Investigation of the relationship between audio-visual reaction times, sensory processing and motor skills of children with autism according to autism levels

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by problems in communication, cognitive, motor and sensory domains, and the relationship between reaction time (RT), sensory processing skill (SPS) and motor performance domains is not clear. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between audio-visual RT, SPS and motor skill performance according to autism severity level of children with mild and moderate autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants consisted of 30 children aged 3-10 years who were only diagnosed with mild or moderate ASD and could perform the task given by command or imitation. Sensory Profile form was used for demographic information and SPS, and TanTong Finger Tapping Test battery was used to measure audio-visual RZ and motor performance. Sensory Profile form was completed by the parents. When the children saw stimulus in the visual RT test, when they heard sound in the auditory RT test, and without stimulus in the finger tap test, they were asked to press the colored key on the keyboard where the other keys were covered with cardboard. When the sensory profile averages were compared, it was seen that mild individuals showed better SPS than moderate individuals. According to the TanTong Finger Tapping Test battery results, light individuals performed better than moderate individuals in the audio-visual RT and finger tapping tests. While a high level of correlation was observed between visual RT, auditory RT and motor skill areas, no high correlation was found between them and SPS. In the literature, healthy individuals responded more quickly to auditory stimuli, while in our study, individuals with ASD responded faster to visual stimuli. New studies that directly examine the relationship with other specialists by scoring the ASD severity level and examining the relationship with other fields may contribute to the results.