For the past decade, the Qigong Sensory Training Institute, in partnership with the Teaching Research Institute, has been teaching parents a daily massage program that has been shown in early studies to be effective in reversing difficulties with touch. As children become more comfortable with touch, they become calmer, are better able to learn, and exhibit better behavior overall. The Teaching Research Institute is in the final year of a grant from the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau to conduct a three-year study on the beneficial effects of parent-delivered massage in children with autism. 

Often children with autism have abnormal responses to touch such that they avoid touch on many areas of the body.  Although parental touch is the most effective way to calm children, often parents with children with autism will avoid using touch as a parenting tool because their child doesn't respond normally to it.

Enrollment for children to participate in year two of the study is currently open. Children with autism under the age of six are eligible. (Children ages 6 to 11 will be eligible during the 2014-15 school year.) Families enrolled in the study will receive free training, treatment, and assessments. Participants will be recruited from the Portland, Salem, Albany/Corvallis, and Eugene areas, and will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Those interested in learning more about the study can visit www.qsti.org, call 503.585.9239, or send an email to study@qsti.org.