toque, e menor magnitude de ativação do músculo gastrocnêmio medial (GM). Os resultados indicaram que o efeito de toque suave foi semelhante entre os grupos. O Experimento 2 teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito da manipulação sensorial na reabilitação do equilíbrio corporal em participantes pós-AVE. Para tanto, dois grupos pós-AVE foram submetidos a treinamento de equilíbrio com restrição sensorial, manipulando-se informações visual e tátil da sola dos pés (grupo restrição), ou sem manipulação sensorial (grupo integral). As avaliações foram realizadas antes de iniciar o treinamento (pré-teste), dois dias após a última sessão (retenção 1) e uma semana após o final da prática (retenção 2). Análises de acompanhamento durante as sessões de prática indicaram ganhos significantemente maiores de controle postural para o grupo restrição em comparação ao grupo integral. Os resultados da tarefa de alcance frontal mostraram maiores deslocamentos do punho para o grupo restrição no teste de retenção 1 e retenção 2 comparados ao pré-teste, mas nenhum efeito de teste foi encontrado para o grupo integral. Os resultados para postura perturbada indicaram que para amplitude e velocidade do CP foram observados maiores valores na retenção 1 e retenção 2 em comparação ao pré-teste. Os resultados para postura ereta quieta, em superfície maleável, mostraram menor velocidade do CP para o grupo restrição comparado ao grupo integral na retenção 1 e retenção 2. Os achados aqui relatados sugerem que enquanto informação sensorial extra favorece a estabilização postural e recuperação do equilíbrio, restrição de informação sensorial parece favorecer a melhora do equilíbrio corporal em participantes que sofreram acidente vascular encefálico / In the present study it was assessed the effect of transitory and long-lasting procedures on the adaptation of reactive postural responses from external perturbations and during stable upright posture of participants who have undergone stroke. Experiment 1 aimed to assess the effect of light fingertip touch on a stable surface in the recovery of balance stability of post-stroke participants after mechanical perturbation and during quiet stance in comparison to healthy elderly individuals. Results in quiet stance showed that the light touch on a stable surface induced to slower and smaller magnitude center of pressure (CoP) sway. In response to an unpredictable mechanical perturbation, results showed that light touch led to smaller CoP and center of mass (CoM) displacement/sway related to the condition without touch, and smaller magnitude of muscular activation of gastrocnemius medialis (GM). Results indicated that the effect of light touch was similar between the groups. Experiment 2 aimed to assess the effect of sensory manipulation in the rehabilitation of balance stability in post-stroke participants. For this purpose, 2 post-stroke groups were subjected to training of standing balance with sensory restriction (restriction group), manipulating visual and tactile of sole of the foot information, or without sensory manipulation (integral group). Assessments were conducted before training (pretest), two days after the last session (retention 1) and one week after the end of practice (retention 2). Follow-up analyses during practice sessions indicated significantly better posture control improvements for the restriction group in comparison to the integral group. Results of the forward reach task showed greater displacement of wrist for the restriction group in the retention 1 and retention 2 test compared to the pretest, but no effect of test was found for the integral group. Results for perturbed posture indicted that for CoP amplitude and velocity, higher values were observed in the retention 1 and retention 2 test in comparison to pretest. Results for quiet stance on malleable surface showed a reduced CoP velocity for the restriction group compared to the integral group in the retention 1 and retention 2 test. Findings herein reported suggest that while extra sensory information induces posture stability and balance recovery, restriction of sensory information seems to lead to improved balance stability in participants who have undergone stroke

O Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA) inclui em seu diagnóstico diversos sintomas, apresentando uma ampla variedade nos níveis de desenvolvimento e funcionamento. Embora não central ao diagnóstico, diversos pesquisadores têm associado déficits motores e dispraxia a esse diagnóstico. Além disso, tem-se associado prejuízos funcionais decorrentes da dispraxia em crianças com TEA. Na literatura são poucos os estudos que avaliam dispraxia em crianças com TEA, nenhum destes estudos no Brasil. Assim, nosso objetivo foi verificar se as crianças com TEA apresentam um perfil de dispraxia característico. Para isso realizamos coleta com 03 grupos distintos, cada um composto por 30 crianças, foram eles: TEA (G-TEA) nível 1, Síndrome de Down (G-SD) e controle (G-C). Para avaliação da praxia, optamos pelo teste Sensory Integration and Praxis Test (SIPT), que avalia diversas funções de praxia e já foi utilizado em estudos com a população alvo de nosso estudo. Além disso, utilizamos a Escala de Comportamento Adaptativo Vineland (para verificar o nível adaptativo dos indivíduos participantes), escala de Avaliação de Traços Autísticos (ATA) para sustentação diagnóstica do G-TEA e utilizamos a Escala de Classe Social de Pelotas, para verificar se a classe social teria impacto na amostra. Como resultado, as crianças do G-C apresentaram escores dentro da faixa de normalidade, sendo todos os escores positivos, as crianças do G-TEA apresentaram escores mais baixos do que o G-C, no entanto, apenas em 07 dos 17 testes tiveram prejuízos, com desempenho abaixo do normal, sendo estes testes relacionados à praxia (imitação de posturas, movimentos e oral, além de praxia sem indicação visual), função vestibular (equilíbrio e nistagmo) e, estereognosia. As crianças do G-SD apresentaram desempenho abaixo do normal em todos os testes aplicados, possivelmente isso é decorrente da comorbidade da síndrome com deficiência intelectual. Além disso, encontramos uma diferença significativa maior no escore da Vineland relacionado à Atividade de Vida Cotidiana, ao compararmos crianças com TEA com grupo controle. Estudos corroboram o achado em nossa pesquisa, indicando que, crianças com TEA apresentam dispraxia que parece ser característica deste transtorno. Alguns estudos encontraram que as crianças com TEA apresentam prejuízos nas mesmas áreas dos encontrados por nós. Os profissionais embora defendam a intervenção com essas crianças, têm usado poucas avaliações que justifiquem tais intervenções, dessa forma, acreditamos que é importante o uso de instrumentos para avaliação da praxia em crianças com TEA, visando direcionar o planejamento terapêutico e ganhos funcionais para essas crianças / Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) includes in its diagnostic several symptoms, with a wide variety in the levels of development and functioning. Although motor deficits and dyspraxia are not relevant to the diagnosis, several researchers have done this association. In addition, functional impairments due to dyspraxia have been associated in children with ASD. In the literature, there are few studies evaluating dyspraxia in children with ASD none of these studies in Brazil. Our aim was to verify if children with ASD have a characteristic dyspraxia profile. To do this, we performed a collection of three different groups, each composed of 30 children: ASD (G-ASD) level 1, Down Syndrome (G-DS) and control (G-C). In order to evaluate praxis, we decided to use the Sensory Integration and Praxis Test (SIPT), which evaluates several praxis functions and has already been used in studies with the target population of our study. In addition, we used the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (to verify the adaptive level of the participants), Autistic Trait Scale (ATA) for diagnostic support of G-ASD and used the Pelotas Social Class Scale to verify if social class would have an impact on the sample. As a result, G-C presented scores within the range of normal, and all scores were positive, G-ASD children presented lower scores than GC, however, only in 07 of 17 tests with performance below of the normal, being these tests related to praxis (imitation of postures, movements and oral, besides praxis without visual indication), vestibular function (balance and nystagmus) and stereognosis. The G-DS children presented below-normal performance in all applied tests, possibly due to the comorbidity of the syndrome with intellectual disability. In addition, we found a major significant difference in the Vineland score related to Daily Living Activity, when comparing children with ASD with the control group. Studies corroborate the finding in our study, indicating that children with ASD have dyspraxia that appears to be characteristic of this disorder. Some studies have found that children with ASD has same difficulties that we found. Although practitioners advocate intervention with these children, they have used few evaluations instruments to justify such interventions, so we believe that it is important to use instruments to assess praxis in children with ASD, in order to direct the therapeutic planning and functional gains for these children

abstract: A history of trauma can affect a child’s capacity to express emotions due to the neurological footprints left from neglect and abuse. Oftentimes, children do not have a caregiver as a protector which leaves them vulnerable to harm. In response, children use emotional survival strategies of either flight or fight to adapt to their stressful environment. Occupational Therapy Practitioners (OTP) are positioned to address social and emotional development; however, they often feel ill equipped to address the complexity of trauma and its impact on emotions. OTPs need to look at each sensory system from a nurturing/grounding perspective using movement-based strategies as inroads to address the child’s emotional capacity. A sensory integration intervention, Proprioceptive Activities to Lower Stress (PALS), was developed to study the effect on a six-year-old boy’s expressions of emotions using a single subject design. Three emotions were measured using a facial analysis system, Noldus FaceReader™. The emotions were happiness, sadness, and neutral. Neutral is defined as the level of emotional detachment. Results indicate a statistically significant improvement in the expressions of happiness and sad post the PALS program. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2019

