Multisensory Issues in Students with Autism: A Meta-Synthesis

Abstract

For students with autism sensory processing issues are not an uncommon experience. There are three types of sensory processing categories. They are sensory under responsiveness, sensory over-responsiveness and sensory seeking. These sensory processing difficulties may affect social communication, impact daily life skills, include self-injurious behaviors, and create or add to anxiety already being felt by autistic students. These categories are not mutually exclusive and some students may experience all of these problems while others may only struggle with one or two. There is no one answer for students with autism but it is a collection of effects that form the student’s identity for their entire life. This meta-synthesis of the literature on sensory issues for students with autism explores the ups and downs of students struggling with sensory issues in hope to make navigating them easier.