Touch processing and social behavior in ASD

Abnormal patterns of touch processing have been linked to core symptoms in ASD. This study examined the relation between tactile processing patterns and social problems in 44 children and adolescents with ASD, aged 6-14 (M = 8.39 ± 2.35). Multiple linear regression indicated significant associations between touch processing and social problems. No such relationships were found for social problems and autism severity. Within touch processing, patterns of hyper-responsiveness and hypo-responsiveness best predicted social problems, whereas sensory-seeking did not. These results support that atypical touch processing in individuals with ASD might be contributing to the social problems they present. Moreover, it the need to explore more in depth the contribution of sensory features to the ASD phenotype.
The study was supported by Fundacion Maria Jose Jove. H. Miguel is supported by an individual doctoral grant from Portugal Science Foundation SFRH/BD/86694/2012R. Martinez-Regueiro is supported by a public fellowship from ISCIII/FI14-00510/cofunded by FEDER. C. Gutierrez Lopez-Doriga is supported by a Grant of Young Employment Promotion Ref. PEJ-2014-P-01190 from Ministry of Economic Affairs.