These experiments explored whether behavioral improvements observed during Snoezelen OT treatment sessions carried over to two different settings for three people with moderate/severe intellectual disability, autism and severe challenging behaviors. Experiment 1 explored engagement during a functional task immediately following the treatment…

An individual with autism addresses the need for more research on sensory problems in autism. Difficulties that autistic individuals have with sensory processing, attention shifting, and sensory mixing between modalities are noted. Preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of sensory integration therapy is noted. (DB)

An intermodal preference task, which presents 2 events side-by-side with a single sound track appropriate to 1 event, and measures subjects' visual preferences, was presented to 23 children with autism. Subjects showed the intermodal matching effect demonstrated with normal infants and young children; subjects did not demonstrate primary…

A detailed hypothesis of the acquisition and maintenance of self-stimulatory behavior is offered, proposing that such behaviors are operant responses whose reinforcers are automatically produced perceptual consequences. Related concepts are discussed, and support for the hypothesis from the areas of sensory reinforcement and sensory deprivation is…

Background: This study describes a new caregiver-report assessment, the Sensory Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ), and explicates the nature of sensory patterns of hyper- and hyporesponsiveness, their prevalence, and developmental correlates in autism relative to comparison groups. Method: Caregivers of 258 children in five diagnostic groups…

This experiment assessed the reinforcing properties of sensory stimulation for autistic children using three different types of sensory stimulation: music, visual flickering, and visual movement. (SB)

At least since the early 1990s, educators in inclusive schooling as well as scholars in Disability Studies have critiqued prevailing notions of intellectual ability and have suggested the importance of interpretive communities for constructing student competence (Biklen, 1990; Goode, 1992, 1994; Kliewer, 1998; Kluth, 2003; Linneman, 2001). This…

For availability, see EC 104 061. Sensory stimulation, similar to that received during self stimulation, was administered to one autistic and one multiply handicapped child (6 and 4 years old) contingent upon correct response to a manipulative task. (CL)

Discusses sensory-perceptual abnormalities in people with autism from published firsthand accounts and existing psychological research evidence. A range of abnormalities, including hyper- and hyposensitivity, sensory distortion and overload, and multichannel receptivity and processing difficulties, are described and the limitations of clinical and…

This article presents considerations for assessing sensory issues in individuals with autism spectrum disorders as a means of gathering information useful to families and professionals in understanding children and designing intervention strategies that support success across environments. Formal assessment, informal assessment, dynamic…

The visual event-related potentials and concurrently measured fixation times of 20 nonretarded autistic children (ages 5-15) were compared with those of normal children, "externalizers," and "internalizers." Autistic children had smaller P3 waves compared to normal controls. No intergroup differences were found in…

Five first-hand Web page accounts of unusual sensory perceptual experiences written by persons with high-functioning autism were selected for qualitative analysis. Four core categories emerged: turbulent sensory perceptual experiences; coping mechanisms; enjoyable sensory perceptual experiences; and awareness of being different, suggesting they…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether children with Asperger Syndrome and children with autism exhibit difference sensory profiles. The Sensory Profile (Dunn, 1999), completed on 86 individuals with Asperger Syndrome and 86 persons with autism matched for age, revealed differences in three of 23 areas evaluated: (a) Emotional/Social…

Background: Unusual responses to sensory stimuli are seen in many children with autism. Their presence was highlighted both in early accounts of autism and in more recent first-person descriptions. There is a widespread belief that sensory symptoms characterize autism and differentiate it from other disorders. This paper examines the empirical…