How Massage Can Help Children with Autism


The mission of the Center on Research, Evaluation & Analysis is to conduct research and evaluations that are rigorous, successful, and provide useful, timely, and accurate results and reports.

How Massage Can Help Children with Autism

April 24, 2015

Photo by Tyra Murray of Grace Portraits

Chances are, you know someone who has a child with Autism. In fact, the number of new cases has almost doubled in the past 20 years, from 1 in 150 children born in 1992 to 1 in 68 children born in 2002.

Many parents fear they might never get to hug their child again. They fear that their child will live a lonely life, and may have to suffer from the negative side effects of necessary medications.

For many families, message therapy can bring surprising results – and a new sense of hope.

A new breakthrough study shows positive results for children with autism under age of six. Parent-delivered, sensory message brought dramatic improvements four key areas:

  • Autism severity reduces by 32 percent, resulting in improved behavior and language.
  • Parenting stress reduces by 44 percent.
  • Sensory problems improve by 38 percent; sensitivity to touch and texture improves by 49 percent.
  • Children are more affectionate with their families and more comfortable in social situations.

This specialized massage treatment, developed by Dr. Louisa Silva, is part of a federally funded autism study Dr. Louisa Silvaconducted by TRI at Western Oregon University.

“Children with autism suffer from sensory problems, especially touch. Nail cutting and haircuts, clothing fabrics and loud noises can be overwhelming for them,” Dr. Silva said.  “Parent-delivered massage works by helping normalize the sense of touch, and eventually the other senses.”

“I want to get this sensory treatment into parents’ hands,” she added. “It’s gentle, it’s helpful, and they desperately need it.”

This study will continue to follow these children and their families to see if the improvements stay with the child.

Click here to read more about the study.


The Research Institute : Western Oregon University : 345 N. Monmouth Ave. : Monmouth, OR 97361
Contact Us: 800-438-9376 | info@triwou.org