GSIÖ originated in the "Arbeitsgruppe für Sensorische Integration in Österreich" (AGSIÖ). Since February 2002, GSIÖ is an officially registered, non-profit organization. Since its inception, 4 official General Assembly meetings took place (March 2004, Dec 2006, March 2010, Nov 2014). 

GSIÖ is concerned with all issues regarding Sensory Integration in Austria. These include  

• Public Relations to create public awareness of the existence of sensory integration disorders, their consequences, and ways to intervene. Means that we use are Facebook page and group, presence at public events for families or other professionals, contacts to media such as newspapers and magazines that reach parents, pediatricians, and teachers, print materials such as our brochure "Manche Kinder sind irgendwie anders..." (only available in German), and information events  at our Center for Sensory Integration in Vienna (twice a year) and upon request also at schools, preschools or other locations

• Quality Control of Sensory Integration interventions under the aspect of consumer protection. Our primary pathway to work on this goal is through curriculum development for high quality trainings and support for implementation of these trainings. We are convinced that it takes professionals with excellent training to provide excellent services. By "excellent training" we mean that the professional is clear in her head what Ayres' SI is and how to apply its principles individually. By "excellent services" we mean efficient treatments that consider the needs of the whole family and go hand in hand with competent environmental adaptations by teachers who have an equivalent excellent SI training. 

Why are we mentioning consumer protection in this context?

Lots of things are sold under the name "Sensory Integration": trainings for therapists that violate Ayres' core defining elements of Sensory Integration intervention (Parham et al., 2007, 2011), e.g. by labeling systematic exercise or tabletop work "SI activities"; trainings for educators and teachers that claim to be "the better SI" although they simply repeat and simplify Ayres' complex and  empirically developed theory; static programs that follow step-by-step routines without taking into consideration individual needs; and passive techniques such as brushing or sensory rooms that fail to consider the core element of Sensory Integration intervention that likely is the agent for change: the adaptive response. None of the above described is Ayres' Sensory Integration - but how should consumers (parents, course participants, managers of institutions) know.

Readers who are interested in valid, authentic, and neutral information on Sensory Integration are referred to the Sensory Integration Global Network's website.  

• Increase Occupational Therapy Services using Ayres' Sensory Integration approach (OT-ASI)  for all children, adolescents, and adults at risk or affected by sensory processing disorders. The estimated prevalence of sensory processing disorders is 6-15% (Marco et al., 2013) - this makes it easy to calculate the number of SI-certified therapists required to satisfy the demand.  While cities often provide enough OT-SI offers - mostly in private practice though - rural areas often lack the infrastructure as do some federal states such as Styria. In these areas, parents have to fall back to alternatives such as SI-"Förderung" oder groups which have little in common with individualized OT-SI  and cannot meet the same goals. 

• Networking: GSIÖ is active in the international front line. Board members are generally present at international meetings and conferences and network with the experts from around the world and with other national SI organizations.

We initiated the foundation of Sensory Integration Global Network (SIGN) and are founding member of the International Collaboration for Education in Sensory Integration (ICESI, jetzt ICEASI).

Until 2002, we had a formal cooperation agreement with the österreichischen Ergotherapieverband, since then the cooperation is event-driven   (e.g., in cases of violating professional core competencies of OT by other professionals claiming to provide SI services or when an expert opinion is warranted). GSIÖ grants reduced membership fees for members of the Austrian OT association ErgotherapieAustria.

Since 2013, GSIÖ is a member of Österreichische Liga für Kindergesundheit.

Like any other non-profit association,  GSIÖ's freedom of action depends to a large part on membership fees. Also, an association's influence increases proportional to its member numbers. That's why members are important for us!!!

Become a member now!