The Effectiveness of Bilateral Alternating Tactile Stimulation for Improving Sleep in Children with Sensory over-Responsivity

Abstract

The objective of this study was to explore the effectiveness of Touchpoints™ on improving sleep in children with sensory over-responsivity, specifically, whether wearing Touchpoints™ on the sleep setting before bed would improve children’s sleep. Using three study phases (baseline, intervention, and withdrawal), eight young children with sensory over-responsivity and sleep deficits wore Touchpoints™ on their ankles before bed during the intervention phase. Data was collected using an activity tracker to measure sleep latency, sleep duration, number of nighttime awakenings and sleep efficiency as well as parent report. Results indicated that participants did not demonstrate any significant changes in sleep efficiency, sleep duration, or number of awakenings but demonstrated a significant improvement in sleep latency. Parents also reported improvement in their child’s sleep quality. Results suggest Touchpoints™ before bedtime may decrease the time it takes for children with sensory over-responsivity to fall asleep and improve parental perceptions of children’s sleep quality.

Keywords:

• Sleep
• sensory over-responsivity
• actigraphy

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by an endowment by the family of Kathryn Lawrence Dragas to support sensory integration research conducted in the lab of Dr. Stacey Reynolds at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Notes on contributors

Stacey Reynolds

Dr. Stacey Reynolds is a tenured associate professor in the department of occupational therapy at Virginia Commonwealth University, and director of the Sensory Processing and Stress Evaluation (SPaSE) lab.