Assessing Sensory Processing Dysfunction in Adults and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Scoping Review
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Phase 1–Empirical Literature Search
2.2. Phase 2–Grey Literature Search
3. Results
3.1. Empircal Literature Search
3.2. Grey Literature Search
3.3. Empirical Studies
3.4. Summary of Assessment Types
- (1)
- Self- and Proxy-Report Measures: These are questionnaires requiring respondents to either read the items and select responses, or verbally respond to a list of questions read to them by an interviewer. Questions ask respondents to rate the kinds of difficulties they experience related to sensory processing. Proxy respondents may be caregivers or others, such as a clinician or significant other. Proxy respondents provide responses based on their perceptions of sensory processing behaviors and how frequently these behaviors occur.
- (2)
- Psychophysical Methods: This assessment method quantitatively measures the relationship between a controlled sensory stimulus and an individual’s physiological or self-reported response (e.g., detection, discrimination, and/or comfort thresholds).
- (3)
- Direct Observation: refers to a wide range of techniques (i.e., measure of frequency/intensity of specific behavior pattern, initiation and task completion, motivation and sensory preference assessments, timing, habits/routines, environmental factors) that may be used by clinicians and researchers to capture behaviors indicative of underlying sensory symptoms or preferences in either a controlled laboratory or real-world setting.
- (4)
- Qualitative Interview Methods: These methods involve having individuals describe their sensory experiences in an open-ended or semi-structured interview format, and then the responses are grouped and summarized by a researcher.
- (5)
- Neuroimaging/EEG: Functional neuroimaging measures brain responses through electroencephalogram (EEG) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with the aim to understand the relationship between a brain signal and certain clinical symptoms or observable behaviors.
3.4.1. Self- and Proxy-Report Measures
3.4.2. Psychophysical Methods
3.4.3. Direct Behavioral Observation
3.4.4. Qualitative Interview Techniques
3.4.5. Neuroimaging/EEG
4. Discussion
4.1. Use of Multiple Methods
4.2. Implications and Future Directions
4.3. Future Methodological Considerations
4.4. Study Limitations
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Inclusion Criteria | Exclusion Criteria |
---|---|
-Original research published in peer-reviewed journals | -Non-peer-reviewed |
-Available electronically through CAMH or University of Toronto Libraries | -Did not focus directly on sensory processing (e.g., ASD diagnostic tools with limited sensory processing questions) |
-Diagnosis of ASD with or without an IDD. | -Non-English language |
-Use of a clearly defined sensory processing measure or technique | -Theses and conference abstracts |
-Publication date before 1988 | |
-Age 16+ included in study sample | -Reviews and Meta-analyses (used for cross-reference) |
Organization | Country | Title | Year |
---|---|---|---|
National Institute of Health Care and Excellence | United Kingdom | Recognition, referral, diagnosis, and management of adults with autism | 2012 |
Australian Psychological Association | Australia | Clinical Assessment Resource: An overview of best practice tools and approaches to conducting biopsychosocial and developmental assessment of child, young people, and adults with a disability who display behaviors of concern | 2011 |
Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) | Canada | Position Statement on Autism Spectrum Disorders and Occupational Therapy | 2015 |
American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) | United States | Scope of Occupational Therapy Services for Individuals with ASD across the Life Course | 2015 |
College of Occupational Therapy | United Kingdom | Occupational Therapy and Learning Disabilities | 2012 |
Self- or Proxy-Report Measures | Creators | Subscales/Items | Terminology | Age Group | Scoring | Clinically Available (Y/N) | Published Psycho-metric Prop-erties (Y/N) | Development | Discipline | Self- or Proxy-Report | ASD Specific (Y/N) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AASP | Dunn, 2001 | Low Registration, Sensory Sensitivity, Sensory Avoidance, Sensory Seeking; taste/smell, movement, visual, touch, multisensory, activity level, and auditory | Four Quadrant Model of Sensory Processing; Neurological and Behavioral Thresholds | 11+ | 60 items; 4 point scale | Y | Y | Expert panel, factor analysis, construct validity–physiological measure | Occupation-al Therapy (OT) | Self-Report | N |
SP/SSP | Dunn, 1997 | Sensory processing, modulation, and behavioral and emotional responses; taste/smell, movement, visual, touch, multisensory, activity level, and auditory | Four Quadrant Model of Sensory Processing; Neurological and Behavioral Thresholds | 3–10 | 125 items; 38 items (short); 4 point scale | Y | Y | Expert panel, factor analysis, construct validity–physiological measure | OT | Proxy-Report | N |
