Sensory Symptoms In ASD: Overreported by Caregivers or Underreported by Children? A Comparison of Two Versions of the Sensory Profile

Background: Atypical responses to sensory stimuli are frequently seen in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), implying that sensory information may be processed abnormally. Such atypical responses can be detected using the Sensory Profile, an instrument often used in ASD and ADHD to measure sensory perception aptitude. In view of the heterogeneous nature of ASD, accurate individual assessment is necessary for behavioral and neuropsychological research and/or intervention.

Objectives: Our objective was to test for differences between sensory perception assessment by caregivers and self-assessment by participants with ASD. Previous ASD studies have shown inconsistencies between self and parent assessments. We therefore hypothesized that Sensory Profile responses would show discrepancies based on assessment source.

Methods: Fifteen children and adolescents with ASD (Mean age=12.77, SD=2.75; non-verbal IQ =109.4, SD=16.35) and their caregivers completed two versions of the Sensory Profile: (i) an assessment completed by caregivers of individuals with these disorders (Dunn’s Sensory Profile); and (ii) the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile created for self-assessment and composed of an entirely different set of questions than the ones used in the caregiver version. Responses to both versions of the Sensory Profile can be interpreted by being broken down into quadrants. Each quadrant is composed of a sensory processing pattern: registration, avoiding, sensitivity and seeking. Raw scores were converted to z-scores using published standardized scores from the Sensory Profile manuals. We used a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare z-scores for each quadrant from both instruments.

Results: We found significant differences for all four quadrants. Caregivers reported significantly more sensory symptoms in the sensation seeking quadrant, F(1,28)=10.71, p=.006, sensory sensitivity, F(1,28)=7.50, p=.016, the sensation avoiding quadrant, F(1,28)=11.53, p=.013, and the low registration quadrant F(1,28)=18.65, p=.001.

Conclusions: Our study indicates that caregivers report more sensory symptoms for their children with ASD than the children attribute to themselves. Inconsistencies between caregiver assessment and self-assessment should be taken into account when applying results from the Sensory Profile in behavioral or neuropsychological research and/or intervention. Our study could not determine whether these inconsistencies are due to overreporting of sensory symptoms by caregivers or underreporting by ASD participants. Caution is required given the as yet small sample size of our study.