The Relationship Between Sensory Processing Pattern and Social Participation in 6-12-year-old Children With Autism: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in children and causes defects in social functions, behaviors, and limited and repetitive interests.One of the symptoms of ASD is a disturbance in sensory function, which can disturb the social participation of affected people. Therefore, the present study was done to determine the relationship between the sensory processing pattern and social participation in children with autism aged 6 to 12 years. Methods: This applied research was carried out in 2022 using a cross-sectional descriptive and analytical method. The research population included 6-12-year-old children with ASD in Tehran. A total of 54 children participated in this study, of whom 49 cases were included in the study after meeting the inclusion criteria. Data collection tools included the Gilliam autism rating scale-3, the children participation assessment scale-parent version (CPAS-P), and sensory profile-2. Finally, the data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical statistics using SPSS software, version 26. Results: The overall score of autism in the studied children was 76.22±33.82. Among the variables of sensory processing, the highest mean score was related to low registration (51.17±18.55) and the lowest was related to sensation seeking (40.16±93.92). No significant relationship was observed between most variables of sensory processing patterns and social participation in CPAS-P. However, there was an inverse and significant statistical relationship between social participation and sensory-seeking pattern. Conclusion: The results showed that sensory seeking is related to social participation in children with autism. There is an inverse and significant statistical relationship between social participation and sensory search pattern and no relation with the others. Therefore, more severe sensory problems in these children are associated with more prominent social problems.