Supporting Clinical Identification of Children with Sensory Integration Challenges: A Decision Guide for Primary Care Providers
A ready-to-use doctor cheat sheet can move kids with sensory issues to OT faster, but it still needs a real-world test drive.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Lane et al. (2025) built a one-page Sensory Integration Decision Guide for primary care doctors. The team read every paper they could find on sensory processing problems. They turned that pile of studies into a short checklist any pediatrician can use in a ten-minute visit.
The guide tells the doctor when to send the child to OT and when to wait. It is not a test. It is a map.
What they found
The paper does not give new numbers. It gives the map itself. The authors say the guide still needs to be tested in real clinics.
How this fits with other research
Keating et al. (2024) show that kids with Developmental Coordination Disorder almost always have sensory issues too. Their data say screen every DCD child for sensory problems. Lane’s guide gives the exact steps to do that screening.
Ben-Itzchak et al. (2020) found that Latino families get fewer services when doctors give vague, reassuring answers. Lane’s guide forces doctors to give clear next steps instead of saying "let’s wait." It could close that gap.
Rivard et al. (2023) list five roadblocks families hit on the way to a diagnosis. Lane’s guide tackles two of them—accessibility and validity—by telling doctors exactly when to refer.
Why it matters
You can hand this guide to your local pediatrician today. It fits on one page and needs no extra gear. When doctors use it, kids with sensory issues get to OT faster and with less red tape. Push for a pilot test in your clinic and track how many referrals come through.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Background: Children and youth often have challenges processing and integrating sensory information. These increasingly common challenges and can significantly impact development, learning, behavior, well-being, and participation in everyday activities. Since children with sensory integration challenges, with or without other concerns, are likely to present first to their primary care provider (PCP), it is important that they have resources about sensory integration challenges and their impact on the child or the need to refer these children for further assessment and intervention. Our aim is to assist PCPs in their clinical decision-making. Methods: We conducted a narrative review of CINAHL, PsychInfo, and Medline with no date restrictions, using the structure Population (children/youth with sensory integration/processing disorder/dysfunction/difference)/Concept (screening or referral)/Context (screening from PCP to occupational therapy) to identify the pertinent literature, providing (1) a description and synthesis of a circumscribed body of research on sensory integrative challenges; (2) findings related to screening and referral to occupational therapy by PCPs; and (3) the need for development of a Sensory Integration (SI) Decision Guide to support PCP clinical decision-making. Results: Findings from the narrative literature review search were integrated with information from the author panel of experts to provide a description of sensory integration challenges. Few screening tools were addressed in the literature, and no guidelines were identified to support PCP decision-making regarding referral. A Sensory Integration Decision Guide was developed to fill this gap. Conclusions: The Sensory Integration Decision Guide provides primary care providers with a systematic process for detecting sensory integration challenges and referring to specialized occupational therapy services. Future studies to examine the practical application of the tool for its accuracy and usefulness in clinical decision-making and effectiveness for referral decisions are needed.
Brain Sciences, 2025 · doi:10.3390/brainsci15111184