Sensory overloads, meltdowns, and shutdowns in Autism: A combined quantitative and qualitative perspective

本项目将解决以下研究问题：1.成人自闭症患者感觉过载、崩溃和停顿之间的主要区别是什么？a.能否建立一个明确的定义和现象学框架来对这些经历进行分类？b.自闭症患者经历这些现象是否与感觉加工障碍患者不同？2.多模式感觉输入如何影响自闭症和自闭症患者的特定通道执行功能？本研究将使用半结构化定性访谈和日记方法来探索患有自闭症或自闭症的成年人的过载/崩溃/停顿的生活经历。这些发现为定量实验的发展提供了信息，以比较这些组之间的多模式感觉处理。访谈和日记报道将主要探讨压倒性感觉体验的主观心理和生理方面，特别关注确定过载、崩溃和停机之间的体验差异，以及对ASD和SPD体验进行比较。这种比较将使研究能够考虑在ASD和SPD中是否存在压倒性感觉体验的自闭症特有成分，或者两组之间是否存在经验的共性。然后，这些定性数据将被用来为多模式感觉处理实验的发展提供信息，并在整个设计和试验阶段从ASD和SPD参与者那里寻求反馈和输入。根据定性研究的结果，参与者将被呈现给多模式感觉信息，同时被要求执行一项与特定感觉模式相关的执行功能的任务。非任务通道输入将有效地起到‘分心物’的作用，测试处理感觉输入和选择动作输入所必需的感觉过滤和‘门控’过程。没有分心物的条件将被用作对照。实验和控制任务都将由所有参与者完成，任务的顺序是随机的，以防止顺序效应。在实验过程中，数据将从多个来源收集：1.行为表现测量，包括任务准确性和速度2。应激的生理指标包括心率和皮肤传导性。眼球跟踪和脑电测量，以提供对认知过程的洞察，以及多模式输入作为分心的影响。这些量化测量将伴随着与参与者的简短的实验后访谈/讨论，以收集他们在任务期间的经历的定性描述，包括对压力和任务表现的主观报告，以及他们对参与这项研究的反思。定性数据将使用主题分析进行分析，潜在的扎根理论方法可能被用来开发一个框架，用于理解、定义和区分过载、崩溃和停机。访谈阶段确定的关键主题和概念将为实验阶段的发展提供信息，特别是在材料和任务设计方面。实验阶段的量化数据可能会使用ANOVAS分析，以比较参与者群体的反应和表现，参与者群体作为组间自变量，而实验条件(多模式与单模式感官输入)将作为组内自变量。实验后访谈的定性数据将被用来将定量数据联系起来，同时也通过反思参与者的研究经验为未来的自闭症研究提供信息基础。

This project will address the following research questions:1. What are the key differences between sensory overloads, meltdowns, and shutdowns in adults with ASD?a. Can a clear definitional and phenomenological framework be developed to categorise these experiences?b. Do individuals with ASD experience these phenomena differently to individuals with Sensory Processing Disorder?2. How does multi-modal sensory input impact modality-specific executive function in ASD versus SPD?This study will utilise semi-structured qualitative interviews as well as diary methodology to explore the lived experiences of overloads/meltdowns/shutdowns across adults with ASD or SPD, with these findings then informing the development of a quantitative experiment to compare multi-modal sensory processing between these groups. Interviews and diary reports will primarily explore the subjective psychological and physiological aspects of overwhelming sensory experiences, with a particular focus on identifying experiential differences between overloads, meltdowns, and shutdowns, as well as drawing comparisons between ASD and SPD experiences. This comparison will enable the study to consider whether there are autism-specific components to overwhelming sensory experiences in ASD versus SPD, or whether there are commonalities of experience across both groups.This qualitative data will then be used to inform the development of a multi-modal sensory processing experiment, with feedback and input sought from both ASD and SPD participants throughout the design and piloting stages. Participants will be presented with multi-modal sensory information, as informed by the outcomes of the qualitative study, while asked to conduct a task involving executive function related to a specific sensory modality. The non-task modality input would effectively act as a 'distractor', to test the sensory filtering and 'gating' processes necessary for processing sensory input and selecting input for action. A condition without distractors would be used as a control. Both the experimental and control tasks would be performed by all participant groups, with the order of tasks randomised to prevent order effects.During the experiment, data will be gathered from multiple sources:1. Behavioural performance measures including task accuracy and speed2. Physiological indices of stress including heart rate and skin conductance3. Eye tracking and EEG measures to provide insight into cognitive processes, and the effects of multi-modal inputs as distractorsThese quantitative measures will be accompanied by brief post-experiment interviews/discussions with participants to gather qualitative accounts of their experiences during the task, including subjective reports of stress and task performance, and their reflections on participating in this research.Qualitative data will be analysed using thematic analysis, with the potential for a grounded theory approach to be used to develop a framework for understanding, defining, and distinguishing between overloads, meltdowns, and shutdowns. Key themes and concepts identified during the interview stage will inform the development of the experimental phase, particularly in terms of material and task design.Quantitative data from the experimental phase will likely be analysed using ANOVAs to compare responses and performance across participant groups, with participant group acting as a between-groups independent variable while the experimental conditions (multi-modal vs unimodal sensory input) will act as a within-group independent variable. Qualitative data from post-experiment interviews will be used to contextualise the quantitative data, while also providing an informative groundwork for future ASD research by reflectively engaging with participants' experiences of research.