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Doing business as STAR Institute the STAR Center Foundation (formerly known as the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation and the KID Foundation) is a registered 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization dedicated to treatment, research and education related to sensory integration and processing.
The first iteration of STAR Institute was founded in 1979 by Dr. Lucy Jane Miller the Director Emeritus who retired in October 2019. The foundation was funded by U.S. Public Health Service division of Maternal and Child Health (MCH). The Wallace Research Foundation was attracted by the foundation in 1995 and helped fund the development of a psychophysiology research laboratory to study SPD. [1]
The mission of STAR Institute (the STAR Center Foundation) is: To impact quality of life by developing and promoting best practices for sensory health and wellness through treatment, education, and research.
For many years a primary focus of the foundation was to get sensory processing disorder added to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . [2] Sensory Processing Disorder was defined as "a complex disorder of the brain that affects developing children and adults". Currently Sensory Processing Disorder or SPD is defined as "differences in sensory integration and processing that prevent function and participation in day-to-day life". SPD remains poorly recognized.
The STAR Institute philosophy on sensory integration and processing incorporates an intentional focus on regulation and relationships. The STAR Frame of Reference is relevant across the lifespan, and applicable to developmental and behavioral diagnoses.
STAR Institute has three areas of focus: Research, Education, and Treatment, which co-exist as three mutually supportive teams working in one center.
The STAR Institute treatment department utilizes the STAR Frame of Reference [3] an interdisciplinary approach to the provision of meaningful supports for differences in sensory integration and processing. The team includes occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, psychologists, counselors, a pediatrician and a dietician. STAR Institute occupational therapy sessions have fidelity to the Ayres Sensory Integration frame of reference. STAR Institute provides services through the lifespan with a dedicated adult and adolescent team. They also have a specialist feeding team.
The STAR Institute education department offers many services and programs, including mentorship opportunities, as well as online resources, classes and webinars. These programs are designed for professional, parents, and are offered to anyone that is interested in learning more about sensory challenges and potential solutions. [4]
Formerly known as the Sensory Processing Disorder University, the STAR Online Learning platform was developed by the SPD Foundation to provide e-Learning opportunities for anyone wishing to learn more about sensory integration and processing. They offer multiple online courses for purchase that feature videos of children during treatment, strategies for intervention, and real-life parents stories. All courses are eligible for Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from the American Occupational Therapy Association. [5]
The STAR Institute Research Center provides the basis for the education and treatment programs, demonstrating the effectiveness of sensory integration therapy. For 22 years (1995-2017) sensory integration and processing was researched by an Interdisciplinary university-based research group spearheaded by STAR Institute with support from the Wallace Research Foundation. The project involved ~50 scientists from the fields of neuroscience, epidemiology, genetics, intervention, and neuropathology. Outcomes from the neuroscientific and behavioral studies have been published in > 100 peer-reviewed articles. The scientific findings of the group demonstrate brain differences between neuromajority individuals and those who have sensory challenges including significant differences in autonomic functioning, white matter in the posterior brain, and multisensory integration. Research drives advocacy initiatives that promote recognition of sensory processing challenges.
STAR Institute offers a wealth of sensory processing disorder resources; including current research, news, articles and reports, links to parent connection groups, as well as advocacy information and supporting flyers. Page text. [4]
STAR Institute offers help finding service providers. Intended to assist individuals and families in locating professionals that may help serve important needs, the options range from dentists to occupational therapists, among many others. [6]
Occupational therapists (OTs) are health care professionals specializing in occupational therapy and occupational science. OTs and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) use scientific bases and a holistic perspective to promote a person's ability to fulfill their daily routines and roles. OTs have training in the physical, psychological, and social aspects of human functioning deriving from an education grounded in anatomical and physiological concepts, and psychological perspectives. They enable individuals across the lifespan by optimizing their abilities to perform activities that are meaningful to them ("occupations"). Human occupations include activities of daily living, work/vocation, play, education, leisure, rest and sleep, and social participation.
Occupational therapy (OT) is a healthcare profession that involves the use of assessment and intervention to develop, recover, or maintain the meaningful activities, or occupations, of individuals, groups, or communities. The field of OT consists of health care practitioners trained and educated to improve mental and physical performance. Occupational therapists specialize in teaching, educating, and supporting participation in any activity that occupies an individual's time. It is an independent health profession sometimes categorized as an allied health profession and consists of occupational therapists (OTs) and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs). While OTs and OTAs have different roles, they both work with people who want to improve their mental and or physical health, disabilities, injuries, or impairments.
Developmental disorders comprise a group of psychiatric conditions originating in childhood that involve serious impairment in different areas. There are several ways of using this term. The most narrow concept is used in the category "Specific Disorders of Psychological Development" in the ICD-10. These disorders comprise developmental language disorder, learning disorders, motor disorders, and autism spectrum disorders. In broader definitions ADHD is included, and the term used is neurodevelopmental disorders. Yet others include antisocial behavior and schizophrenia that begins in childhood and continues through life. However, these two latter conditions are not as stable as the other developmental disorders, and there is not the same evidence of a shared genetic liability.
Emotional reasoning is a cognitive process by which an individual concludes that their emotional reaction proves something is true, despite contrary empirical evidence. Emotional reasoning creates an 'emotional truth', which may be in direct conflict with the inverse 'perceptional truth'. It can create feelings of anxiety, fear, and apprehension in existing stressful situations, and as such, is often associated with or triggered by panic disorder or anxiety disorder. For example, even though a spouse has shown only devotion, a person using emotional reasoning might conclude, "I know my spouse is being unfaithful because I feel jealous."
