The Bottom Line
Pros
- Accessible introduction to a tricky topic
- Pragmatic and focused
- Case stories clarify content
- Includes helpful resources
Cons
- Autism is a minor focus of the book
- Author's approach is great, but not typical
- May be of only passing use when dealing with autism
- Does not discuss negative research findings
Description
- An introduction to sensory processing disorder.
- Includes a brief section on autism.
- Offers clear, descriptive information.
- Is accessible to lay readers.
- Asks readers to advocate for a new diagnostic category.
Guide Review - Sensational Kids: Help and Hope for Children with Sensory Processing Disorder
Lucy Jane Miller, Ph.D. author of Sensational Kids: Hope and Help for Children with Sensory Processing Disorders, is a practicing occupational therapist and the director of the STAR (Sensory Therapies and Research) Center, which specializes in sensory processing disorders and treatments. Her book is an introduction to sensory processing disorder, and it does a fine job of explaining, in lay language, how differences in sensory perception can have a profound impact on a child's ability to navigate daily life.The book is easy to read: Miller's voice moves effortlessly from warm, compassionate story teller to pragmatic science-based presenter and back again, keeping the reader engaged throughout. The reader feels confident that Miller knows what she's talking about, and thus the book's recommendations for therapy and intervention are easy to believe in.
What this book is missing is extensive information about sensory integration and autism, and an explanation of the fact that sensory processing disorder and sensory integration therapy are still on the fringe of practice - and many mainstream researchers have found its techniques to be, at best, minimally useful.
Even Miller's own STAR Center has been unable to compare groups of children with SPD to see whether, for example, sensory integration therapy is more effective than ordinary exercise and occupation therapy. What's more, she has not dealt with the sometimes outrageous expensive of sensory integration therapy, which is rarely covered by insurance.
