SAND - Sensory Assessment for Neurodevelopmental Disorders

By Paige M. Siper, PH.D & Teresa Tavassoli, PH,D

Purpose: Directly examines sensory hyperreactivity, hyporeactivity, and seeking behaviors (i.e. unusual sensory interests) across visual, tactile, and auditory modalities

Age: 2-12 yrs

Time: 20 minutes for interview and observation

Qualification Level:  C 

Well-researched, evidence-based instrument accurately identifies presence of clinically significant sensory symptoms commonly observed in children with autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders.

• Useful in comprehensive ASD diagnostic process
• Aids in treatment planning to target specific symptoms
• Useful for the evaluation of response to interventions
• Quantitative measure for research purposes
• Observation and Interview together increases scope of symptom evaluation compared with one source alone
• Multiple scoring options, including cutoff scores for each scale, along with probabilities, and ability to adjust cutoff criteria based on the purpose of the assessment (e.g., diagnostic vs. screening) 

Features

• First clinician-administered observational assessment and corresponding caregiver interview for quantifying sensory symptoms
• Directly examines sensory hyperreactivity, hyporeactivity, and seeking behaviors (i.e. unusual sensory interests) across visual, tactile, and auditory modalities
• Keeping with gold-standard autism assessment practices, combines a clinical observation with caregiver interview
• Not dependent on verbal ability—appropriate for use in profoundly affected populations
• Low cost and low burden tool that can be used by clinicians across a variety of disciplines.

Get a complete summary of sensory symptoms and preferences