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. 2024 Jul 19;11(7):875.
doi: 10.3390/children11070875.

Atypical Sensory Processing in Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Clinical Phenotypes in Preschool-Aged Children

Federica Gigliotti  1 , Federica Giovannone  1 , Arianna Belli  1 , Carla Sogos  1
Affiliations

Atypical Sensory Processing in Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Clinical Phenotypes in Preschool-Aged Children

Federica Gigliotti et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: Sensory processing issues are frequent in neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), with very variable prevalence rates ranging from 20% to 95%. This study aimed to investigate sensory processing in preschool-aged children with NDDs, to clarify the epidemiology, and to identify associated or correlated clinical and psychometric variables.

Methods: A total of 141 NDD children (age range 2-5 years old) were included and enrolled in two subgroups: 72 with ASD and 69 with other NDDs. A standardized neuropsychological evaluation was assessed (Griffiths III/WPPSI-III/Leiter-R, ADOS-2) and the parents completed the CBCL ½-5, the SPM-P, and the ADI-R.

Results: Atypical sensory processing was reported in 39.7% of the total sample, more frequently in ASD (44.4%) than in other NDDs (34.8%). No statistically significant differences were found regarding gender and developmental level. A positive correlation was found between sensory processing abnormalities and behavioral problems (p < 0.01).

Conclusions: Compared to other NDDs, ASDs more frequently have atypical sensory processing and appear to present a specific vulnerability in the processing of proprioceptive and vestibular inputs. Our results suggest that sensory processing difficulties should be considered regardless of developmental level and in children with behavioral problems.

Keywords: autism; neurodevelopmental disorders; preschool children; sensory processing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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