As the comment period for the next draft of the DSM-V ends, and the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation waits to see if SPD will be included in the American Psychiatric Association's newest diagnostic manual, a synthesized and comprehensive research review published in the May-June, 2010, edition of AJOT shows sensory-based interventions do work, but how quickly they work differs among patients according to the nature of their sensory dysfunctions.

The review examines information contained in 27 published research projects on identifying and treating sensory processing disorder. It finds that "there is a trend for positive results from the sensory integration approach, especially in contrast to no treatment," according to lead study author Teresa A. May-Benson, ScD, OTR/L, research director at the Spiral Foundation and clinical director at Occupational Therapy Associates (OTA)-Watertown, MA.

The areas where effective intervention occurred were in sensorimotor skills and motor planning; socialization, attention, and behavioral regulation; reading-related skills; participation in active play; and achievement of individualized goals. Additionally, gross motor skills, self-esteem, and reading gains were sustained from three months to two years.

Co-author Jane A. Koomar, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, president of the Spiral Foundation and executive director of OTA-Watertown, notes that the frequency, length and duration of intervention in successful SPD outcomes varies, however.

".Therapy two to three times per week for six months is commonly an effective frequency," she said, "but the total number of hours of therapy may vary depending on the type of outcome being measured. If the outcome is client-focused and aimed at affecting core body functions, fewer sessions may be required before observing gains. If the outcome is focused on a complex level of participation, which may be reliant on first addressing several underlying skills, a longer period of intervention may be needed."

The two authors made their comments in a May 10 AOTA press release, where they also described their research as "unique, in that it independently examines all research articles and does not depend on interpretations by previous reviewers."

Their conclusions support the current intention, depending on recent feedback, of the APA to include sensory processing disorder in the fifth edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), due out in 2013. The manual is updated every 10 years. The comment period for the initial draft ended April 20, and APA is due to put forward a revised draft of the manual, based on comments it received, sometime this month.

"We're not at the finish line yet," Lucy Jane Miller, PhD, OTR, of Colorado, founder of the Sensory Processing Foundation (SPDF), warned advocates of the foundation's 10-year effort to gain recognition for SPD in the medical community. APA's DSM-V team will study the comments that have been sent in, and put out a revised draft of the manual, probably sometime this month. After that, a shorter comment period of about a month will begin. "With luck, we'll still be on the short list of diagnoses suggested by outside sources," Miller said. "If we are, whether you commented before or not, we hope you'll let the APA know you support diagnostic recognition of sensory processing disorder."

Miller has been the foremost SPD researcher in the United States for the past 30 years. She has carried the standard for the late A. Jean Ayres, OTR, who discovered sensory integration principles in her work as a neuroscientist in California in the early 1960s. Ayres died in 1988.

"Diagnostic recognition of SPD has been my personal dream since founding this organization 30 years ago," she told supporters. "In 2000, the dream took shape as an intense and coordinated initiative that has brought us to where we stand today - on the brink of diagnostic recognition."

The SPDF will publish notice when the new comment period begins. Meanwhile, readers can stay up to date by visiting DSM Central and the foundation's News & Newsletters page.