The Effectiveness of a Program of Oral Sensory-Motor Therapy with the Severely and Profoundly Developmentally Disabled

Abstract

The efficacy of a program of oral-motor therapy designed to facilitate feeding patterns and thus produce increases in body weight in the severely developmentally disabled was explored. Twenty severely and profoundly retarded subjects with neuromotor disorders participated in a pretest / posttest control group design. The experimental group received a 9-week program of oral therapy designed to normalize oral motor functions and reduce pathological oral reflexes. Analysis of covariance revealed no statistically significant difference in body weight gains between the experimental and control group over the treatment period. A post hoc power analysis was computed and revealed a power of approximately .35, indicating a degree of insensitivity in the experimental manipulations and statistical analysis and suggesting the possibility of a Type II experimental error. The need for continued research in this area to establish the effectiveness of sensory and motor facilitation procedures in developing feeding patterns in the severely and profoundly disabled is discussed.