Sensory Processing Patterns Among Children with Autism Receiving Occupational Therapy Services at a Local Health Facility: A Descriptive Study in Malaysia

• Published in: South African Gastroenterology Review
• Main Author: Afiq’ah Aman N.; Ahvali C.L.; Saghir F.S.A.; Thangarajan R.; Moftah A.G.; Kabir M.S.; Raman K.S.; Shirin L.; Mazumder M.M.; Islam T.; Maung T.M.; Ahmed S.U.; Chia T.Y.; Bhargava P.; Farzana Y.; Vytialingam N.; Nazmul M.H.M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: In House Publications 2023
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85180943071&partnerID=40&md5=ec0171a19608f0f8b230d037691aa3f7

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are mostly affected by sensory symptoms compared to children without it. Sensory processing patterns (SPP) maybe contributing or interfering with children occupations participation. The purpose of this study is to determine the total score in the sensory processing patterns and its relationship with male and female autistic child aged 3 to 6 years with different severity levels. Forty patients and caregivers (N=40) of ASD children referred to occupational therapist in Klinik Kesihatan Petra Jaya participated in this study. This study obtained equal number of male and female children, n=20 respectively. The level of ASD severity is according to the diagnosis which are divided into two criteria as per stated in DSM-5: Restrictive repetitive behavior and social communication interaction. Parents or caregiver reports on Child Sensory Profile 2 Caregiver Questionnaire to determine the prevalence of sensory processing patterns at different gender and its relationship between the age, gender and level of severity of ASD children. The result shows that, there are no significant difference between gender and SPP, but both genders show high scores, and female ASD children seems most likely to have more sensory processing issues compare to male. There is a significant relationship between seeking SPP and age, registration SPP with gender, and level of severity. In conclusion, the SPP of avoiding and sensitivity does not correlate with age, gender and level of severity of ASD children except for registration of SPP. © 2023 In House Publications. All rights reserved.