Influence of Adapted Environment on the Anxiety of Medically Treated Children with Developmental Disability

Physiological and Behavioral Stress and Anxiety in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders during Routine Oral Care

“…This partially supports our assertion that children with ASD would find dental cleanings more aversive than TD children, activating their sympathetic “fight or flight” nervous system in this time of stress [19]. Interestingly, the only other study that has investigated EDA responses to dental cleanings found the opposite; children with developmental disabilities (not ASD) were physiologically less aroused compared to TD children during dental cleanings [36]. However, that study did not include children with ASD and did not utilize standard EDA techniques for measurement or analysis, making it difficult to directly compare to our results.…”

“…For instance, Shapiro et al [36] adapted the visual, auditory, somatosensory, and tactile stimuli of the dental environment to decrease arousal and uncooperative behaviors in children with developmental disabilities (not ASD). Other suggestions to diminish the aversive nature of the stimuli experienced in the dental office include adaptations to sensory stimuli encountered, including visual stimuli (wearing sunglasses, dim lights, and avoiding light shining in eyes), auditory stimuli (listen to music on headphones and wear earmuffs or an ear-covering hat), gustatory stimuli (allow more frequent rinsing of paste and use no-taste products such as pumice), and vestibular/movement stimuli (have child climb into an already fully reclined dental chair) [47].…”

Sensory Adapted Dental Environments to Enhance Oral Care for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

“…In this study, 18% of parents of TD children reported that their child experienced dental fear and anxiety (CFSS-DS scores in the borderline anxiety range), and 36% of TD children had differences in sensory processing (SSP scores in the probable difference range). In this regard, it is noteworthy that in Shapiro et al's (2007; 2009a; 2009b) investigation, the SADE had statistically reliable positive effects (reductions in the duration of anxious behaviors and physiological arousal) for typically developing children, although those effects were smaller than those found for children with developmental disabilities; results in the present study followed a similar pattern.…”

Differences in autonomic functions as related to induced stress between children with and without cerebral palsy while performing a virtual meal-making task

“…Environmental stimuli including emotionally loaded stimuli, also referred to as affective stimuli, may capture and divert attention regardless of their relevance to ongoing tasks (Dolcos & McCarthy, 2006), affecting children's cognitive control processes (Tottenham et al, 2011;Schell & Crone, 2013) and eliciting a range of subjective and autonomic responses (McManis et al, 2001;Shapiro, Sgan Cohen, Parush, & Melmed, 2009;Sharp et al, 2006). Shapiro et al (2009), for example, demonstrated the significant value of a sensory adapted environment that included special lighting effects, relaxing music, vibrations, and aromas on the comfort level of children with and without developmental disabilities undergoing dental treatment as measured via electrodermal activity. They found that among the children with developmental delays the calming effect was more pronounced compared to typically developing children.…”