Sensory processing profiles and autistic symptoms as predictive factors in autism spectrum disorder and Williams syndrome.
Sensory sensitivity and low registration are slightly more common in autism than in Williams syndrome, yet the overlap is too big for these scores to rule in or rule out either condition alone.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Parents filled out a short sensory checklist for kids with autism and kids with Williams syndrome.
The team asked: do the two groups show different sensory patterns, and can those patterns tell the groups apart?
What they found
Both groups had sensory quirks, but autism kids scored a bit higher on Low Registration and Sensory Sensitivity.
Those two scores helped guess which child had autism, yet the overlap was still large.
How this fits with other research
Brodhead et al. (2019) saw the same preschoolers with Williams syndrome outshine autism kids on social skills, while Heald et al. (2020) now show their sensory scores mostly match.
Vivanti et al. (2017) used eye-tracking and found unique gaze problems only in autism; the new parent ratings echo that autism carries extra sensory sensitivity even when syndromes share other traits.
Madden et al. (2003) warned that toddlers with fragile X are just as sensory-reactive as toddlers with autism; Heald et al. (2020) widen the warning to Williams syndrome, so sensory issues alone cannot confirm autism.
Why it matters
If a child shows Low Registration or Sensory Sensitivity, do not jump to an autism label without looking at social and communication data. Use sensory scores as one clue among many, and plan supports that calm the sensory system for either diagnosis.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Add a quick sensory checklist to your intake packet and pair high Sensory Sensitivity scores with social-communication probes before you decide on goals.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Unusual sensory responses were included in the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet they are also common among individuals with other neurodevelopmental disorders, including Williams syndrome (WS). Cross-syndrome comparisons of sensory atypicalities and the evaluation of their syndrome specificity however have rarely been undertaken. We aimed to (1) examine and compare the sensory profiles in ASD and WS groups and (2) investigate whether autistic symptoms, including sensory processing scores, can predict a group membership. METHODS: Parents of 26 children with ASD and intellectual disability, 30 parents of children with ASD (no intellectual disability) and 26 with WS aged between 4 and 16 years were recruited. Parents completed the Sensory Profile to provide information about their children's sensory experiences and the Social Responsiveness Scale - Second Edition (SRS-2) to assess the degree of social impairment in their children. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in sensory processing scores between the three groups. Binary logistic regression analyses were undertaken with sensory quadrants and SRS-2 total score as factors. Models significantly predicted group membership, with Low Registration, Sensory Sensitivity and SRS-2 total score being significant predictors. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that high rates of sensory atypicalities are a common neurodevelopmental characteristic that do not reliably distinguish between WS and ASD groups. Low Registration and Sensory Sensitivity-related behaviours might, however, be more specific to ASD. Further work is needed to explore what behaviours within sensory profiles can discriminate between neurodevelopmental disorders and should be included in diagnostic classifications.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2020 · doi:10.1111/jir.12738