A working taxonomy for describing the sensory differences of autism.
Jason L He, Zachary J Williams, Ashley Harris and 4 others
PMID 37041612WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic sensory issues are often described with vague terms like 'sensitivity', which mixes up brain responses, perception, body reactions, feelings, and behaviour.
This review proposes a five-level taxonomy to separate these constructs, helping clinicians assess and communicate specific sensory differences accurately.
Key findings
01Inconsistent terminology, such as using 'sensitivity' interchangeably for distinct constructs, hinders the integration of research findings and leads to incorrect assumptions about relationships between sensory aspects.
02The proposed taxonomy separates sensory differences into five hierarchical levels: sensory-related neural excitability, perceptual sensitivity, physiological reactivity, affective reactivity, and behavioural responsivity.
03Commonly used questionnaires often mix items assessing different levels (e.g., perceptual sensitivity and affective reactivity), which can confound results and limit their utility for testing specific hypotheses about sensory mechanisms.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
This is a theoretical proposal, not an empirical validation of the taxonomy. The authors acknowledge that relationships between the proposed levels are not fully understood and that current measures often fail to cleanly separate them. The taxonomy is presented as a 'working' model that will require future refinement based on empirical data.
Declared interests
No specific conflicts of interest or funding sources are detailed in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret this taxonomy as a validated diagnostic tool or a proven framework for treatment efficacy. It is a conceptual proposal to standardize language and research design. Clinicians should not assume that identifying a child's 'level' of sensory difference directly predicts their response to a specific intervention without further empirical evidence.