ASD ASD Sensory Processing and Regulation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Food selectivity in ASD, including extreme pickiness and food refusal, is MOST often driven by which factor?
- Deliberate oppositional defiance toward caregivers
- Sensory sensitivity to food textures, smells, colors, or temperatures (Correct answer)
- Lack of exposure to a variety of foods in early childhood
- Nutritional deficiencies causing specific cravings
Correct answer: Sensory sensitivity to food textures, smells, colors, or temperatures
Sensory hypersensitivity to oral and gustatory stimuli is the most evidence-supported driver of food selectivity in ASD, often requiring OT-based feeding therapy.
Question 2: The Wilbarger Deep Pressure and Proprioceptive Technique (DPPT), sometimes called 'brushing protocol,' should ONLY be administered by:
- Parents immediately after watching an online tutorial
- A trained OT or someone directly supervised by a trained OT (Correct answer)
- Any school staff member with basic first aid training
- The individual with ASD independently as a self-regulation tool
Correct answer: A trained OT or someone directly supervised by a trained OT
The Wilbarger protocol requires hands-on training from a certified OT to avoid sensory overload or injury from improper application.
Question 3: The Alert Program ('How Does Your Engine Run?') teaches children with ASD to self-regulate by using which metaphor?
- Body as a weather system requiring forecasting
- Engine speed to describe and manage arousal levels (too fast, too slow, just right) (Correct answer)
- Traffic lights to signal emotional states (red, yellow, green)
- A thermometer measuring stress levels from calm to crisis
Correct answer: Engine speed to describe and manage arousal levels (too fast, too slow, just right)
The Alert Program uses car engine speed as a metaphor for arousal states, teaching children to identify and self-regulate their nervous system state.
Question 4: Proprioceptive input (deep pressure, heavy work) is often calming for individuals with ASD because it:
- Increases heart rate and activates the sympathetic nervous system
- Activates the parasympathetic nervous system and provides organizing sensory feedback to the body (Correct answer)
- Eliminates all sensory processing differences over time
- Requires no professional training to implement safely
Correct answer: Activates the parasympathetic nervous system and provides organizing sensory feedback to the body
Proprioceptive input has a well-documented organizing effect on the nervous system, often reducing hyperarousal and anxiety in individuals with ASD.
Question 5: Sensory processing differences in ASD are BEST understood using Dunn's Model of Sensory Processing, which categorizes responses based on:
- The specific sensory system affected (visual, auditory, tactile, etc.)
- Neurological threshold (low/high) and behavioral response (passive/active) (Correct answer)
- Age of onset and severity of diagnosis
- Whether the sensory difference is hyper- or hypo-responsive only
Correct answer: Neurological threshold (low/high) and behavioral response (passive/active)
Dunn's model produces four quadrants (sensation seeking, avoiding, registration, sensitivity) by crossing neurological threshold with behavioral response style.
Question 6: A student with ASD is distracted and dysregulated during morning circle time. A sensory-based proactive strategy would be to:
- Remove the student from circle time permanently
- Provide a pre-circle 'heavy work' activity such as carrying books or doing wall push-ups (Correct answer)
- Increase the sensory demands of circle time to match the student's seeking needs
- Administer medication before every circle time
Correct answer: Provide a pre-circle 'heavy work' activity such as carrying books or doing wall push-ups
Pre-activity proprioceptive input organizes the nervous system, improving attention and regulation during subsequent structured activities.
ASD ASD Sensory Processing and Regulation 2
Food selectivity in ASD, including extreme pickiness and food refusal, is MOST often driven by which factor?