Brief Report: Sensory Sensitivity is Associated with Disturbed Eating in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders Without Intellectual Disabilities.

FOOD habits; SELF-evaluation; RISK assessment; SENSORY defensiveness; AUTISM; QUESTIONNAIRES; VISION; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; TASTE; ALLERGIES; EATING disorders; INTELLECTUAL disabilities; DISEASE complications; ADULTS

Aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between sensory sensitivity and autistic eating behaviours or Eating Disorders (EDs) symptomatology, in a group of 75 adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) without intellectual disabilities, through a series of self-report questionnaires. We found that, controlling for demographic and clinical features: (i) hypersensitivity in the vision domain predicted higher levels of both EDs symptoms and autistic eating behaviours; (ii) hyposensitivity in the taste domain predicted higher levels of EDs symptoms. This gives preliminary evidence that not only in children diagnosed with ASDs, but even in adult individuals, the threshold of sensory sensitivity is associated with dysfunctional eating behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]