To investigate possible correlates of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) in young males with ASD, a test of the mediation effects of sensory features (SF) upon the association between ASD symptoms and GAD was conducted with 150 males aged 6 to 18 years. GAD data were obtained from parents of the boys and from the boys themselves; SF and ASD data…

Sensory abnormalities (SAs) are recognized features in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and a relationship between SAs and ASD traits is also suggested in general population. Our aims were to estimate the prevalence of SAs in three different settings, and to study the association between SAs and quantitative autism traits (QAT) using the Autism…

Recent studies highlighted that autistic individuals show increased perceptual capacity -- the ability to process more information at any one time. This study examined whether there is a link between this increased perceptual capacity and the sensory hypersensitivity that many autistic people experience on a daily basis. In total, 38 autistic and…

We tested the relation between vocal emotion and vocal pitch perception abilities in adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and pairwise matched adults with typical development. The ASD group had impaired vocal but typical non-vocal pitch and vocal timbre perception abilities. The ASD group showed less accurate vocal emotion…

This study tested whether individuals with autism spectrum conditions (n = 23) show enhanced discrimination of acoustic differences that signal a linguistic contrast (i.e., /g/ versus /k/ as in "goat" and "coat") and whether they process such differences in a less categorical fashion as compared with 23 IQ-matched typically…

Many young people with autism spectrum disorder display 'challenging behaviours', characterised by externalising behaviour and self-injurious behaviours. These behaviours can have a negative impact on a young person's well-being, family environment and educational achievement. However, the development of effective interventions requires greater…

Neurobiological underpinnings of unusual sensory features in individuals with autism are unknown. Event-related potentials elicited by task-irrelevant sounds were used to elucidate neural correlates of auditory processing and associations with three common sensory response patterns (hyperresponsiveness; hyporesponsiveness; sensory seeking).…

Atypical sensory response patterns are common in children with autism and developmental delay. Expanding on previous work, this observational electroencephalogram study assessed auditory event-related potentials and their associations with clinically evaluated sensory response patterns in children with autism spectrum disorder (n = 28),…

Current views suggest that autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are characterised by enhanced low-level auditory discrimination abilities. Little is known, however, about whether enhanced abilities are universal in ASD and how they relate to symptomatology. We tested auditory discrimination for intensity, frequency and duration in 21 adults with ASD…

Whilst enhanced perception has been widely reported in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), relatively little is known about the developmental trajectory and impact of atypical auditory processing on speech perception in intellectually high-functioning adults with ASD. This paper presents data on perception of complex tones and…

Two experiments were conducted to examine (a) the relationship between the structural characteristics (i.e., bout duration, inter-response time [IRT], pitch, and energy) and overall duration of vocal stereotypy, and (b) the effects of auditory stimulation on the duration and temporal structure of the behavior. In the first experiment, we measured…

It has been claimed that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by a limited ability to process perceptual stimuli in reference to the contextual information of the percept. Such a connection between a nonholistic processing style and behavioral traits associated with ASD is thought to exist also within the neurotypical population albeit…

The purpose of this study was to explore the sensory profile of young children with ASD compared to young children with other developmental delays (DD) at first ASD assessment. Results found that young children with ASD had more tactile and taste/smell sensitivities and difficulties with auditory filtering than young children with other DD.…

This study examined the relationship between auditory, visual, touch, and oral sensory dysfunction in autism and their relationship to multisensory dysfunction and severity of autism. The Sensory Profile was completed on 104 persons with a diagnosis of autism, 3 to 56 years of age. Analysis showed a significant correlation between the different…