Sensory Integration Education

Why assess?

Comprehensive assessment should always precede Intervention planning and delivery. Within the field of sensory integration (SI), assessment tools are used to gather evidence to help clinicians make data-driven decisions when working with clients with sensory integration and sensory processing differences.

What assessment tools should I use?

Historically, many expert clinicians have considered the Ayres' ‘Sensory Integration and Praxis Test’ (SIPT) as the gold standard test for assessing how well sensory information is perceived and integrated at different levels of complexity. A new generation of SI tests is now being developed and published for use across the lifespan. Hence, today's clinicians need to be aware of the older assessments and the newly published and forthcoming ones. Sound knowledge of the different SI tests available and strong clinical reasoning skills are both needed to ensure the best assessment tools are selected for clients. There is no ‘one test fits all’ assessment in the field of SI.  Age, cognitive ability, cultural and individual preferences, workplace setting, time restrictions and cost must all be considered, as well as test portability and therapist qualifications. Every client is unique, and a ‘comprehensive assessment’ will look very different from one setting to the next.

Which assessment tools are introduced in the SIE SI training pathway?

SIE’s SI Module 2: Clinical Reasoning in Sensory Integration: Assessment introduces the therapist to assessment principles and the different assessment tools commonly used in clinical practice. It focuses on developing the key clinical reasoning and critical thinking skills needed for selecting assessment tools appropriately and administering, scoring, analysing and interpreting results effectively.

It includes optional access to training in the theory, administration, scoring, and interpretation of the ASH, SPM-2, and SOSI-M/COP-R sensory integration assessments, plus sections on Clinical Observations and SIPT Interpretation. This module also shares overviews of some of the other most frequently used tools for assessing responsivity and praxis, including the EASI and the forthcoming SP3-D and C-SEA assessments. 

SI Module 2 is part of the 3-module training pathway that enables therapists to qualify as Sensory Integration Practitioners and delivers a PGCert in Sensory Integration accredited by Sheffield Hallam University. If you wish to qualify as an SI Practitioner, find out more here. 

Does SIE offer any ‘stand-alone’ assessment training courses?

Yes, SIE also offers access to stand-alone CPD training in the theory, administration and interpretation of the ASH, SPM-2 and SOSI-M/COP-R sensory integration assessments as separate courses within our Lifelong Learning Programme. Live dates will be shown when available. Please note that these courses do not include access to the manuals, scoring forms or tool kits, so students must purchase these separately if they wish to use them in their clinical practice. We have negotiated discounts for students purchasing the training via SIE - see the specific course pages for more details.

Overview Of Some Commonly Used And Forthcoming SI Assessment Tools

ASH

Adult/Adolescent Sensory History

Publisher: The Spiral Foundation

Publication Date: First edition revised 2021

Author: Teresa May-Benson

Test Overview

A self-report assessment of sensory and motor behaviours commonly observed in individuals with difficulties processing and integrating sensory information.

The assessment identifies difficulties in five key areas of functioning: Sensory Discrimination, Sensory Modulation, Postural-Ocular Skills, Praxis, and Social-Emotional Functioning. The complete Adult/Adolescent Sensory History demonstrates the following features:

• A comprehensive standardized self-report questionnaire.
• An alternative caregiver questionnaire for parents or other caregivers of adolescents or individuals with disabilities.
• An abridged and simplified self-report supplement to the caregiver questionnaire for younger adolescents or individuals with disabilities who may not be able to complete the comprehensive self-report questionnaire.
• A supplemental medical and developmental history form.
• A comprehensive, standardised research-based scoring program for use with the self-report questionnaire or caregiver questionnaire.
• Numerous standardised sub-scores to assist with identifying discrete patterns of dysfunction in processing and integrating sensory information, which allows for clinical utility in treatment planning.

Age range:  13-95

Format: Print or online

Training: SIE offers training from the test author Dr Teresa May-Benson. During the webinar, Dr. May-Benson introduces you to this popular assessment tool and goes through case study examples to bring the administration, scoring and interpretation of the test to life. The course includes a 10% discount code for the test from the publisher Spiral Foundation.  Please note that this training is included within SIE’s postgraduate training, so if you are studying SI Module 2 or the PGCert, PGDip or MSc, free access to this course is already included in your curriculum.

SPM-2 and Quick Tips

Sensory Processing Measure 2 and Quick Tips

Publisher: Western Psychological Services

Publication Date: 2021

Author: L. Diane Parham, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, Cheryl L. Ecker, MA, OTR/L, Heather Kuhaneck, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, Diana A. Henry, MS, OT/L, FAOTA, Tara J. Glennon, EdD, OTR/L, FAOTA

Test Overview

The SPM-2 is an expansion of the Sensory Processing Measure family of products. A behaviour rating scale, it offers new forms—including driving forms—and a broadened age range so no one is left behind.

