As noted in the request for applications, a key aspect of heterogeneity in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a relatively high number of clinical interventions that are commonly provided but have limited or even no objective evidence to support implementation. Sensory integration deficit (SID) is a controversial but widely used diagnostic classification in ASD and sensory integration based treatment (SIT) is now routinely provided to children with autism spectrum disorder, but has an extremely limited evidence base. The purpose of this R34 proposal will be to complete developmental analyses in preparation for a relatively large randomized comparison trial examining the effects of commonly implemented sensory integration treatment techniques on communication development in ASD. A total of 40 participants with ASD will be randomly assigned to either a sensory integration (SIT) or pivotal response training (PRT) comparison condition. In addition, pre-and post intervention behavioral and neuro-imaging measures of multi-sensory processing will be gathered and analyzed to determine whether changes in multi-sensory processing are associated with SIT intervention. Two years of support are requested.

Public Health Relevance

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display severe disruptions in communication and social interaction. There are many unproven treatments thought to improve the skills that are widely implemented. The purpose of this project will be to evaluate whether sensory integration treatment is associated with improvements in communication and social skills in children with ASD.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Planning Grant (R34)
Project #
5R34DC010927-02
Application #
7933766
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZMH1-ERB-B (A1))
Program Officer
Cooper, Judith
Project Start
2009-09-17
Project End
2012-08-31
Budget Start
2010-09-01
Budget End
2012-08-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$345,261
Indirect Cost
Name
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Department
Otolaryngology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
004413456
City
Nashville
State
TN
Country
United States
Zip Code
37212
Noel, Jean-Paul; Stevenson, Ryan A; Wallace, Mark T (2018) Atypical audiovisual temporal function in autism and schizophrenia: similar phenotype, different cause. Eur J Neurosci 47:1230-1241
Stevenson, Ryan A; Baum, Sarah H; Segers, Magali et al. (2017) Multisensory speech perception in autism spectrum disorder: From phoneme to whole-word perception. Autism Res 10:1280-1290
Nidiffer, Aaron R; Stevenson, Ryan A; Krueger Fister, Juliane et al. (2016) Interactions between space and effectiveness in human multisensory performance. Neuropsychologia 88:83-91
Simon, David M; Wallace, Mark T (2016) Dysfunction of sensory oscillations in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 68:848-861
Krueger Fister, Juliane; Stevenson, Ryan A; Nidiffer, Aaron R et al. (2016) Stimulus intensity modulates multisensory temporal processing. Neuropsychologia 88:92-100
Baum, Sarah H; Stevenson, Ryan A; Wallace, Mark T (2015) Behavioral, perceptual, and neural alterations in sensory and multisensory function in autism spectrum disorder. Prog Neurobiol 134:140-60
Stevenson, Ryan A; Nelms, Caitlin E; Baum, Sarah H et al. (2015) Deficits in audiovisual speech perception in normal aging emerge at the level of whole-word recognition. Neurobiol Aging 36:283-91
Stevenson, Ryan A; Ghose, Dipanwita; Fister, Juliane Krueger et al. (2014) Identifying and quantifying multisensory integration: a tutorial review. Brain Topogr 27:707-30
Stevenson, Ryan A; Siemann, Justin K; Woynaroski, Tiffany G et al. (2014) Evidence for diminished multisensory integration in autism spectrum disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 44:3161-7
Wallace, Mark T; Stevenson, Ryan A (2014) The construct of the multisensory temporal binding window and its dysregulation in developmental disabilities. Neuropsychologia 64:105-23

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