More Than Half a Century Later and Still Waiting for Sensory Integration Evidence
I came into occupational therapy as a street level clinician. Like many of my generation, I learned Ayres Sensory Integration (ASI) in school. I took additional steps to get certified to administer and interpret the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT) when they were first published, and tried to make sense of what the model promised. Over the years, I watched that test become outdated, all while waiting for the robust evidence base to emerge. I was told at countless workshops and conferences, " The research is coming. " It never did. In the meantime, neuroscience did not stand still. We now have dynamic systems theory, heterarchical processing models, robotics, and AI-driven neural networks that give us far richer and more precise understandings of how brains actually develop and adapt. These frameworks have left Ayres’ mid-20th century metaphors behind. I say this not as an outsider taking potshots. I am a clinician who has lived with the sensory integration mode...