Date Presented 04/03/2025
Moderate correlations were identified between Feeding and Eating in AutiSm Together and the Sensory Experience Questionaire. It is essential for OTs to consider autistic children’s sensory needs and the impact on mealtime behaviors.
Primary Author and Speaker: Sabrina Kabakov
Contributing Authors: Hannah Jeanette Laufenberg, Brittany St John, Karla Ausderau
PURPOSE: Families report sensory-related feeding challenges impact family well-being. This poster aims to identify the relationship between parent-report sensory features and feeding challenges in young autistic children.
DESIGN: An online national cross-sectional survey of caregivers (n = 432) of autistic children (2–12 years old) with feeding challenges. Participants were recruited through a research registry. Caregivers also had to be English-speaking, live with the child at least 50% of the time, and the child could not have a co-occurring diagnosis.
METHOD: 398 caregivers completed the Feeding and Eating in AutiSm Together Questionnaire 1.0 (FEAST) and Sensory Experiences Questionnaire 3.0 (SEQ). The FEAST is a caregiver report measure of feeding challenge severity (total score) and provides four subscale scores in unique feeding areas (sensory, behavior, oral motor, and gastrointestinal health). The SEQ is a caregiver report measure of sensory response (total score) and four subscales (hyperresponsiveness, hyporesponsiveness, sensory interests, repetitions, and seeking behaviors; and enhanced perception). Pearson’s correlations and simple linear regression to determine relationships and prediction between the SEQ and FEAST measures.
RESULTS: Moderate significant correlations were identified between FEAST-Total and SEQ total (r = 55) and Hyper (r = .49); FEAST-sensory and SEQ hyper (r = .49); FEAST-behavior and SEQ total (r =. 55), seeking (r = .49), and hypo (r = .41). SEQ total predicts FEAST feeding challenge severity score (p <.001).
CONCLUSION: Hyper significantly impacts overall feeding challenges and sensory subscore, while seeking and hypo impact feeding behaviors. This suggests that underlying sensory processing challenges may be at least partially at fault for challenging mealtime behaviors.
IMPACT STATEMENT: Understanding the underlying contributors to mealtime behavior can help identify appropriate intervention targets to facilitate mealtime engagement.
References
Ausderau, K. K., John, B. M. S., Al-Heizan, M. O., Dammann, C., Chaudoir, S., & Sideris, J. (2024). Factor analysis of the feeding and eating in AutiSm Together Assessment. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 118, 102469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102469
Baranek, G. T. (2009). Sensory experiences questionnaire (Version 3.0). Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina (Unpublished manuscript).
Leader, G., Tuohy, E., Chen, J. L., Mannion, A., & Gilroy, S. P. (2020). Feeding Problems, Gastrointestinal Symptoms, Challenging Behavior and Sensory Issues in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 50(4), 1401–1410. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04357-7
Marshall, J., Hill, R. J., Ziviani, J., & Dodrill, P. (2014). Features of feeding difficulty in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. International journal of speech-language pathology, 16(2), 151–158.
