Tactile hypo‐responsivity in autism: Examining potential for diagnostic relevance

Abstract Background Differences in tactile reactivity are observed in autism and to some extent in children with other developmental concerns. However, it is unknown whether differences in responding to touch may serve as a diagnostic marker of autism in children referred for developmental evaluation. This study examined the utility of a tactile reactivity assessment in differentiating autistic children from those with other neurodevelopmental concerns and the association between tactile responsivity, autism symptomatology, developmental level, and adaptive skills. Methods Children (108 autism [mean age 31 months], 43 non‐autism [mean age 29 months]) were administered the tactile portion of the Sensory Processing Assessment along with assessments of autism symptoms, developmental level, and adaptive behavior. Results Autistic children showed decreased orienting to both social and non‐social touches compared to children in the non‐autism group. The social touch responsivity had a sensitivity of 0.62 and a specificity of 0.76. The non‐social touch responsivity had a sensitivity of 0.21 and a specificity of 0.93. The sensitivity for overall responsivity was 0.14 and the specificity was 1. For all children, reduced tactile responsivity was associated with greater autism symptomatology, adaptive functioning difficulties and lower developmental levels. Autistic children who engaged in seeking behaviors while playing with distractor toys showed reduced orienting to novel touches. Conclusions Autistic children showed reduced orienting to novel touches compared to children with other developmental concerns. Children who did not respond to both social and non‐social touches were more likely to be diagnosed with autism. Reduced orienting to tactile stimuli was associated with higher autism symptomatology, and lower verbal/non‐verbal, and adaptive skills in all children. Tendencies of seeking behaviors impacted orienting to touch within the autism group. The findings suggest that tactile reactivity may be a promising indicator of autism diagnosis in young children and that examining this behavior could be a valuable addition to existing standardized protocols.