Comparing sensory processing in children with Down syndrome to a mental age matched sample of children with autism, other developmental disabilities, and typically developing children.

This study looked at how children with Down syndrome process sensory information (like sounds, touch, and movement) compared to children with autism, other disabilities, and typical development. All children with disabilities showed more sensory challenges than typical children, but children with autism had the most difficulties. Children with Down syndrome had fewer sensory issues than those with autism. Parents' reports matched better with each other than with direct observations, showing that sensory behaviors might look different in different situations.

This cross-sectional study compared sensory processing patterns between children with Down syndrome (DS), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), other intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs), and typically developing peers using mental age matching. Researchers used two caregiver questionnaires and one observational measure to assess hyporesponsiveness, hyperresponsiveness, and sensory interests/repetitions/seeking behaviors. Results showed all clinical groups demonstrated more atypical sensory processing than typically developing children, with ASD children showing the most severe patterns, followed by other IDDs, then DS. Concordance was higher between caregiver reports than between caregiver and observational measures, suggesting sensory processing expression varies across different contexts and assessment methods.

Sensory processing assessment and intervention should be tailored to specific diagnoses rather than assuming uniform presentations across neurodevelopmental conditions. Multiple assessment methods needed given low concordance between caregiver reports and observations. Suggests sensory interventions developed for autism may need modification for other populations.

Study design (cross-sectional) limits causal inferences. Sample size not reported, preventing assessment of statistical power. Mental age matching may not fully control for developmental differences. Limited generalizability without demographic details of participants.

Atypical sensory processing impacts children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Research has focused on SP in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD); comparatively, little has been written regarding individuals with Down syndrome (DS) and IDDs. We compared patterns of sensory processing in children with DS to children with ASD, other IDDs, and typically developing (TD) peers examining the relationship among different sensory processing measures. We analyzed cross-sectional data using two caregiver questionnaires (SP, SEQ) and one observational measure (SPA).

Groups were compared on three sensory processing patterns: hyporesponsiveness; hyperresponsiveness; and sensory interests, repetitions, and seeking (SIRS) via ANOVA. We assessed concordance through correlations. Children with DS, IDD, and ASD demonstrated more atypical sensory processing behaviors than TD peers. Children with ASD exhibited the most atypical responses across all measures, significantly more than DS children on all but one subscale.

The IDD and DS groups differed on several measures. Measurement concordance was higher between caregiver-report versus observational assessment. Differences between three clinical groups indicate that sensory processing features may differ across clinical populations regardless of cognitive functioning. Lower concordance between caregiver-report and observation measures highlights the need to understand sensory processing expression across different tasks and environments.