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Parmar KR, Porter CS, Dickinson CM, Pelham J, Baimbridge P, Gowen E. Visual Sensory Experiences From the Viewpoint of Autistic Adults. Front Psychol 2021; 12:633037. [PMID: 34168586 PMCID: PMC8217662 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.633037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Although previous research has investigated altered sensory reactivity in autistic individuals, there has been no specific focus on visual sensory experiences, particularly in adults. Using qualitative methods, this study aimed to characterize autistic visual sensory symptoms, contextualize their impact and document any associated coping strategies. A total of 18 autistic adults took part in four focus groups which involved questions around visual experiences, the impact of these on daily life, and strategies for their reduction. Transcripts of each session were thematically analyzed allocating six key themes. Participants described a range of visual hypersensitivities, including to light, motion, patterns and particular colors, which contributed to distraction and were frequently part of a wider multisensory issue. Such experiences had significant negative impacts on personal wellbeing and daily life with participants describing fatigue, stress and hindrances on day-to-day activities (e.g., travel and social activities). However, the degree of understanding that participants had about their visual experiences influenced their emotional response, with greater understanding reducing concern. Participants employed a variety of coping strategies to overcome visual sensory experiences but with varied success. Discussions also highlighted that there may be a poor public understanding of sensory issues in autism affecting how well autistic individuals are able manage their sensory symptoms. In summary, autistic adults expressed significant concern about their visual experiences and there is a need to improve understanding of visual experiences on a personal and public level as well as for developing potential support.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ketan R Parmar
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Catherine S Porter
- Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Christine M Dickinson
- Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - James Pelham
- Greater Manchester Autism Consortium, Manchester, United Kingdom.,Autscape, Coventry, United Kingdom.,Autism@Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Baimbridge
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.,Autism@Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.,Salfordautism, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Emma Gowen
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
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Strand M. Eggs, sugar, grated bones: colour-based food preferences in autism, eating disorders, and beyond. MEDICAL HUMANITIES 2021; 47:87-94. [PMID: 32341129 PMCID: PMC7907582 DOI: 10.1136/medhum-2019-011811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/18/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
In 1913, eccentric French composer Erik Satie wrote a fragmentary, diary-like essay where he depicted a strikingly rigid diet consisting solely of white foods: eggs, sugar, coconuts, rice, cream cheese, fuchsia juice and so on. Satie's brief essay has later been used as one of many puzzle pieces in attempts to retrospectively diagnose him with autism spectrum disorder. With Satie's white meal as a starting point, this paper explores colour-based food preferences and selective eating in clinical and non-clinical populations, with a special focus on autism spectrum disorder and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). General colour preferences and their causes as well as the impact of colour on taste and food identification are also explored. Selective eating during childhood is immensely common and does not generally lead to disordered eating in the long run, although subgroups may experience rigidity around food of a more enduring nature. Problems related to eating were repeatedly described in Kanner's original 1943 autism case series and continue to be common in autism. Most studies on eating and sensory sensitivity in autism show that the texture and consistency of the food are the most common factors behind selective eating. In contrast, colour-based food preferences appear to be relatively rare, although numerous anecdotal reports exist. Foods that are white or colourless may be particularly appealing or tolerable for individuals with sensory hypersensitivity, which can occur in autism or ARFID. Ultimately, in the case of Erik Satie, this paper concludes that his description of a strictly white diet should not be read as an autobiographical account but rather as an ironic take on contemporary symbolist literature, with the famously decadent all-black dinner party in French novelist Joris-Karl Huysmans' À Rebours (1884; also known as Against Nature) as an obvious source of inspiration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mattias Strand
- Stockholm Centre for Eating Disorders, Stockholm, Sweden
- Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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3
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The possible use of precision tinted lenses to improve social cognition in children with autism spectrum disorders. Vision Res 2020; 170:53-59. [PMID: 32259647 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2020.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2019] [Revised: 03/11/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
A masked randomised control design compared the effectiveness of precision ophthalmic tints in improving the recognition of emotion in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Fourteen children aged 10-14 with ASD and 14 control children matched on verbal and non-verbal IQ, wore spectacles with coloured lenses to complete two tasks that involved the observation of coloured video sequences in which social interactions were depicted. On one occasion (randomly first or second) the coloured lenses provided light of a colour that the child had one month previously selected as optimal for the clarity of text. On the other occasion the lenses differed in CIE UCS chromaticity by 0.077. Performance in the ASD group was superior in both social interaction tasks with the lenses that provided the optimal colour of light.