‘Sensorimotor transformations’ are processes whereby sensory information is used to generate motor commands. One example is the ‘visuomotor map’ that transforms visual information about objects to motor commands that activates various muscles during grasping movements. In the first study we quantified the relative impact (or ‘weighting’) of visual and haptic information on the sensorimotor transformation and investigated the principles that regulates the weighting process. To do this, we let subjects perform a task in which the object seen (visual object) and the object grasped (haptic object) were physically never the same. When the haptic object became larger or smaller than the visual object, subjects in the following trials automatically adapted their maximum grip aperture (MGA) when reaching for the object. The adaptation process was quicker and relied more on haptic information when the haptic objects increased in size than when they decreased in size. As such, sensory weighting is molded to avoid prehension error. In the second study we investigated the degree to which the visuomotor map could be modified. Normally, the relationship between the visual size of the object (VO) and the MGA can be expressed as a linear relationship, where MGA = a + b * VO. Our results demonstrate that subjects inter- and extrapolate in the visuomotor map (that is, they are reluctant to abandon the linear relationship) and that the offset (a) but not the slope (b) can be modified. In the third study, we investigated how a ‘new’ sensorimotor transformation can be established and modified. We therefore replaced the normal input of visual information about object size with auditory information, where the size of the object was log-linearly related to the frequency of a tone. Learning of an audiomotor map consisted of three distinct phases: during the first stage (~10-15 trials) there were no overt signs of learning. During the second stage there was a period of fast learning where the MGA became scaled to the size of the object until the third stage where the slope was constant. The purpose of the fourth study was to investigate the sensory basis for the aperture adaptation process. To do that, the forces acting between the fingertips and the object was measured as the subjects adapted. Our results indicate that information about when the fingers contacts the object, that is, the ‘timing’ of contact, is likely to be used by the CNS to encode an unexpected object size. Since injuries and disease can affect the sensorimotor transformations that controls the hand, knowledge about how these processes are established and modified may be used to develop techniques for sensory substitution and other rehabilitation strategies.

When using visual and proprioceptive information to plan a reach, it has been proposed that the brain combines these cues to estimate the object and/or limb’s location. Specifically, according to the maximum-likelihood estimation (MLE) model, more reliable sensory inputs are assigned a greater weight (Ernst & Banks, 2002). In this research we examined if the brain is able to adjust which sensory cue it weights the most. Specifically, we asked if the brain changes how it weights sensory information when the availability of a visual cue is manipulated. Twenty-four healthy subjects reached to visual (V), proprioceptive (P), or visual + proprioceptive (VP) targets under different visual delay conditions (e.g. on V and VP trials, the visual target was available for the entire reach, it was removed with the go-signal or it was removed 1, 2 or 5 seconds before the go-signal). Subjects completed 5 blocks of trials, with 90 trials per block. For 12 subjects, the visual delay was kept consistent within a block of trials, while for the other 12 subjects, different visual delays were intermixed within a block of trials. To establish which sensory cue subjects weighted the most, we compared endpoint positions achieved on V and P reaches to VP reaches. Results indicated that all subjects weighted sensory cues in accordance with the MLE model across all delay conditions and that these weights were similar regardless of the visual delay. Moreover, while errors increased with longer visual delays, there was no change in reaching variance. Thus, manipulating the visual environment was not enough to change subjects’ weighting strategy, further i

There is little to no empirical research for sensory sensitivities of individual with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and coping strategies used in the workplace. Seven students with ASD were interviewed about sensory sensitivities experienced and accommodations used at the workplace. This study found that participants self-regulated sensory sensitivities, and not asking for or using accommodations. Future research is needed to focus on the sensory sensitivities of individuals with ASD who have been in the work force for several years.

<p>Abstract</p><p>This essay examines which role functional oriented music therapy, which is supposed to help sensorimotor development, can have in schools and in health care. To find this out, research about what kinds of effects exercise can have on academic achievements and in recovery from brain injuries has been brought up. The research concerning academic achievements was conducted with school children; some children without difficulties, some with sensory integration problems, and some with motor skill difficulties. In addition to this, research about the brain structure superior colliculus, which lies behind sensory integration, is also brought up.</p><p>The results showed that children who were given more exercise had significantly better scores in academic skills than the children with normal academic education. Thus, it might be reasonable to practise functional oriented music therapy in schools, both as helping general development, but also for children with different types of difficulties.</p><p>The research concerning exercise and injuries has made clear that the adult brain can change via neurogenesis, plasticity and cortical reorganization. These three aspects are important when practicing a skill or when recovering from an injury. Exercise has been shown to affect these three aspects positively and can therefore also aid the recovery from injuries.</p><p>Thus, there seems to be many theoretical aspects supporting the FMT- method. However, the question is if the results of one treatment form can generalize over such a wide range of injuries and defects that the FMT –adepts usually have. It is therefore also discussed if further experiments on the FMT-method could help make it a more effective tool for rehabilitation.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed July 7, 2009). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.