A Comparison of the Sensory Profile and Sensory Processing Measure Home Form for Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

ABSTRACT

This exploratory study compared the performance of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD; n = 11) and children with typical development (TD) without alcohol exposure (n = 12) on the Short Sensory Profile (SSP) and Sensory Processing Measure (SPM) Home Form. The child's primary caregiver completed both measures. For children with FASD, 90.9% had probable or definite differences on the SSP and 81.8% had some problems or definite dysfunction on the SPM Home Form. All children with TD (100%) scored in the typical range on total scores for both measures. For the children with FASD, the percent agreement between the two measures was 36.6% for the three classification categories (typical, probable/some, and definite) and 81.8% when classification was collapsed into two categories (typical and probable/definite difference). Both measures detected sensory processing differences for children with FASD, however, categorization of clinical severity varied based on the cutoffs used.

KEYWORDS. :

• Child development
• fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
• prenatal alcohol exposure
• sensory integration
• sensory processing