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Haigh SM. Variable sensory perception in autism. Eur J Neurosci 2017; 47:602-609. [DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2016] [Revised: 04/27/2017] [Accepted: 04/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah M. Haigh
- Clinical Neurophysiology Research Laboratory; Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic; Department of Psychiatry; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; 3501 Forbes Avenue Suite 420 Pittsburgh PA 15213 USA
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Whitaker L, Jones CRG, Wilkins AJ, Roberson D. Judging the Intensity of Emotional Expression in Faces: the Effects of Colored Tints on Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism Res 2015; 9:450-9. [PMID: 26058998 DOI: 10.1002/aur.1506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2014] [Accepted: 05/07/2015] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show atypical processing of facial expressions, which may result from visual stress. In the current study, children with ASD and matched controls judged which member of a pair of faces displayed the more intense emotion. Both faces showed anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness or surprise but to different degrees. Faces were presented on a monitor that was tinted either gray or with a color previously selected by the participant individually as improving the clarity of text. Judgments of emotional intensity improved significantly with the addition of the preferred colored tint in the ASD group but not in controls, a result consistent with a link between visual stress and impairments in processing facial expressions in individuals with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia Whitaker
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, United Kingdom
| | - Catherine R G Jones
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Arnold J Wilkins
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, United Kingdom
| | - Debi Roberson
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, United Kingdom
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Ludlow AK, Heaton P, Hill E, Franklin A. Color obsessions and phobias in autism spectrum disorders: the case of J.G. Neurocase 2014; 20:296-306. [PMID: 23547979 DOI: 10.1080/13554794.2013.770880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
The current study is the first investigation of color 'obsessions' and 'phobias' in ASD. We investigate the color perception and cognition of J.G., a boy with ASD who has a strong obsession with blue, and a strong phobia of other colors. J.G.'s performance on a series of color tasks (color-entity association; chromatic discrimination; color classification) is compared to 13 children with and without autism who do not have color obsessions or phobias. The findings lead to the formalization of two hypotheses: (i) color obsessions and phobias in individuals with ASD are related to an unusually strong ability to associate colors with entities; (ii) color obsessions are related to hyposensitivity, and color phobias to hypersensitivity, in the affected regions of color space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda K Ludlow
- a School of Psychology , University of Birmingham , Birmingham , UK
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Ludlow AK, Taylor-Whiffen E, Wilkins AJ. Coloured filters enhance the visual perception of social cues in children with autism spectrum disorders. ISRN NEUROLOGY 2012; 2012:298098. [PMID: 22523702 PMCID: PMC3316948 DOI: 10.5402/2012/298098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2011] [Accepted: 12/13/2011] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Coloured filters have been found to reduce visual distortion of text in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We investigated the effect of the overlays on the "mind in the eye" task in children with ASD and controls matched for age, gender, and nonverbal IQ. Children were shown photographs of the periocular region of various faces and were asked to judge which emotion was being expressed in the eyes. In children with ASD, the perception of the emotion was significantly improved when the photograph was covered by a coloured overlay. The improvement was significantly greater than in the controls, who showed no significant effect of the overlay. A perceptual impairment may contribute to the social difficulties shown in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda K Ludlow
- Department of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
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Vision in autism spectrum disorders. Vision Res 2009; 49:2705-39. [PMID: 19682485 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2009.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 520] [Impact Index Per Article: 34.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2009] [Revised: 08/04/2009] [Accepted: 08/04/2009] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are developmental disorders which are thought primarily to affect social functioning. However, there is now a growing body of evidence that unusual sensory processing is at least a concomitant and possibly the cause of many of the behavioural signs and symptoms of ASD. A comprehensive and critical review of the phenomenological, empirical, neuroscientific and theoretical literature pertaining to visual processing in ASD is presented, along with a brief justification of a new theory which may help to explain some of the data, and link it with other current hypotheses about the genetic and neural aetiologies of this enigmatic condition.
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