The Effects of Sensory Integration and Physical Exercise on the Stereotypy of Preschoolers With Autism

ABSTRACT The purpose of the current study was to test the effects of two interventions, sensory integration (SI) therapy and physical exercise (PE), as treatments for automatically maintained stereotypy. The study was conducted with two sets of two preschool students with ASD using a counterbalanced, multiple treatment design to test for a functional relation between the interventions, the participants' individualized, prescribed SI diets or PE and the dependent variable, their episodes of stereotypy. The results do not support the use of SI as a treatment for stereotypy and showed positive results and the need for future research on PE and its effects on stereotypy.