Child’s sensory peculiarities in PDD assessment. How? Why?

Background. The DSM-V propose a new criterion to the diagnostic of autism spectrum disorder: “Hyper- or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of environment”
The aim of our study- based on Dunn’s Sensory Profile (SP) - is to examine children or adults‘ sensory peculiarities, to research the possible correlation between results and the proposed diagnosis, to compare the results of SP with other scales, to calculate sensibility and specificity.
Methods. The SP (175 items) is filled out with the caregivers. An analytical assessment provides different scores, compared to a control group.
Results. We will present our first statistical results. Caregivers are very interested by the questionnaire. These observations give also new possibilities for taking care of patients.
Conclusion. Our findings confirm and precise the prevalence of sensory processing impairments in PDD, the benefit of sensory investigation for a more accurate diagnosis and a more comprehensive treatment.