Measuring Autonomic Arousal During Therapy

How can measuring children’s Electrodermal Activity (EDA) help improve the design of an occupational therapy experience? Twenty-two children with sensory challenges such as Autism and ADHD participated in the study. Children attended occupational therapy as usual, while their physiological arousal (i.e., EDA) was measured with a wireless device on the bottom calf. Combining the EDA signal with video, researchers could better understand the emotional experience of therapy. All 22 children were able to wear the portable EDA sensors throughout the vigorous activities with minimal impact. Five insights generated from these observations are described in detail, with emphasis on how therapists used the findings to re-design their therapeutic process. This paper demonstrates how the ambulatory measurement of EDA can directly help with the emotional design of therapeutic services.