QST is often misunderstood because it does not fit neatly into existing therapy categories.
It is not a behavioural therapy.
It is not a skills training.
And although it uses touch, it is not a massage in the conventional sense.
Many misconceptions arise when QST is evaluated through frameworks designed for behavioural, educational or coping-based interventions, rather than through a sensory and physiological lens.
This page addresses the most common misunderstandings.
There are many therapies used with autistic children. They differ fundamentally in what they target.
A useful way to compare therapies is to ask:
What is the therapy intended to change?
Does it address sensory processing?
Does it affect regulation at a physiological level?
Is it supported by controlled research?
What is the time burden on families?
Behavioural therapies such as Applied Behaviour Analysis and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy primarily target observable behaviour.
Some children, particularly those with milder presentations, may show improvements in specific skills such as language. However, behavioural approaches do not address the underlying sensory impairments that are core to autism.
Occupational therapy and speech therapy support adaptation and communication, but they do not directly repair sensory processing.
By contrast, QST directly targets sensory processing impairments, particularly tactile processing, which research shows are closely linked to self-regulation.
This is why QST research has demonstrated improvements across sensory, regulatory, social and behavioural domains, rather than in isolated skill areas.
This misconception originates from early publications.
Dr. Louisa Silva’s book on qigong massage was published in 2010, before her later research on older children was completed. The book was never updated and Dr. Silva passed away in 2018.
Subsequent research and clinical work demonstrated that QST is effective well beyond early childhood, including in school-aged children up to at least 12 years of age.
Beyond the age range formally studied, extensive clinical and empirical evidence shows that QST works through age-independent sensory mechanisms. When applied daily and correctly, tactile repair and self-regulation improvements occur in the same way across ages.
The method does not rely on developmental stage, cognition or insight.
This is a common but incorrect assumption.
Touch aversion in autism is a sign of tactile sensory pain or distortion, not a preference or emotional boundary. Avoiding all touch in these children does not resolve the underlying sensory impairment.
It often reinforces it.
QST is trauma-informed and sensory-sensitive by design. Touch is gradual, predictable and adapted to the child’s sensory threshold.
Touch is never imposed. The nervous system is allowed to recalibrate safely.
Many children who initially resist touch show reduced aversion over time as tactile input becomes less painful and more organised.
QST is designed to be feasible for daily home use. The core daily application takes approximately 15 minutes.
In practice, parents often report that:
early changes are noticeable within the first week
reduced sensory stress leads to calmer daily routines
early improvements motivate continued consistency
Daily parent involvement is not a burden added on top of everything else. It often reduces the overall strain on family life.
Professional supervision ensures that parents are supported, guided and adjusted as needed.
QST does not require a child to lie down, remain still or cooperate in a conventional sense. The method is adapted to the child, not the other way around.
Positions, pacing and movement are adjusted to:
the child’s comfort
sensory threshold
nervous system capacity
QST works with the nervous system’s automatic processing.
It does not depend on compliance or instruction.
QST has been evaluated in multiple intervention studies, including randomised controlled trials, and uses the Sense and Self-Regulation Checklist, a scientifically validated instrument developed by Dr. Louisa Silva.
Research has shown that:
tactile sensory impairment is closely linked to self-regulation impairment
improvements in tactile processing are accompanied by proportional improvements in regulation
sensory repair precedes behavioural and functional change
QST is an intervention with controlled studies showing improvement in sensory processing and related functional domains.
Most misconceptions arise from:
evaluating QST as a behavioural technique or coping tool
assuming sensory differences are secondary
underestimating the role of touch in nervous system organisation
QST operates at a different level than most autism interventions.
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Most misconceptions about QST come from evaluating it as a behavioural or coping method rather than a sensory intervention.