Sensory Responsiveness in Siblings of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Claudia L Hilton, Alison Babb-Keeble, Erin Eitzmann Westover and 6 others
PMID 27704293WHAT IT FOUND
Unaffected siblings of children with autism did not show atypical sensory scores compared with controls, although the sibling and control groups were small.
Children with autism did show more atypical sensory scores.
Key findings
01In 185 children, unaffected siblings did not differ significantly from controls on sensory responsiveness, but the sibling and control groups were small.
02Children with autism had significantly more atypical sensory scores than controls and unaffected siblings across all quadrants.
03Sensory and social responsiveness scores were weakly to moderately correlated in autism and controls, but correlations were weaker in siblings.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sibling and control groups were too small to rule out differences. Parents reported sensory behaviour, so responses were not directly observed. The sample was a convenience sample recruited through parent networks. The control group was all Caucasian, so results may not generalise across ethnicity. Girls were over-represented among unaffected siblings. IQ was not available for the participants. Questionnaire items can be misinterpreted.
Declared interests
An author receives royalties for the social responsiveness scale used in the study, and several authors declared no conflicts. No funding source is stated in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that siblings of children with autism have typical sensory processing. The sibling and control groups were small, so the study could not reliably rule out differences.