SenSOR | Schoen et al., 2008 | Sensory over-responsivity (sensory sensitivity or sensory avoiding); touch, vision, hearing, smell, taste, and proprioception | Sensory Modulation | All ages | Unclear | N | Y | Factor analysis (discriminant validity, internal reliability/consistency); ongoing development; expert and lit review; correlated to examiner-scored behavior analysis and AASP | OT | Self/Care giver- Report | N |
SII-R | Reisman & Hanschu, 1992 | tactile, vestibular and proprioceptive processing; “general reactions” section | Sensory Integration | Adult | Checklist | Y | N | Based on sensory integration theory | OT | Proxy-Report | N (IDD Specific) |
GSQ | Horder et al., 2014 | visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, tactile, vestibular, and proprioceptive | Hypo and Hypersensitivities | Adults with ASD | 42 items; 4 point scale; total score | N | Y | Factor analysis across cultures; reports in the literature of sensory signs and symptoms commonly associated with ASD and b signs and symptoms reported by parents of children with ASD; correlated to AASP | OT | Self-Report | Y |
SR-AS | Elwin et al., 2016 | hyper- and hypo-reactivity, strong sensory interest, and sensory/motor; visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, tactile, vestibular, proprioceptive and interoceptive | High and low awareness | Adults with ASD | 38 items; 4 point scale | N | Y | Qualitative interviews; factor/cluster analysis | Psychiatry | Self-Report | Y |
DISCO | Wing, Leekam, Libby, Gould, & Larcombe, 2002 | touch, taste, smell, kinesthetic, auditory, and visual. Items relating to atypical taste/oral, movement, touch responsiveness, and self-injurious behavior | “proximal” (e.g., smell, taste, touch, kinesthetic and mixed) | Mixed Age Group–Autism | 25 items (sensory); 300 total for diagnostic tool | Y | Y | Chosen based on clinical observation; developed as part of diagnostic tool; factor analysis | Psychology | Proxy-Report/Inter-view | Y |
SPQ | Tavassoli et al., 2014 | touch, hearing, vision, smell, and taste | basic detection and discrimination to sensory input measured across hyper-and hyposensitivity | Adults | 35 item; 4 point scale | N | Y | Factor analysis; correlated to SenSOR; developed to study basic detection and discrimination–based on ‘main sensory modalities’ (Goldstein, 2002) | Psychiatry | Self-Report | N |
SBS | Harrison & Hare, 2004 | visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, tactile, vestibular, movement, proprioception, temperature and sensory processes | sensory symptoms (ongoing, past, none) | Adults with ASD | 17 items; ongoing, past, none | Y | N | Literature review, discussion with experts, and based on O'Neill (1995) | Psychology | Proxy-Report | Y |
SSQ | Minshew & Hobson, 2008 | sound, light, tactile and temperature sensitivities, pain tolerance, awareness of smell or taste, and sensitivity to environmental events or conditions | sensory sensitivity | Mixed Age Group | 13 item; Yes/No | N | N | Based on items from the highly sensitive person self-report checklist (Aron and Aron 1997), common reactions to sensory stimuli reported by individuals with ASD, classic behavioral descriptions, and clinical reports | Psychiatry | Self-/Proxy-Report | Y |
AADQ | Dunlop et al., 2016 | Auditory | auditory hypersensitivity; difficulty hearing in noisy environments | Adults | 33 items; 7 point Likert scale | Y | N | Based on validated inventories for specific adult clinical populations that experience abnormal auditory processing | Speech Language | Self-Report | N |
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DuBois, D.; Lymer, E.; Gibson, B.E.; Desarkar, P.; Nalder, E. Assessing Sensory Processing Dysfunction in Adults and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Scoping Review. Brain Sci. 2017, 7, 108. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7080108
DuBois D, Lymer E, Gibson BE, Desarkar P, Nalder E. Assessing Sensory Processing Dysfunction in Adults and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Scoping Review. Brain Sciences. 2017; 7(8):108. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7080108
Chicago/Turabian StyleDuBois, Denise, Erin Lymer, Barbara E. Gibson, Pushpal Desarkar, and Emily Nalder. 2017. "Assessing Sensory Processing Dysfunction in Adults and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Scoping Review" Brain Sciences 7, no. 8: 108. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7080108
APA StyleDuBois, D., Lymer, E., Gibson, B. E., Desarkar, P., & Nalder, E. (2017). Assessing Sensory Processing Dysfunction in Adults and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Scoping Review. Brain Sciences, 7(8), 108. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7080108