Investigation of the effect of sensory integration therapy on motor, sensory and oculomotor skills in infants with cortical vision impairment

The study was planned to examine the effect of sensory integration intervention on sensory, motor and oculomotor skills in infants with Cortical Vision Impairment (CVI). Twenty infants with CVI, who volunteered to meet the inclusion criteria, formed the intervention group and 20 typically developing infants formed the control group, and 40 infants aged 10-18 months were included in the study. Before the intervention, sensory processing skills were assessed by the Test of Sensory Functions in Infants (TSFI), motor skills by Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS), and oculomotor skills; eye movement angles, fixation distance and duration were evaluated in both groups. Sensory integration therapy was applied to the intervention group, 3 sessions a week, 45 minutes each session, for 8 weeks. No therapy was applied to the control group. At the end of eight weeks, the same evaluations were made to both groups and both groups were compared with these parameters. In the first evaluation, sensory processing, motor and oculomotor skills of infants with CVI were found to be weaker than infants with typical development (p<0.05). When the differences between the first and second evaluations of the intervention and control groups were compared, a significant difference was found in sensory processing skills and oculomotor skills in favor of the intervention group, and in motor skills in favor of the control group (p<0.05). As a result, it has been determined that sensory integration training, which is included in the occupational therapy intervention, provides improvements in sensory, motor and oculomotor skills in infants with CVI. Sensory processing, motor and oculomotor skills of infants with CVI should definitely be included in the routine evaluation and interventions should be made as early as possible with an individualized intervention plan.