Auditory abnormalities in children with autism

The present study aimed to describe the characteristics of auditory abnormalities present in cases of autism. One hundred and fifty six children with autism and 141 matched controls with language delay were investigated via direct observations combined with parent/caregiver reports. All of the autistic individuals demonstrated auditory abnormalities especially in the domain of hyposensitivity, compared with 33.3% of children with language delay. The auditory abnormalities in autism primarily comprised of auditory hyposensitivity, auditory hypersensitivity, phonophobia, and peculiar interests in certain sounds. Participants with autism were rated as having more problems than the language-delayed children in all the items of each domain. No significant differences in the range of auditory abnormalities were observed between mild and severe autistic children except for the presence of phonophobia. Children with autism presented with diverse auditory abnormalities which may be specific features in autism and may play an important role in the early identification of autism.