The Sensory Integration and Praxis test (SIPT) is the gold standard for evaluating sensory integration and praxis. The SIPT has evolved over 3 decades and it is recognised as the most comprehensive and psychometrically valid assessment tool to have emerged within the field of occupational therapy and from any field that assesses child development.
The SIPT looks at the child, their support system and the environment, which are all very important factors in an assessment in order to affectively plan and implement intervention (Smith Roley, Blanche et al. 2001).
The SIPT gives the examiner very important information about sensation and praxis and how they relate to function within everyday settings. Jean Ayres (1985) emphasised that motor function and praxis are not the same thing and that praxis bridges the gap between cognition and action.
The SIPT consists of 17 subtests and it was designed to assist the clinical understanding of children with mild to moderate irregularities in learning and behaviour.
The examiner needs to be extensively trained in the assessment and analysis of the SIPT and needs to be accredited with a sensory integration and praxis certificate in order to be qualified to administer this test.
At The Sunflower Clinic, Julie O’Sullivan is qualified to administer the SIPT.
The SIPT is typically only used in very specific circumstances at the recommendation of the therapist as a standard Occupational Therapy Assessment addresses 90% of the areas addressed by the SIPT.
