ABSTRACT
Objective@#To explore whether children in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have more obvious tactile abnormalities than healthy children, and to analyze the correlation between tactile abnormalities and clinical symptoms of autism, so as to provide a scientific basis for intervening and treating tactile abnormalities among the children with autism.@*Methods@#Totally 265 ASD children aged 3.02-10.66 years who received rehabilitation training in designated rehabilitation institutions for autism in Heilongjiang Province were collected as case group, and 223 healthy children aged 3.15-10.99 years were recruited as control group in Harbin kindergartens and primary schools according to the principle of gender and age matching. The Short Sensory Profile (SSP) was used to evaluate children s tactile behavior, and the differences between the two groups, as well as the scores of different genders and ages were analyzed. At the same time, Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) was used to evaluate the clinical manifestations of ASD children. Spearman correlation analysis was used to explore the correlation between tactile behavior and autism symptoms.@*Results@#The tactile score of SSP in ASD group [33(33,35)] was lower than that in control group[34(31,35)], and the difference was statistically significant(Z=-2.73, P<0.05); And the proportion of tactile abnormality grade (possible abnormality and obvious abnormality) in ASD group (19.6%) was higher than that in control group(11.7%)(χ 2=5.72, P<0.05). At the same time, the tactile sensation between the two groups of boys was significantly different(Z=-2.17, P<0.05). There was a negative correlation between SSP tactile scores in ASD group and clinical scale scores including SRS social cognition, social communication and scale scores, Autism Behavior Checklist(ABC), Childhood Autism Behavior Scale(CARS), non-verbal communication of Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised(ADI-R)(r=-0.23, -0.28, -0.28, -0.35, -0.17, -0.27, P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#Autistic children show more obvious tactile abnormalities than healthy children, which is more significant in boys. And there is a correlation between tactile abnormalities and clinical manifestations such as autism social disorder.