Abstract
Encouraging research shows reductions in the number of disruptive behaviors for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) when wearing compression shirts. However, current studies do not consider the amount of pressure compression shirts apply to the body and how different amounts of pressure applied to the body may lead to different outcomes for children diagnosed with ASD. The purpose of this proof of concept research project was to develop a method for measuring the pressure applied by a compression shirt at a specific location on the body. This study used conductive thread as the principle element to measure the compression applied by a garment onto the body, specifically the arm. It was found that for the specific stitch and thread tested, the relationship between the displacement the sensor exhibits and the change in resistance was 25.95 Ω/m. With this relation, the pressure applied by a compression garment to a mannequin arm and the arms of four participants was found. A general trend that the measured pressure applied by a garment onto the body directly correlated with increasing individual arm circumference was found.
