The prevalence and developmental course of auditory processing differences in autistic children.
Bonnie K Lau, Katherine A Emmons, Adrian K C Lee and 3 others
PMID 37376987WHAT IT FOUND
Auditory filtering difficulties are common in autistic children and remain stable from age 3 to 9.
Children with more reported auditory difficulties at age 3 showed more agitation, hyperactivity, and lower adaptive skills at age 9, independent of their cognitive ability.
Key findings
01More than 70% of children scored in the probable or definite difference range for auditory filtering at ages 3, 6, and 9, with prevalence increasing over time.
02Auditory filtering scores did not change significantly between ages 3 and 9, indicating that these sensory differences are stable across childhood rather than resolving with age.
03Auditory filtering scores at age 3 predicted agitation, hyperactivity, and adaptive behavior scores at age 9, even after controlling for intellectual ability and symptom severity.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study relied entirely on caregiver reports via the Short Sensory Profile, rather than direct physiological or behavioral measures of auditory processing. The Auditory Filtering subscale only captures difficulty attending to sound in noise and hyposensitivity, missing other auditory issues like hypersensitivity or sound aversions that are common in autism. The sample was highly educated, with 85% of mothers holding a graduate degree or higher, which may limit generalizability to broader populations. Data attrition occurred over time, with SSP data available for 49 children at age 3, 29 at age 6, and 52 at age 9, meaning not all children were followed at every time point. The study did not control for community-based interventions that participants may have received, which could have influenced behavioral or sensory outcomes.
Declared interests
No specific funding sources or conflicts of interest were declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that auditory processing differences will resolve as the child matures. The study found these differences to be stable from age 3 to 9. Additionally, do not use these findings to claim that auditory interventions improve outcomes, as this was an observational study and no interventions were tested.