Introduction: Currently, there is a need to revise the theory and therapy of sensory integration, including the 8th system – interoception – identified as the main sense by modern neuroscience. The therapeutic process begins with assessment and progresses to therapeutic intervention.
Objective: Develop the Sensory Assessment of Interoception (SAI) for children between 7 and 14 years old.
Methodology: This is a methodological study to develop an evaluation tool. A literature review identified ten areas of influence of interoception. Thus, SAI was developed from evidence-based practice, reflecting on the importance of assessing interoception in Ayres' sensory integration therapy®. The assessment items were drawn up by associating the areas of influence of the interoception with the identifications evidenced by the practice of the Poli Method.
Results: The SAI is a self-report questionnaire, which covers all the areas of influence of interoception, focused on this sensory system, containing 103 questions referring to body sensations, distributed in 10 axes: 1) perception of visceral needs, 2) affective emotions, 3) body awareness, 4) social participation, 5) self-care, 6) metacognition, 7) cognition, 8) emotional regulation, 9) psychosocial aspects and 10) general sensory aspects.
Final considerations: the instrument will undergo a content validity process through expert analysis and a face validity process with the target population (children aged 7 to 14) in compliance with methodological rigor. At the end of the process, the SAI will hopefully be an assessment useful in identifying interoceptive alterations.