Cincinnati Family Magazine

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November 11, 2024

Autism: New Study Focuses on Parent Interview

Since children with autism are unlikely to properly self-report their experiences, new research suggests that interviewing their parents may add important information to help families understand and better respond to the needs of their children, thereby easing challenges in daily routines.

The interview method “called the Critical Incident Technique” asks parents to determine situations where their child had both “good” and “bad” sensory experiences and their perceptions of how those experiences felt to the child.

The study, published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy, says the most common negative reactions for both typically-developing children and those with autism are related to sound, while the most common pleasant experiences for both groups involves touch and movement. Children with autism are reported to have more “unusual” sensory experiences and negative food-related experiences than their typically-developing peers. To read the research article, visit aota.org.

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