Welcome
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SIGN is made up of a group of volunteers who are dedicated to protecting the integrity and promoting the work of Dr. A. Jean Ayres in Sensory Integration Theory and Intervention. The originators of this group include former co-workers and students of Dr. Ayres, who are now among the leading experts in the field, and occupational therapists committed to providing occupational therapy services from a sensory integrative perspective in a manner consistent with Ayres’ core principles. In addition to the support of the Successor Trustee of Dr. Ayres’ estate, who now holds the trademark term Ayres Sensory Integration® (ASI), participation at the ground level has also included businesses who manufacture tests and equipment related to sensory integration.
DEVELOPMENT OF SIGN
In March 2004, during the yearly Research 2000 (R2K) conference series on sensory integration and related research, 20 people from North and South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe who are practicing and teaching Sensory Integration in the tradition of Dr. Ayres, gathered in California for an International Networking Meeting. At this meeting these individuals founded an organizational body to promote and protect Ayres’ theory and it’s applications in practice: the Sensory Integration Global Network (SIGN). During 2004 and 2005, several commissions determined the way in which SIGN could work as an organization, considering financial, spatial, and temporal limitations.
At the 2005 SIGN meeting, a broad consensus determined that the SIGN activities would focus solely on education and that starting SIGN as a web-based organization was the most effective mechanism to provide valid information relevant to Ayres SI to the public and professional community. At the 2006 SIGN meeting, the volunteer group moved forward to create relevant website content, design the website, and begin to review literature for inclusion on the website. Between 2005 and 2006, three international workshops were presented, including at the World Federation of Occupational TherapISTS, in attempt to inform therapists around the world of sensory integration-related activities that support Ayres SI and those that are contrary to the way in which sensory integration is used in occupational therapy practice.
The SIGN work group meets twice a year at R2K every winter in Southern California (see pediatrictherapynetwork.org for dates and locations) and every spring at the Annual AOTA Conference (see aota.org for dates and locations). Guests are welcome! Please contact us if you are planning to visit! To make the contents of the SIGN website accessible to as many interested visitors from all over the world as possible, the translation of the website content into different languages is a future goal of the organization.
MISSION STATEMENT
The SIGN organization will promote the body of work originally designed by A. Jean Ayres, Ayres’ Sensory Integration®, by providing an overall umbrella that frames and helps therapists understand Ayres Sensory Integration®; stating and promoting Ayres’ set of principles; providing a method of communicating and sharing resources for groups that have evolved around Ayres´ work; and helping people around the world to understand what ASI is and what it isn’t.
The information contained in this website is intended to:
- Provide information to consumers, policy makers, and funding sources.
- Establish guidelines of practice and ethics for therapists.
- Increase public awareness.
- Facilitate networking opportunities across the globe for those interested in Ayres Sensory Integration®.
The intent of SIGN is to provide information via the website. SIGN does not intend to determine who is following the tenets of ASI, rather to provide information via the website so that therapists, organizations, and consumers have a basis off which to make educated decisions. If you are an organization which has a commitment to Dr. Ayres work, you can provide this website link to your consumers and therapists.
SIGN COMMISSIONS
The core group, consisting of the SIGN originators and committee leaders, develops and directs the organization's activities. The work group members are actively contributing to the development of the website and of SIGN as an organization.
CONTENT COMMITTEE
Purpose: Create the mechanisms to disseminate information in order to meet ongoing professional demands. This includes the dissemination of information via international workshops, professional writings, development of the website content areas, and create and maintain the website with ongoing development/revisions as deemed necessary.
Leader: Tara J. Glennon, EdD, OTR/L, FAOTA & Susanne Smith Roley MS, OTR/L, FAOTA
STRUCTURE COMMITTEE
Purpose: Explore possibilities for cooperation with the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT), national OT associations, and other professional associations focusing on sensory integration.
Leader: Zoe Mailloux MA, OTR/L, FAOTA
RESEARCH COMMMITTEE
Purpose: Identify research articles which support the work and core concepts of Ayres Sensory Integration, summarize the research content, and provide the information to interested parties via the website.
Leader : Heather Miller Kuhaneck, MS, OTR/L
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
Purpose: Explore international contacts and representatives of organizations committed to sensory integration, compile names and contact information, and disseminate as necessary. If you want to be on our contact list please write to crbotecs@hotmail.com
Leader : Colleen Basaraba, B.Ed., B.Sc.O.T.(C), O.T.R. and Diana A. Henry, MS, OTR/L
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