Empirical evidence concerning sensory responsivity in young children who later develop autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains relatively limited. It is unclear whether specific patterns or aspects of sensory responsivity underlay the emergence of the disorder. The goals of this study were to (a) examine whether social versus non‐social context impacted the expression of sensory responsivity in infants at high risk for ASD, and (b) examine if sensory responsivity in social or non‐social contexts was associated with severity of ASD symptoms. The Sensory Experiences Questionnaire 2.1 was collected for 338 infants (131 females, 207 males) at high‐risk for ASD at 12 and/or 24 months of age. High‐risk toddlers meeting diagnostic criteria for ASD (n = 75) showed elevated sensory responsivity in both social and non‐social contexts at 12 months of age and differences widened over the second year of life. Individuals with ASD demonstrate higher responsivity in both contexts suggestive of generalized atypical sensory responsivity in ASD.
Lay Summary
Behaviors such as avoiding or noticing sensory input (e.g., sounds, touches) are often different in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than those without. The reason for this is widely unknown. The findings from this study show that in toddlers, sensory responsivity increased in both social and non‐social situations. Therefore, the setting of sensory input does not explain these differences.
Background
Unusual responses to sensory stimuli are considered a diagnostic symptom of autism spectrum disorder with mounting research efforts put towards understanding, characterizing, and treating such symptoms.
Methods
This paper examines self and caregiver report tools used to measure sensory features in ASD through a systematic review of the psychometric evidence for their use. A total of 31 empirical papers were reviewed across 20 assessment tools. Substantial differences were identified in the specific sensory features defined across assessment tools. Sensory assessment questionnaires were evaluated against quality psychometric evidence criteria to provide a use recommendation.
Results
Five assessments were identified to be “appropriate with conditions,” while no sensory assessment tools were identified to have sufficient quality psychometric evidence to provide a recommendation of “Appropriate” for measuring sensory features in ASD.
Conclusion
Evidence from this review highlights potentially significant shortcomings among the current methods used to measure sensory features in ASD and suggests the need for more efforts in developing psychometrically sound sensory assessment tools for use in ASD populations.
Rapid advancement is paving the way to identify children who would likely benefit from early intervention during the first years of life, prior to the onset of significant delays in development. With the widely acknowledged benefits of early intervention, key questions arise: Does behavioral intervention targeted to infancy and early toddlerhood improve developmental outcomes? What procedures might be used, and under what circumstances? Who do these interventions work for? The current review comprehensively examined the literature on behavioral interventions based in operant learning paradigm, focused on key developmental areas with children in the first two years of life. We located and synthesized 45 studies with unique participant cohorts that included 1,143 children between the ages of 1 to 23 months old. Interestingly, the search revealed the majority of studies focused on infants in the first year of life, of which a large proportion investigated approaches to increase vocalizations or other forms of communication. We provide implications, limitations, and future directions on how behavioral interventions for infants and young toddlers can inform future intervention research with infant populations.
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