A comparison of the sensory needs of autistic adults with and without intellectual disabilities: A short report

Figures & data

Table 1. Identification of sensory needs for overall sample and for each those with and without intellectual disability.

Item on sensory checklist	Percentage of whole sample identifying as an issue	Informant responses for autistic adults with intellectual disabilities %			Self-report responses for autistic adults with no intellectual disabilities %			Chi-square analysis – number reporting sensory issue
		Yes	No	Don’t know	Yes	No	Don’t know	* significant at p < 0.0013 (Bonferroni adjustment)
Finds crowded areas difficult	93	86	14	0	96	3	1	Not sig
Distressed by certain sounds	86	69	21	10	93	4	3	χ2 = 20.997*
Prefers to sit at back or front of group	83	67	16	17	89	6	5	χ2 = 13.788*
Is startled when approached by others	81	60	36	3	89	9	2	χ2 = 22.815*
Dislikes bright lights	80	N/A			80	16	4	N/A
Likes a hug if chosen to do so	79	65	33	2	84	15	1	Not sig
Enjoys feel of certain materials	79	54	16	30	90	9	2	χ2 = 37.125*
Resist change to routine	79	78	19	3	79	15	6	Not Sig.
Dislikes feel of certain fabrics and substance	78	59	12	29	86	11	3	χ2 = 30.628*
Dislikes certain food and drink	78	79	19	2	78	17	5	Not Sig.
Covers ears when hears certain sounds	76	67	29	4	79	18	3	Not Sig.
Finds it easier to listen when not looking at a person	75	57	29	14	82	9	9	χ2 = 13.794*
Can hear sounds that others do not hear	72	57	9	34	78	9	12	χ 2 = 13.050*
Quite clumsy, bumps into objects and people	70	45	53	2	80	13	7	χ 2 = 35.917*
Dislikes untidy or cluttered environments	67	62	29	9	70	24	7	Not Sig.
Dislikes everyday smells	63	21	24	55	80	17	4	χ2 = 84.845*
Dislikes fluorescent lights	63	25	40	35	78	17	5	χ2 = 54.431*
Does not like shaking hands or being hugged	58	62	36	2	57	32	12	Not Sig.
Needs additional cue to recognise people	58	N/A			58	33	9	N/A
Enjoys certain patterns, e.g., brickwork, strips	54	22	50	28	67	29	4	χ2 = 39.698*
Does not know where body is in space	53	48	41	10	55	33	12	Not Sig.
Poor balance	53	42	58	0	57	36	7	χ2 = 9.916*
Likes to have food presented in a certain way	52	60	34	9	35	32	4	Not Sig.
Seeks pressure	43	22	74	3	52	41	7	χ2 = 17.656*
Needs purpose or function of areas to be clearly communicated	39	38	48	14	40	51	9	Not Sig.
Is fascinated by shiny objects	38	31	53	16	41	50	9	Not Sig.
Is attracted to sound and noise	37	60	31	9	27	64	9	χ2 = 19.893*
Seeks out certain smells	37	16	32	52	46	51	3	χ2 = 68.181*
Eats and chews materials which are not edible	37	43	55	2	34	61	5	Not Sig.
Hugs very tightly	36	28	67	5	39	51	9	Not Sig.
Licks and taps objects and people	36	42	58	0	33	60	7	Not Sig.
Bangs objects and doors	33	64	34	2	20	64	16	χ2 = 36.695*
Will attempt to avoid bright colours	31	12	60	28	38	55	7	χ2 = 22.659*
Seems unaware of temperature	29	67	19	14	13	80	87	χ2 = 66.129*
Has a fear of heights, lifts, stairs, escalators	28	30	51	19	27	70	3	χ2 = 16.589*
Is attracted to light	24	21	55	24	25	67	8	Not Sig.
Has a strong preference for seeking colour	22	3	67	30	30	61	10	χ2 = 23.678*
Dislikes crunchy or chewy food	19	36	60	3	12	80	8	χ2 = 16.577*
Appears not to see certain colours	7	5	42	53	8	82	10	χ2 = 41.768*

Table 2. Match between identified needs and the support provided in the environment.

Environmental item	Whole sample		Autistic with intellectual disabilities		Autistic adult Without intellectual disabilities		Chi-square on number with full-match	% in place where no need recorded
	% Full match with need	% Partial match with need	% Full match with need	% Partial match with need	% Full match with need	% Partial match with need	* significant at p < 0.0016 (Bonferroni adjustment)	Whole sample	With intellectual disalbities	No intellectual disablities
Enough lighting	73	27	75	25	72	28	Not sig.	63	32	70
Staff clearly identified	67	0	N/A	N/A	67	0	N/A	38	N/A	38
Can avoid higher areas/lifts etc	60	35	76	16	33	6	Not sig.	45	34	69
Opportunities to make noise and sound	56	36	75	25	39	45	χ2 = 14.990*	33	19	47
Opportunities to touch	54	35	48	48	55	32	Not sig.	8	11	6
Preferred food and drinks always available	50	39	67	30	41	43	Not sig.	15	18	12
Clear signage	47	31	48	24	47	35	Not sig.	34	41	31
Can use preferred way of greeting	47	39	78	20	34	47	χ2 = 31.409*	2	2	2
Food presented as preferred	46	30	67	27	31	31	χ2 = 13.172*	32	27	39
Opportunities to smell	43	40	57	33	41	41	Not sig.	36	17	41
Predictability in environment	41	53	56	42	35	57	Not sig.	14	16	14
People understand re eye contact	40	43	64	33	32	46	Not sig.	16	28	3
Many different colours	40	51	5	0	37	54	Not sig.	57	64	52
Environment organised to be easy to move around	40	48	71	29	30	54	χ2 = 19.554*	17	35	0
No flickering lights	39	35	71	29	34	36	Not sig.	29	42	19
Can avoid disliked fabric etc.	38	29	37	59	38	20	χ2 = 19.589*	9	7	10
Can avoid crowded areas	38	38	67	33	26	41	χ2 = 32.743*	8	8	8
Can choose where to sit	38	49	59	41	32	51	Not sig.	10	17	5
Many patterns	37	41	77	23	31	44	Not Sig.	26	42	18
No bright colours	32	53	57	43	28	55	Not sig.	47	57	38
Opportunities to chew	29	33	46	41	20	29	Not Sig.	37	33	40
Environment tidy	27	53	58	39	15	58	χ2 = 28.328*	20	19	22
Enough shiny or colourful objects	27	55	44	50	21	57	Not sig.	46	44	48
Colours adjusted to help people see edges	25	38	33	33	20	40	Not sig.	75	50	88
Quiet areas available and warnings re noise	25	47	54	44	15	48	χ2 = 32.287*	4	7	0
People aware of startling	21	26	44	47	14	20	χ2 = 31.6*	18	32	0
Lighting adjustable	20	40	N/A	N/A	20	40	N/A	19	N/A	19
Opportunities for deep pressure	18	31	56	31	11	31	χ2 = 20.669*	25	36	10
Opportunities to tap, lick, etc	16	47	17	78	16	25	χ2 = 19.199*	61	67	55
Can avoid smells	15	33	25	75	14	30	Not sig.	13	17	11
Can control temperature	11	26	11	29	11	22	Not sig.	71	38	88

Data availability statement

Anonymised data is available from the first author on reasonable request.