Prevalence of Sensory Processing Disorders in Kindergarten and First Grade and the Impact on Occupational Particiaption in School
Graduation Date
2010
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy
Department
Occupational Therapy
Department or Program Chair
Ruth Ramsey, EdD, OTR/L
Thesis Advisor
Stacy Frauwirth, MS, OTR/L
Second Advisor
Ruth Ramsey, EdD, OTR/L
Abstract
The purpose of this quantitative, descriptive study was to investigate the rate of sensory processing disorders (SPD) and the relationship these disorders have to behavior in general education elementary school classrooms. This study is a replication and expansion of a study by Ahn, Miller, Milberger and McIntosh (2004) that looked at the rate of SPD among kindergarten students in one suburban U.S. school district. Parents and teachers of kindergarten and first grade students at two northern California elementary schools were surveyed using the Short Sensory Profile and a teacher questionnaire about student behavior. A total of 198 Short Sensory Profile surveys were distributed to parents and 44 (22%) were completed and returned. Of this sample, 11 students (25%) met the criteria for SPD. A more conservative estimate of 5.5% was calculated by assuming that all non-respondents did not meet the criteria for SPD. This suggests that there may be at least one child in every classroom with SPD. A total of eight questionnaires were distributed to teachers and six (75%) were completed and returned. The teachers identified eight students from the sample of 44 as displaying challenging behavior in the classroom. Of these eight students, four also met the criteria for SPD (p = .07, Fisher’s Exact Test). These results indicate that there may be a relationship between students’ sensory processing ability and their behavior in the classroom. Teachers may benefit from education about sensory processing and ways to adapt the environment so children can successfully participate in the occupations of school.