Autism Centre Department: Articles&Journals

Abstract
The psychometric properties of a questionnaire developed to assess symptoms of anxiety disorders (SCARED-71) were compared between two groups of children: children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and comorbid anxiety disorders (ASD-group; n = 115), and children with anxiety disorders (AD-group; n = 122). Anxiety disorders were established with a semi-structured interview (ADIS-C/P), using child- as well as parent-report. Internal consistency, construct validity, sensitivity, specificity, and discriminant validity of the SCARED-71 was investigated. Results revealed that the psychometric properties of the SCARED-71 for the ASD-group were quite comparable to the AD-group, however, the discriminant validity of the SCARED-71 child-report was less in the ASD-group. Raising the parental cutoffs of the SCARED-71 resulted in higher specificity rates, which suggests that research should focus more on establishing alternative cutoffs for the ASD-population.

Abnormal sensory-based behaviors are a defining feature of autism spectrum disorders
(ASD). Dr. A. Jean Ayres was the first occupational therapist to conceptualize Sensory Integration
(SI) theories and therapies to address these deficits. Her work was based on neurological knowledge
of the 1970’s. Since then, advancements in neuroimaging techniques make it possible to better
understand the brain areas that may underlie sensory processing deficits in ASD. In this article,
we explore the postulates proposed by Ayres (i.e., registration, modulation, motivation) through
current neuroimaging literature. To this end, we review the neural underpinnings of sensory
processing and integration in ASD by examining the literature on neurophysiological responses
to sensory stimuli in individuals with ASD as well as structural and network organization using
a variety of neuroimaging techniques. Many aspects of Ayres’ hypotheses about the nature of the
disorder were found to be highly consistent with current literature on sensory processing in children
with ASD but there are some discrepancies across various methodological techniques and ASD
development. With additional characterization, neurophysiological profiles of sensory processing in
ASD may serve as valuable biomarkers for diagnosis and monitoring of therapeutic interventions,
such as SI therapy.