Like its predecessors, the new SPM-2 is firmly grounded in Ayres Sensory Integration® theory. T scores provide norm-referenced indexes of the integrative functions of praxis and social participation, as well as the following sensory systems:

• Visual
• Auditory
• Tactile
• Olfactory and Gustatory (new)
• Proprioceptive
• Vestibular

The SPM 2 items provide descriptive clinical information on processing vulnerabilities within each sensory system, including under and over-reactivity, sensory-seeking behaviour and difficulties with perception. The forms at each age level are designed for maximum flexibility in choosing and comparing among environments and raters, such as multiple caregivers.

What’s new in the SPM-2:

• An expanded age range that encompasses the lifespan, from 4 months to 87 years
• New and revised forms across five age levels: Infant/Toddler, Preschool, Child, Adolescent, and Adult
• Updated norms based on a new, nationally representative standardization sample
• Ability to compare sensory integration and processing function between individuals
• New clinical validity studies, including sensory processing disorders, autism spectrum disorders, speech-language pathologies, intellectual and developmental disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and other mental health disorders
• Updated SPM-2 Quick Tips now included in every Preschool and Child kit

Format: Print or online 

Age range:  4 months to 87 years

Training: Access FREE online training in the SMP-2 from publisher WPS here, including tutorials All About the New SMP-2, Overview of SPM-2 Quick Tips, and more.

SOSI-M and COP-R

Structured Observations of Sensory Integration – Motor and Comprehensive Observations of Proprioception - Revised

Publisher: Academic Therapy Publications

Date Published: 2021

Author: Erna Imperatore Blanche, PhD, OTR/L, Gustavo Reinoso, PhD, OTR/L, and Dominique Blanche Kiefer, OTD, OTR/L

Test Overview

• The SOSI-M is a new nationally standardized assessment of sensory-based motor skills, based in Ayres Clinical Observations and developed by well-regarded experts in sensory integration.
• It includes 14 sets of administered items that assess proprioception, vestibular processing, motor planning, and postural control.
• In conjunction with the SOSI-M, the COP-R, a behavioural observation tool, was developed to provide essential information about a child’s proprioceptive processing. It provides information about the motor and behavioural skills linked to proprioceptive processing and is one of the first tools to provide a systematic way to measure proprioception in a clinical setting.
• The COP-R is comprised of 18 items and compares a child’s observed skills to typical children their age. 

Format:  Print or Online Scoring

Age range:  5-14

Training: Learn how to use these important assessments directly from the test authors Professor Erna Imperatore Blanche, Doctor Gustavo Reinoso and Dominique Blanche Kiefer. SIE’s training course delivers 10 hours of online training to cover the theory, administration and scoring of the SOSI-M and COP-R. The course includes a 5% DISCOUNT CODE for the purchase of the SOSI-M kit from the UK supplier. Please note that this training is included within SIE’s postgraduate training so if you are studying SI Module 2 or the PGCert, PGDip or MSc, this course is already included in your curriculum.

SIPT

Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests

Publisher: Western Psychological Services

Date of Publication: 1989

Author: A. Jean Ayres

Test Overview

• 17 subtests requiring children to perform visual, tactile, kinesthetic, and motor tasks
• An assessment kit – The therapist instructs the child to complete a number of tasks that are timed/counted and scored.
• Online scoring programme

Age range:  4 years to 8 years, 11 months

Format: Print forms and online scoring 

Training:  From 1998-2015 formal certification in administering the SIPT assessment was delivered under licence from USC/WPS in the United States. However, this formal certification has now been discontinued. There are currently no plans for the norms to be updated or the certification programme to be offered again. 

SIE’s postgraduate SI Module 2 training in SI includes an overview of the SIPT and its Interpretation as, without a doubt, this test was both informed by and has informed the development of Ayres’ theory. It has been a key tool in much of the research that has developed our understanding of sensory integration patterns. It is now widely acknowledged that the SIPT is limited in scope, with relatively few items addressing vestibular and proprioceptive functions and none addressing sensory modulation, ideational praxis, or auditory discrimination..

Sensory Profile 2

Author: Winnie Dunn, PhD, OTR, FAOTA

Publisher: Pearson Clinical UK

Publication Date: 2014

Test Overview

This family of assessments provide standardised tools to help evaluate a child's sensory processing patterns in the context of home, school, and community-based activities and can help the therapist: 

• Identify and document the effect of sensory processing on a child's participation at home, school, and the community 
• Contribute valuable information to a comprehensive assessment of the child's sensory strengths and challenges
• Develop effective treatment plans, interventions, and everyday remediation strategies

Using age-appropriate questionnaires, caregivers and teachers report on the child's response to sensory events throughout the day.

Format: Print or online administration. Q-global (web-based) or manual scoring

Age Range: 0–14

Sensory Integration Inventory Revised for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

Author: Judith Reisman, Ph.D., OTR and Bonnie Hanschu, OTR

Publisher: Therapro

Publication Date: 1992 (revised edition)

Test Overview

The inventory is divided into sections associated with sensory integrative processing: tactile, vestibular, proprioceptive and general reactions. Behaviours suggestive of sensory needs are listed as well as the associated self-stimulatory or self-injurious behaviours. A profile of strengths and sensory differences is then elicited to provide a guideline for intervention. 

