Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Sir James Spence Institute, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Department of Psychology, Durham University, Science Laboratories, Durham, UK.
J Intellect Disabil Res. 2020 Aug;64(8):657-665. doi: 10.1111/jir.12738. Epub 2020 May 13.
Unusual sensory responses were included in the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet they are also common among individuals with other neurodevelopmental disorders, including Williams syndrome (WS). Cross-syndrome comparisons of sensory atypicalities and the evaluation of their syndrome specificity however have rarely been undertaken. We aimed to (1) examine and compare the sensory profiles in ASD and WS groups and (2) investigate whether autistic symptoms, including sensory processing scores, can predict a group membership.
Parents of 26 children with ASD and intellectual disability, 30 parents of children with ASD (no intellectual disability) and 26 with WS aged between 4 and 16 years were recruited. Parents completed the Sensory Profile to provide information about their children's sensory experiences and the Social Responsiveness Scale - Second Edition (SRS-2) to assess the degree of social impairment in their children.
No significant differences were found in sensory processing scores between the three groups. Binary logistic regression analyses were undertaken with sensory quadrants and SRS-2 total score as factors. Models significantly predicted group membership, with Low Registration, Sensory Sensitivity and SRS-2 total score being significant predictors.
The findings suggest that high rates of sensory atypicalities are a common neurodevelopmental characteristic that do not reliably distinguish between WS and ASD groups. Low Registration and Sensory Sensitivity-related behaviours might, however, be more specific to ASD. Further work is needed to explore what behaviours within sensory profiles can discriminate between neurodevelopmental disorders and should be included in diagnostic classifications.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的诊断标准包括异常感觉反应，但这些反应在其他神经发育障碍患者中也很常见，包括威廉姆斯综合征（WS）。然而，跨综合征比较感觉异常，并评估其综合征特异性的研究很少进行。我们旨在：（1）检查和比较 ASD 和 WS 组的感觉特征；（2）研究自闭症症状，包括感觉处理评分，是否可以预测组别的归属。
招募了 26 名患有 ASD 和智力障碍的儿童的家长、30 名患有 ASD（无智力障碍）的儿童的家长和 26 名患有 WS 的儿童的家长，年龄在 4 至 16 岁之间。家长完成了感觉特征问卷，以提供有关其孩子感觉体验的信息；完成了社会反应量表-第二版（SRS-2），以评估其孩子的社会障碍程度。
三个组的感觉处理评分没有显著差异。使用感觉象限和 SRS-2 总分作为因素进行二元逻辑回归分析。模型显著预测了组别归属，低注册、感觉敏感和 SRS-2 总分是显著的预测因素。
这些发现表明，高比率的感觉异常是一种常见的神经发育特征，不能可靠地区分 WS 和 ASD 组。然而，与低注册和感觉敏感相关的行为可能更特异于 ASD。需要进一步研究探索感觉特征中的哪些行为可以区分神经发育障碍，并应包含在诊断分类中。
