A working taxonomy for describing the sensory differences of autism

He, J. L., Williams, Z. J., Harris, A., Powell, H., Schaaf, R., Tavassoli, T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7898-2994 and Puts, N. A. J. (2023) A working taxonomy for describing the sensory differences of autism. Molecular Autism, 14. 15. ISSN 2040-2392 doi: 10.1186/s13229-022-00534-1

Abstract/Summary

Background Individuals on the autism spectrum have been long described to process sensory information differently than neurotypical individuals. While much effort has been leveraged towards characterizing and investigating the neurobiology underlying the sensory differences of autism, there has been a notable lack of consistency in the terms being used to describe the nature of those differences. Main body We argue that inconsistent and interchangeable terminology-use when describing the sensory differences of autism has become problematic beyond mere pedantry and inconvenience. We begin by highlighting popular terms that are currently being used to describe the sensory differences of autism (e.g. “sensitivity”, “reactivity” and “responsivity”) and discuss why poor nomenclature may hamper efforts towards understanding the aetiology of sensory differences in autism. We then provide a solution to poor terminology-use by proposing a hierarchical taxonomy for describing and referring to various sensory features. Conclusion Inconsistent terminology-use when describing the sensory features of autism has stifled discussion and scientific understanding of the sensory differences of autism. The hierarchical taxonomy proposed was developed to help resolve lack of clarity when discussing the sensory differences of autism and to place future research targets at appropriate levels of analysis.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/111738
Identification Number/DOI	10.1186/s13229-022-00534-1
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Clinical Language Sciences
Uncontrolled Keywords	Autistic Disorder, Sensory, Humans, Sensory processing, Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder
Publisher	BMC
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