The Development of a Parental Questionnaire to Measure Sensory Responsivity in Children with a diagnosis of Autism (QMSR)

This study presents the development of a Parental Questionnaire for the Measurement of Sensory Responsivity in Children with a Diagnosis of Autism (QMSR). A systematic review of the international literature in the 2000-2015 period and three Delphi studies were conducted. The three Dephi studies prospectively examined eighty-seven (N=87), seventy-three (N=73) and sixty (N=60) Argentine Occupational Therapists certified in Sensory Integration. These professionals classified all 62 items of the QMSR with three labels that included “maintain” “modify” and “eliminate” and provided written suggestions for changes in their structure and composition. Additionally, they determined their inclusion in four categories: “Hypo-responsivity”, “Hyper-responsivity”, “Motor Planning” and “Social” and six sensory responsivity scales: “Visual”, “Auditory”, “Vestibular”, “Taste/Smell”, “Proprioceptive” and “Tactile”. The final version of the QMRS and professional feedback on all its items, categories and scales is presented, together with suggestions for future studies that could potentially clarify its clinical utility and research applications