Linking Sensory Integration and Processing With Mental Health in Autism: A Retrospective Review of Survey Data.

Importance: Although a central tenet of occupational therapy practice, evidence-based practice is at times overrepresented by research and can overlook the contributions of clinical expertise, the lived experience, and context. This survey affords the occupational therapy practitioner the opportunity to understand sensory integration and processing (SI/P) as experienced by autistic adults.

Objective: To explore the following research question through a retrospective analysis of an internet-based survey: What is the relationship between the SI/P differences and mental health concerns reported by autistic adults?

Design: Nonexperimental; retrospective analysis of data collected from September 2018 through June 2019.

Sleep, Sensory Integration/Processing, and Autism: A Scoping Review.

The prevalence of sleep dysfunction is considerably higher in the autistic population than in the non-autistic. Similarly, the incidence of sensory reactivity differences in autism exceeds that in the neurotypical population. The basis of sleep disorders in autism is multifactorial, but sensory integration/processing concerns may play a role.