Development of sensory integration therapy in Mainland China: A comprehensive study with bibliometrics and visualization techniques.
Thirty years of Chinese sensory-integration research has barely reached the public, so BCBAs must package the science into plain parent language.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Zhe et al. (2023) counted every Chinese journal article on sensory integration therapy since 1990. They used maps and graphs to show who studied what, where, and how often. The team also checked what ordinary people in China actually know about the therapy.
What they found
The search found 892 papers across thirty years. Yet most people still cannot explain what sensory integration therapy is or why it helps kids with delays. The gap between rich research and poor public knowledge is huge.
How this fits with other research
Djiko et al. (2025) asked Chinese citizens about autism. Only 57-65% showed adequate knowledge and 38% held stigmatizing views. Zhe’s team saw a similar blank space around sensory therapy.
Woodman et al. (2025) found the same story in Saudi Arabia: low knowledge and high stigma toward ADHD and ASD. The pattern repeats across cultures—lots of science, little public understanding.
Walker et al. (2013) tested a fix: a ten-minute film slightly improved attitudes toward intellectual disability in the U.K. The Chinese review did not test films, but it urges better public messages. Together the papers say, “Publish more studies” is not enough; we must also translate them for families.
Why it matters
You may use sensory strategies every day, yet parents might never have heard the term. Share a one-page handout or a short video that tells what SIT is, why you use it, and how it helps. A tiny explanation can shrink the thirty-year knowledge gap overnight.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Sensory integration therapy (SIT) is an intervention to improve the developmental and learning problems in children. It was introduced in China from late 1980 s to early 1990 s and has received considerable attention from scholars. However, due to its late development in China and its specialised nature, it is worth exploring in depth whether it is recognized by the general public and how it is researched by academics. Therefore, we used Internet survey approach to explore the actual feedback of users towards SIT through the Internet. At the same time, bibliometric method and visualization techniques were used to study 892 journal articles on SIT in CNKI, Wanfang Database and VIP Database to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution, subject distribution, keyword co-occurrence, and keyword clustering of SIT research in mainland China since it came to China mainland. We found that the research on SIT in mainland China has been fruitful. However, the public is less aware of its basic function, therapeutic effects, and necessity. Our findings point to the need to raise awareness of sensory integration disorder and sensory integration therapy among the general public, and to strengthen academic research on sensory integration therapy.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2023 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2023.104571