First-hand accounts of sensory perceptual experiences in autism: a qualitative analysis

The Sensory Experiences of Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Qualitative Analysis

“…Physical responses to sensory stimuli varied from nausea ("[if there's a] strong kind of sensory smell of a food … it makes me feel physically sick") and physical pain ("[with] light hugs … it gets to the point where my body tenses to the point of being painful") to becoming immobile ("[with] high-frequency and low-frequency noises … I'll just become like a statue"). The description of sensory stimuli as being painful was also found in the qualitative studies mentioned previously (Ashburner et al, 2013;Dickie et al, 2009;Jones et al, 2003;Kirby et al, 2014;Smith & Sharp, 2013). For the participants in these studies too, it appeared that particularly intense stimuli, or stimuli with a particular SENSORY EXPERIENCES AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS 26 quality (e.g., certain frequency content or texture), was very problematic.…”

“…Again, this has been found in previous research (Dickie et al, 2009;Jones et al, 2003;Smith & Sharp, 2013). Smith and Sharp (2013) conducted interviews with adults who had a diagnosis of AS.…”

“…Sarah described how she felt when touching cool metal: "I like touching metal a lot … I love smooth metal -like, cold smooth metal is like, just amazing". One of the major themes to emerge from Jones et al (2003)'s research was that sensory experiences could be highly enjoyable. One of their participants, Jane, described how enjoyable sensory experiences seemed heightened for her, compared to individuals without autism: "All things are heightened for me, so what a regular person would be tickled with pleasure over, I'll be totally ecstatic".…”

“…The first published study to utilise a qualitative approach to explore sensory processing in adults with ASD was conducted by Jones et al (2003). They investigated self-published online accounts of five individuals who reported they had a diagnosis of high-functioning autism (HFA).…”

“…Sensory issues are commonly reported in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), from both first-hand (Grandin & Scariano, 1996;Jones, Quigney & Huws, 2003;Williams, 1998) and second-hand (Baranek, David, Poe, Stone & Watson, 2006;Leekam, Nieto, Libby, Wing & Gould, 2007;Dickie, Baranek, Schultz, Watson & McComish, 2009) perspectives.…”