SENSORY INTEGRATION VERSUS COGNITIVEBEHAVIORAL THERAPY ON BEHAVIORAL ISSUES IN LEARNING-DISABLED CHILDREN

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Number of studies demonstrated that children with learning disabilities suffers from emotional-behavioral problems, however neurophysiologic approaches are efficient to produce better health-related outcomes thus this study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of sensory integration versus cognitive-behavioral therapy on behavioral issues of learning-disabled children. METHODOLOGY A Randomized Controlled Trial included 30 learning disabled-children, diagnosed by Psychologist on the standardized criteria, divided into Group-A (n=15) and B (n=15) where Group-A performed Sensory Integration while B performed Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for 4 weeks. Data was collected at baseline and post the intervention on Behavioral Problem Scale and Conner’s Teacher Rating Scale respectively. RESULTS Both the groups showed significant results (p<0.05), however Group-A showed marked reduction in BPS in comparison to B while CTRS was observed with slight greater improvement in Group-B than A. CONCLUSION It was concluded that sensory integration is as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy in improving behavioral problems of learning-disabled children. KEYWORDS Learning, Behavior, Children, Cognitive-Function, Disability Evaluation, Rehabilitation.