On piano tops and proprioception
OK so I haven't let my inner R. Buckminster Fuller out for a walk lately so I think it is time to address a problem that I perceive with some aspects of clinical problem solving in occupational therapy. Here is some background first: In this month's AJOT there is an article on Proprioceptive processing difficulties among children with autism spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities (Blanche, Reinoso, Chang, & Bodison, 2012). It is an interesting article that demonstrates differences in test performance on an observational measure of proprioception between children who have disabilities and their typically developing peers. The authors correctly point out that we only have limited means to actually measure proprioception. The Standing and Walking Balance subtest of the SIPT is a good measure, but like other measures of balance it is confounded by proprioceptive processing, labyrinthine righting, and optical righting. It is difficult to really know how much