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to autism:
Sensory processing is the process that organizes and distinguishes sensation from one's own body and the environment, thus making it possible to use the body effectively within the environment. Specifically, it deals with how the brain processes multiple sensory modality inputs, such as proprioception, vision, auditory system, tactile, olfactory, vestibular system, interoception, and taste into usable functional outputs.
Auditory integration training (AIT) is a procedure pioneered in France by Guy Bérard, who promoted it as a cure for clinical depression and suicidal tendencies, along with what he said were very positive results for dyslexia and autism, although there has been very little empirical evidence regarding this assertion. It typically involves 20 half-hour sessions over 10 days listening to specially filtered and modulated music. It was used in the early 1990s as a treatment for autism; it has been promoted as a treatment for ADHD, depression, and a wide variety of other disorders. AIT has not met scientific standards for efficacy that would justify its use as a treatment for any condition.
Speech-language pathology is a field of healthcare expertise practiced globally. Speech-language pathology (SLP) specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of communication disorders, cognitive-communication disorders, voice disorders, pragmatic disorders, social communication difficulties and swallowing disorder across the lifespan. It is an independent profession considered an "allied health profession" or allied health profession by professional bodies like the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and Speech Pathology Australia. Allied health professions include audiology, optometry, occupational therapy, rehabilitation psychology, physical therapy and others.
The Atlanta Speech School is a language and literacy school located in Atlanta, Georgia, established in 1938. The school provides educational and clinical programs. The Atlanta Speech School's Rollins Center provides professional development for teachers and educators in partner schools and preschools. The Rollins Center focuses on the eradication of illiteracy. The Rollins Center has an online presence called Cox Campus, which is an online learning environment with coursework targeted for the education of children age 0–8.
The floortime or Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based (DIR) model is a developmental model for assessing and understanding any child's strengths and weaknesses. It has become particularly effective at identifying the unique developmental profiles and developing programs for children experiencing developmental delays due to autism, autism spectrum disorders, or other developmental disorders. This Model was developed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan and first outlined in 1979 in his book Intelligence and Adaptation. Evidence for the efficacy of DIR/Floortime includes results from randomized controlled trials of DIR/Floortime and the DIR/Floortime-based P.L.A.Y. Project; because of various limitations in these studies, the existing evidence is deemed to "weakly support" the efficacy of Floortime.
Sensory integration therapy (SIT) was originally developed by occupational therapist A. Jean Ayres in the 1970s to help children with sensory-processing difficulties. It was specifically designed to treat Sensory Processing Disorder. Sensory Integration Therapy is based on A. Jean Ayres's Sensory Integration Theory, which proposes that sensory-processing is linked to emotional regulation, learning, behavior, and participation in daily life. Sensory integration is the process of organizing sensations from the body and from environmental stimuli.
Equine-assisted therapy (EAT) encompasses a range of treatments that involve activities with horses and other equines to promote human physical and mental health. The use of EAT has roots in antiquity, and EAT applies to physical health issues in modern form dates to the 1960s. Modern use of horses for mental health treatment dates to the 1990s. Systematic review of studies of EAT as applied to physical health date only to about 2007, and a lack of common terminology and standardization has caused problems with meta-analysis. Due to a lack of high-quality studies assessing the efficacy of equine-assisted therapies for mental health treatment, concerns have been raised that these therapies should not replace or divert resources from other evidence-based mental health therapies.
The Children's Institute of Pittsburgh is a nonprofit organization dedicated to children with special needs and their families in Western Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.
Anna Jean Ayres was an American occupational therapist, educational psychologist and advocate for individuals with special needs. She became known for her work on sensory integration (SI) theory.
Mental disorders diagnosed in childhood can be neurodevelopmental, emotional, or behavioral disorders. These disorders negatively impact the mental and social wellbeing of a child, and children with these disorders require support from their families and schools. Childhood mental disorders often persist into adulthood. These disorders are usually first diagnosed in infancy, childhood, or adolescence, as laid out in the DSM-5 and in the ICD-11.
Swami Vivekanand National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research is an autonomous institute functioning under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of India. It is located in Olatpur, 30 km from Cuttack.
Neurological reparative therapy (NRT) is a new model of treatment synthesized from a compilation of literature and research on how to better the lives of individuals who have a wide range of mental, emotional, and behavioral disturbances – particularly children and adolescents. Although the term "neurological reparative therapy" is new, the foundation of this model is not.
The University of Alberta Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, is home to North America's only free-standing faculty of rehabilitation medicine and is composed of three departments, 11 research groups, six student clinics and programs and five institutes and centres. It provides academic training in rehabilitation science, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language pathology.
Sensory processing disorder is a condition in which multisensory input is not adequately processed in order to provide appropriate responses to the demands of the environment. Sensory processing disorder is present in many people with dyspraxia, autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Individuals with SPD may inadequately process visual, auditory, olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), tactile (touch), vestibular (balance), proprioception, and interoception sensory stimuli.
Sensory friendly is a designed environment which is an accommodation for people who have a sensory dysfunction or a sensory processing disorder. There are sensory friendly experiences which are offered by businesses and there is also sensory friendly furniture.