Sensory Integration Dysfunction
Ayres was the author of several books on the subject of "sensory integration dysfunction", a term of her coinage, including Sensory Integration and the Child. She also created several test batteries used to help identify issues related to the dysfunction. According to Group Dynamics in Occupational Therapy (2005), Ayres' theory and conclusions remain controversial. A 2002 article in The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice reported that controlled studies examining the effect of Sensory Integration treatment "have found little support for the efficacy of SIT for treating children with various developmental disabilities". Controversial Therapies for Developmental Disabilities (2004) indicated that in spite of "limited and mostly negative research findings on SIT", the sensory integration approach remained popular among occupational therapists and "other professionals and clinical populations".
“If I have been productive, it is partly because I have had the advantage of contact with those with the courage as well as the ability to think independently and along unorthodox lines. It has not been easy for the helping professions to conceive of human behavior as an express of the brain, and they are still struggling to do so… The employing of neural mechanisms to enhance motor development is now well established; the current area of major growth and controversy lies in the use of neurological constructs to aid in understanding and ameliorating cognitive functions such as learning disabilities; the next step may well be a more fruitful attack on emotional and behavior disorders.” Jean Ayres Ph.D (1974, p. xi).
Ayres worked at the Institute for Brain Research at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Read more about this topic: Anna Jean Ayres
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