Multisensory temporal precision in autism is linked to speech integration, language abilities, and clinical symptomatology¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r3 · q2–q3
Currency · newest study 2020 · checked against its sources 2026-10-17 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? A meta-analysis quantified that multisensory impairments, particularly for social stimuli, are moderately to strongly correlated with clinical autism symptoms including impaired social communication. → Wallace 2020 q2 i? Autistic children who preferentially looked toward synchronous audiovisual presentations exhibited higher receptive language abilities. → Wallace 2020 (2)

Evidence¶

Wallace 2020¶

Wallace, M. T., Woynaroski, T. G., & Stevenson, R. A. (2020). Multisensory Integration as a Window into Orderly and Disrupted Cognition and Communication. Annual Review of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010419-051112

q3 · i? · review · r3

The review reports, citing Feldman et al.'s meta-analysis, that multisensory impairments in autism are moderately to strongly correlated with clinical symptoms including impaired social communication. The association is correlational, not causal.

"a recent meta-analysis quantified the associations between disrupted multisensory integration and clinical autism symptomatology,demonstrating that multisensory impairments, particularly those exhibited in response to social stimuli, are moderately to strongly correlated with clinical symptoms associated with ASD"

Wallace 2020 (2)¶

Wallace, M. T., Woynaroski, T. G., & Stevenson, R. A. (2020). Multisensory Integration as a Window into Orderly and Disrupted Cognition and Communication. Annual Review of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010419-051112

q2 · i? · review · r3

The review reports, citing Patten et al., a preferential-looking study in which autistic children's preferential attention to synchronous audiovisual presentations was associated with higher receptive language; a second study linked synchrony attention to receptive and expressive language.

"One study used a preferential-looking paradigm to assess synchrony perception and reported that autistic childrenwhopreferentiallylookedtowardsynchronousaudiovisualpresentationsexhibitedhigher receptive language abilities (Patten et al. 2014)"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Auditory Processing — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
• Learning Disabilities and Developmental Differences — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
• Autism Spectrum Disorder — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Autistic individuals show reduced multisensory integration, most consistently for speech-related stimuli — related
• Children with specific language impairment show reduced selective attention to and integration of audiovisual speech — related
• Slower processing speed in adults with ASD is associated with greater impairment on ADOS Communication and Reciprocal Social Interaction scores — related
• Individuals with dyslexia show impairments in audiovisual integration beyond phoneme-grapheme mapping — related
• Prenatal synchronous multisensory exposure enhances learning and memory for a mother's call in quail embryos — related
• Individuals with schizophrenia show reduced behavioral benefit from combined audiovisual cues and altered multisensory temporal processing — related