The Rate of Consistency between Auditory Brainstem Response and Gilliam Autism Rating Scale among Autistic Children

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) constitute a single continuum of neurodevelopmental disabilities with multifactorial etiology and significant individual variability according to the recently published Diagnostic and statistical Manual of Mental Disorders V (DSM-V) [1]. ASD is characterized by a rising prevalence, currently amounting to 11/1000 [2] but expected to slightly decrease due to DSM-V changes in the diagnostic criteria. The latter changes mainly include rearrangement of criteria into two, instead of three areas (social communication/ interaction and restricted, repetitive behaviors), merging of all previous sub-diagnosis under the same spectrum, and inclusion of sensory abnormalities among the symptoms related to the second criterion (restricted, repetitive behaviors) [3]. Several sensory modalities that produce auditory, visual, touch, and oral symptoms in more than threequarters of preschool children with autism [4]. A disruption of sensory modulation with both under and over-reactivity to sound has given rise to a series of auditory perception and processing studies. Abnormal behavioral responses to auditory stimuli are frequently reported in individuals diagnosed with autism [5].