A recent randomized controlled trial of a dual parent and trainer-delivered qigong massage intervention for young children with autism “resulted in improvement of measures of autism as well as improvement of abnormal sensory responses and self-regulation,” according to an abstract published on www.pubmed.gov.
Forty-seven children were randomly assigned to treatment and wait-list control groups. Treatment group children received the parent-delivered program for four months, according to the abstract.
“Trained therapists provided parent training and support,” the abstract noted. “Improvement was evaluated in two settings–preschool and home—by teachers (blind to group) and parents.
“Results showed that the parent-delivered program was effective in improving measures of autism (medium effect size) and sensory and self-regulatory responses (large effect size),” the abstract continued. “Teacher data on measures of autism were confirmed by parent data. Results indicate that the parent-delivered component of the program provided effective early intervention for autism that was suitable for delivery at home.
Results of the study, “Early intervention for autism with a parent-delivered Qigong massage program: a randomized controlled trial” were published in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy.
Related article: