Sensory Over-Responsivity, Autism and Sleep

Sleep Medicine published research on a large well-characterized sample of 1347 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) examining the relationship between sleep problems, sensory over-responsivity, and anxiety.  Statistical analysis was completed using the  Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire, Child Behavior Checklist, and Short Sensory Profile.

The following results were recorded:

1. anxiety was associated with all types of sleep problems (i.e., bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, sleep duration, sleep anxiety, and night wakings).


2. sensory over-responsivity (SOR) was correlated with all sleep problems in bivariate analyses.


3. further statistical analysis revealed that SOR remained significantly associated with all sleep problems except night awakenings for older children, while for younger children SOR was no longer significantly associated with bedtime resistance or sleep anxiety.

The researchers concluded that children with ASD who have anxiety and SOR may be particularly predisposed to sleep problems including possible difficulties with hyperarousal. Future research using physiological measures of arousal and objective measures of sleep are recommended.

Reference:  Mazurek , M. and Petroski, G. Sleep problems in children with autism spectrum disorder: examining the contributions of sensory over-responsivity and anxiety. Sleep Medicine Publication stage: In Press Accepted Manuscript.  DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2014.11.006

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Autism Sleeps™ serves as a thorough resource of sleep sensory strategies and suggestions for preparing the “sleep environment”. Sample bedtime and wake-up routines are provided as templates, especially to guide parents of children with sleep difficulties.  Find out more at http://yourtherapysource.com/autismsleeps.html

Sensory Based Problem Behaviors and Suggested Interventions

School based occupational and physical therapists play a key role in suggesting therapeutic interventions for students with sensory based behaviors.  It is our job to educate teachers, parents and students as to why a child's behaviors may be sensory based and what sensory strategies can be used to help that child better navigate the educational environment.

Typical Classroom Sensory-Based Problem Behaviors & Suggested Therapeutic Interventions by Illeana McCaigue, OTR offers many suggestions for therapeutic interventions for 12 different problem behavior categories. The classroom sensory based problem behaviors include the following:

1. Sitting/Poor Work Tolerance


2. Vision/Attention Related


3. Oral/Facial Related


4. Visual Sensitivities


5. Tactile/Proprioceptive/Personal Space Issues


6. Self-Injurious Behaviors


7. Gut Reactions Due to Perceived Stress/Anxiety


8. Difficulty Staying with the Group


9. Delayed Immature/Inefficient Grasp Pattern


10. Visual/Proprioceptive Sensory Seeking Wrist/ Hands


11. Difficulty with Positioning/ Lower Extremity Awareness


12. Oral Motor/ Self-Feeding Issues

This electronic book will help new and seasoned therapists determine what problem behavior the child may be displaying, possible underlying causes and sensory strategy solutions to address the behavior.

Find out more about Typical Classroom Sensory-Based Problem Behaviors & Suggested Therapeutic Interventions by Illeana McCaigue, OTR   and download a sample page at http://yourtherapysource.com/mccaigue.html

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Infant Responses to Tactile Input

Psychological Science has published research on 9 month old infants reaction to tactile input. The parents sat the infant on their lap while the experimenter stroked the back of the infant's arm with a paintbrush. The experimenter varied the rate of the brushstrokes among three defined velocities: slow, medium and fast (0.3, 3, or 30 cm per second). The experimenters determined the infants' responses of attentional engagement and arousal through physiological and behavioral measures.

The following results were recorded:
1. the infants' heart rate slowed in response to the brushstrokes but only when the strokes were of medium velocity therefore the touch of the medium-velocity brush helped to decrease their physiological arousal.
2. The infants showed more engagement with the paintbrush during the medium-velocity brushstrokes, as measured by how long and how often they looked at the brush while they were being stroked.
3. infants' slower heart rate during medium-velocity brushstrokes was uniquely correlated with the primary caregivers' own self-reported sensitivity to touch. In other words, the more sensitive the caregiver was to touch, the more the infant's heart rate slowed in response to medium-velocity touch.

The researchers concluded that sensitivity to pleasant touch begins early in development and playing an important role in regulating human social interactions.

Reference: M. T. Fairhurst, L. Loken, T. Grossmann. Physiological and Behavioral Responses Reveal 9-Month-Old Infants' Sensitivity to Pleasant Touch. Psychological Science, 2014; DOI: 10.1177/0956797614527114

Mini Sensory Books
Summary: Download of the materials to create 7 sensory mini books, 7
charts, 7 four square strips and over 100 picture word cards.
Find out more information at http://yourtherapysource.com/minisensory.html

Sensory Based Phenotypes for Autism?

Autism Research recently published research examining whether sensory differences can be used to classify subgroups of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).  The Short Sensory Profile was completed on 228 children with ASD ages 2-10 years old. 

The results indicated the following:

1.  four distinct sensory subtypes were identified -

(a) sensory adaptive

(b) taste smell sensitive

(c) postural inattentive

(d) generalized sensory difference.

2.  the sensory subtypes differed from each other on two dimensions: (a) the severity of reported sensory differences; and (b) the focus of differences across auditory, taste, smell, vestibular and proprioceptive domains.

3.  Upon examination of the clinical features of each subtype two possible mechanisms of sensory disturbance in autism were revealed: (a) sensory hyperreactivity; and (b) difficulties with multisensory processing.

4.  Lastly, the sensory subtypes were not well explained by other variables such as age, gender, IQ, and autism symptom severity.

The researchers concluded that classification of children using sensory differences offers a possible method to identify phenotypes in ASD.   In addition, further research was recommended to determine neural and physiological correlates for the sensory-based phenotypes.

Would love to hear your opinion?  Do you think there are sensory based phenotypes for children with ASD?

Check out all of our sensory processing products at http://yourtherapysource.com/sensoryprocessing.html

Reference:  Lane, A. E., Molloy, C. A. and Bishop, S. L. (2014), Classification of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder by Sensory Subtype: A Case for Sensory-Based Phenotypes. Autism Res. doi: 10.1002/aur.1368

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Sensory Preferences

Assist a child as necessary to complete this free printable worksheet to determine sensory diet activities for different situations.  You can download the blank worksheet at YourTherapySource.com.