Format: Printed checklist designed for caregiver’s report.

Age range: All ages

The EASI

The Evaluation in Ayres Sensory Integration Test

Authors: Zoe Mailloux, OTD, OTR/L;  Susanne Smith Roley, OTD, OTR/L; Diane Parham, OTD, OTR/L 

Publisher: CLASI 

Publication Date: Still in development but beginning to be used in clinical practice, using data sets collected to date. Initial use of the EASI scoring program (ESP) reliant on preliminary norms. More reliability and validity studies are planned. 

Test Overview

The EASI contains 20 tests and measures sensory perception, postural/ocular/bilateral motor integration, praxis, and sensory reactivity.

Training: Access to the EASI materials and scoring platform is only available for therapists who undertake CLASI Modules 2 and 3.

Format: Therapists are required to gather their own test materials and are given access to the files needed for self-printing test sheets, test forms, test manuals, and other materials. After the first year, there is an annual fee for the scoring platform. 

Age range:  3-12

 

SP3D

Sensory Processing 3-Dimensions scale 

The SP3D is a forthcoming comprehensive, standardised, norm-referenced assessment tool for measuring sensory processing behaviours, abilities, and challenges in children and adults based on the published nosology by Miller et al., 2007 10.5014/ajot.61.2.135

Who is developing the test? 

Test authors Lucy Miller, Sarah Schoen and Shelly Mulligan are currently developing the test for publication in conjunction with Western Psychological Services (WPS). 

Test Overview

A norm-referenced performance tool that measures three primary constructs or dimensions: (a) sensory modulation (reactivity); (b) sensory discrimination (perception); (c) sensory-based motor abilities (posture and praxis).

 It has four individual components: 

• SP3D Assessment performance scale, administered to individuals, ages three to adult, has 43 play-based subtests organised into seven domains.  The first five domains—Visual, Tactile, Vestibular, Proprioceptive, and Auditory—evaluate both sensory modulation and sensory discrimination. The final two domains, Posture and Praxis, measure sensory-based motor ability.
• SP3D Inventory is a scale of sensory-related behaviours that is completed by the caregiver for those up to 12 years old. Thereafter, the individual completes it themselves.
• SP3D Occupational Performance Scale is used to rate individuals on activities of daily living, relationships, and success at work or school. There are 3 different forms for parent/caregiver, children aged 8-12 and individuals over 13. 
• The examiner completes the behaviour During Testing Form following the administration of the SP3D Assessment. It is designed to capture information about an individual’s social attention, purposeful communication, emotional reactivity, relationships, self-perception, activity level, and regulation.

Age range: 3-adulthood

Format/Training: The SP3D kit is anticipated to include all test materials (except a therapy ball), scoring forms, and comprehensive training videos.

Test Status: In progress. 

How are Sensory Integration Education involved?

Sensory Integration Education is leading the UK collection of data for the construct validity and interrater and test-retest reliability testing of the assessment. The study has been approved by Sheffield Hallam University’s Research Ethics Committee with Converis number ER52525206 for data collection within England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. All Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and Speech and Language Therapists interested in taking part in the study must apply through Sensory Integration Education and provide the appropriate documentation to ensure they are eligible to become Data Collectors. Sensory Integration Education and Sheffield Hallam University processes are in place to ensure ethical compliance as we lead on this project. 

To find out more about the UK SP3D Data Collection Project, click here. 

C-SEA

The Classroom Sensory Environment Assessment. 

The C-SEA is a new, criterion-referenced ‘learning environment evaluation’ tool for use with preschool and elementary school-aged children. 

Who is developing the test? 

Test authors Heather Kuhaneck (PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA) and Jacqueline Kelleher (PhD) have developed the test for publication in conjunction with Academic Therapy Products (ATP). 

Test Overview

The C-SEA helps OTs, classroom teachers, and special-education teachers work together to understand how the classroom environment affects students’ ability to learn. It also suggests room adaptation strategies to design a classroom to address student needs better. The survey asks the evaluator to list the sensory components present in a classroom in five categories: 

• Visual Stimuli
• Classroom Sounds
• Classroom Smells and Tastes
• Things to Touch
• Movement Experiences

It explains how individual classroom components affect students and details additional sensory issues to be aware of. 

Age Range: Preschool and elementary school-aged students (approx. 3-10 years old)

Format: The C-SEA is an online-only instrument. Based on evaluator responses, it dynamically selects follow-up questions to learn even more about the classroom. Then, targeted research-based recommendations are made for improving the classroom environment. Evaluators can view reports online immediately after completing the survey.

Training: No training is required to use the C-SEA; only knowledge about the classroom, such as layout, equipment, lighting, and noise, is to be evaluated. The average time to complete the survey is 15 minutes.

Test Status:  Due to be published in Autumn 2023 by ATP Online. More information about the C-SEA can be found by exploring the Classroom Sensory Environment (C-SEA) website and the ATP website.