Description:
Our senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch) give us the information needed to organize and process incoming information from the world around us. Integration of sensory information is fundamental for interacting in our environment in purposeful and meaningful ways. The classroom can be a busy environment full of stimuli that impact upon our senses. Appropriate sensory integration is crucial in an educational environment as sensory stimulation can either enrich or deter from the learning experience. This is a concern when thinking about children functioning on the autism spectrum. Although we know children with autism (CWA) have sensory abnormalities, research is severely lacking on how this may impact educational outcome. The current project will use a mixed-methods approach to explore the relationship between sensory processing and learning in the classroom for pupils with and without autism spectrum disorders.
