AUTISTIC INDIVIDUALS CATCH-UP WITH PEERS: MULTI-SENSORY TEMPORAL ORDER JUDGMENT IN NEUROTYPICAL ADULTS AND ADULTS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

Abstract

This study examines the potential differences in multi-sensory integration in the temporal domain between neurotypical (NT) adults and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); using temporal order judgment (TOJ) tasks with simple sensory stimuli (flashes, beeps, vibrations). Previous studies investigated differences in audiovisual multi-sensory integration in ASD populations, due to its clear social implications. This study seeks to extend research findings to the visuo-tactile domain, which is often overlooked despite its importance in social interaction (e.g. social touch aversion). TOJ tasks are used to compare temporal acuity in the perception of pairs of sensory information (visual-visual, audio-visual, visuo-tactile), and examine modality bias in sensory perception. This study hypothesizes that adults with ASD will display less temporal acuity when integrating multi-sensory stimuli pairs, compared to neurotypicals. Generalized linear mixed model and linear mixed-effects model are used to analyze the participant responses. Results show that ASD adults perform comparably to NTs in temporal multi-sensory integration, showing similar temporal acuity, accuracy and reaction times in the tasks. Overall, these results suggest that ASD adults catch up with their NT peers in temporal acuity in adulthood.