Relations between Sensory Responsiveness and Features of Autism in Children

Abstract

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition defined by differences in social communication and by the presence of restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities (RRBs). Individuals with autism also commonly present with atypical patterns of sensory responsiveness (i.e., hyporesponsiveness, hyperresponsiveness, and sensory seeking), which are theorized to produce cascading effects across other domains of development. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in sensory responsiveness in children with and without autism (ages 8–18 years), as well as relations between patterns of sensory responsiveness and core and related features of autism. Participants were 50 children with autism and 50 non-autistic peers matched on age and sex. A comprehensive clinical battery included multiple measures of sensory responsiveness, core features of autism, adaptive behavior, internalizing behaviors, cognitive ability, and language ability. Groups significantly differed on all three patterns of sensory responsiveness. Some indices of core and related autism features were robustly associated with all three patterns of sensory responsiveness (e.g., RRBs), while others were more strongly associated with discrete patterns of sensory responsiveness (i.e., internalizing problem behaviors and hyperresponsiveness, language and sensory seeking). This study extends prior work to show that differences in sensory responsiveness that are linked with core and related features of autism persist in older children and adolescents on the spectrum.

Sensory Responsiveness Is Linked With Communication in Infant Siblings of Children With and Without Autism

“…B = unstandardized coefficient from multiple regression model testing moderated effects for each regressor (i.e., group, age, and Age × Group interaction term); PR = parent-reported; Seeking = sensory seeking; Hypo = hyporesponsiveness; Hyper = hyperresponsiveness; SPA = Sensory Processing Assessment (Baranek, 1999b); TSFI = Test of Sensory Functions in Infants (DeGangi & Greenspan, 1989 communication were observed for parent-reported hyporesponsiveness. This finding is consistent with theory and prior findings for associations between metrics of hyporesponsiveness and a range of higher level social, communication, and language skills in children diagnosed with autism (Baranek et al, 2013;Feldman et al, 2020;Watson et al, 2011). Other associations of interest varied according to chronological age across the developmental period of interest (i.e., 12-18 months).…”

“…One factor that has not been commonly considered in studies of communication development, but that may account for variance in communication abilities in children with autism, is sensory responsiveness (i.e., behavioral patterns of responding to sensory stimuli). Past work has shown that sensory responsiveness covaries with concurrent communication in persons on the spectrum (e.g., Baranek et al, 2013;Feldman et al, 2020;Foss-Feig et al, 2012;Watson et al, 2011;Williams et al, 2018). The aforementioned studies, though, have focused only on children and adults (i.e., preschool age and older) on the autism spectrum.…”

Atypical ERP responses to audiovisual speech integration and sensory responsiveness in infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder

“…For the purpose of the study and based on previous literature (Feldman et al, 2019), we included the three patterns of sensory responsiveness that are commonly described and reported in the ASD literature (Ben-Sasson et al, 2019;Baranek et al, 2006;Boyd et al, 2010;Liss et al, 2006;Feldman et al, 2019Feldman et al, , 2020: poor registration, sensory sensitivity, and sensory seeking to evaluate infant sensory processing patterns. Furthermore, since the ERP paradigm involved auditory and visual processing, we have decided to include and control for the potential effect of auditory and visual sensory scales.…”

The Predictive Relationship Between Sensory Reactivity and Depressive Symptoms in Young Autistic Children with Few to No Words

“…Whereas recent research has elucidated specific anxiety subtype relationships with sensory reactivity, and developed a model for understanding the sensory-anxiety relationship (MacLennan et al, 2020 ), the same degree of enquiry has not yet been extended to depression. Broadly, studies exploring sensory reactivity and depression have been confined to cross-sectional data showing correlations between depression and sensory constructs (Ben-Sasson et al, 2008 ; Feldman et al, 2020 ; Pfeiffer et al, 2005 ). Ben-Sasson et al ( 2008 ) identified an association between both hyper- and hypo-reactivity and depressive symptoms in their sample of autistic children.…”