Unusual Sensory Sensitivities in Autism: A possible crossroads

Abstract

Although there is ample clinical evidence supporting sensory hyper- and hypo-sensitivities in children with autism, empirical evidence is scant. Review of the available evidence indicated that there was a need for further systematic data on unusual sensory-perceptual sensitivities. A questionnaire was developed to investigate this phenomenon in 30 young children with autism and their controls across auditory, tactile, visual, gustatory, and vestibular domains. Significant differences were found between the two groups across all domains, although the limitations of this preliminary investigation need to be taken into account. The findings are interpreted within the framework of theory of mind and joint attention deficit, as well as psychodynamic hypotheses for autism. A brief argument is given as to how an ongoing experience of sensory aberrations may have an inhibitory effect on the prerequisite processes through which social interactivity, attachment, and communication skills develop. The applied implications of the findings are also discussed.