Sex differences in sensory processing in children with autism spectrum disorder.
Joana Maria Almeida Osório, Borja Rodríguez-Herreros, Sonia Richetin and 6 others
PMID 34288517WHAT IT FOUND
Girls with autism had higher parent-reported hearing and balance and motion sensory scores than boys with autism, while typically developing girls and boys did not differ.
Key findings
01In the autism group, girls had higher parent-reported sensory scores than boys on hearing and balance and motion.
02In the typically developing group, girls and boys did not significantly differ on sensory scores.
03Children with autism scored significantly higher than typically developing children on sensory subscales.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Only 26 girls with autism were included, so the sex difference in the autism group has limited statistical power. The sensory scores came from parent or caregiver report, which can be affected by caregiver bias, autistic traits, and expectations about girls and boys. The typically developing group was slightly older than the autism group by a mean difference of 1.14 years. The classification analysis identified only 48.5% of children with autism, so sensory scores alone do not reliably separate autism from typical development. Body awareness and balance and motion subscales had lower internal consistency in separate samples, near or below 0.70.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the higher hearing and balance and motion scores in girls with autism as proof that girls have worse sensory problems needing treatment. The study used parent report, included only 26 girls with autism, and did not test any intervention.