Examining sensory quadrants in autism

A Meta-Analysis of Sensory Modulation Symptoms in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…While individual studies examined a linear trajectory in sensory symptoms across age groups of persons with ASDs (Kern et al 2007;Saulnier 2003;Talay-Ongan and Wood 2000), evidence from this meta-analysis suggests a nonlinear course. There was an increase in the frequency of sensory behaviors overall (total score), in over-responsivity, and in seeking up to age 6-9 years, and a decrease there after.…”

“…This gap does not necessarily reflect lack of sensory symptoms as autobiographical accounts of adults with ASDs (e.g. Grandin 1995) and evidence that includes this age group indicate ongoing sensory symptoms that interfere with performance of daily living activities (Harrison and Hare 2004;Kern et al 2007;Pfeiffer et al 2005). …”

Alexithymia in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Its Relationship to Internalising Difficulties, Sensory Modulation and Social Cognition

“…Although sensory atypicalities are more frequent and pronounced in childhood, they continue to persist through adolescence and into adulthood (Kern et al 2007). Individuals with ASD often exhibit high levels of distress to low-threshold input, such as ordinary sounds, textures and smells (Tomchek and Dunn 2007;Tomchek et al 2014).…”

“…Individuals with ASD often exhibit high levels of distress to low-threshold input, such as ordinary sounds, textures and smells (Tomchek and Dunn 2007;Tomchek et al 2014). By contrast, they also show reduced responsiveness and registration of input (such as failing to orient to novel stimuli or react when their name is being called) as well as sensory seeking behaviours (Kern et al 2007). While the causes of atypical sensory processing in ASD are unclear, the pattern of concurrent increased and reduced responding to sensory stimulation is indicative of a difficulty managing one's response to sensory input, rather than having a specific style of atypical processing (Dunn et al 2002).…”

Are Sensory Processing Features Associated with Depressive Symptoms in Boys with an ASD?

“…Although the Sensory Profile User's Manual (Brown and Dunn 2006, p. 1) states that ''The profile is most appropriate for children 5-10 years of age'', it does not state that it cannot be used with older persons, as witnessed by the fact that the author of the SPr has used it with children aged 3-13 (Kientz and Dunn 1997), 3-15 (Ermer and Dunn 1988) and 6 to almost 17 years (Myles et al 2004). Other authors have used the SPr with samples aged 3-43 years of age (Kern et al 2007) and 3-56 years of age (Kern et al 2006) and others have used an abbreviated version of the Sensory Profile in samples aged 4-18 years (Wigham et al 2014) and 2-17 years (Mazurek et al 2013). All these studies included samples of people with an ASD.…”