Abstract: Background:Children with ASD often encounter difficulties in processing different sensory stimuli, which affect their self-regulation ability to participate in activities of daily living. Objective: To explore the influence of sensory processing factors on the self-regulation abilities of preschool children with ASD. Design: Case-control study. Methods: Preschool children who were first diagnosed of ASD and whose parents completed SPSRC were included. The SPSRC z-score of -1 was used to divide the self-regulation abilities,the sensory processing abilities and their different scales into the group of abnormal (z<-1) and normal. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to analysis the influence of gender, age and 6 scales of sensory processing abilities on self-regulation function and its scales. Main outcome measures: Sensory processing factors of APSRC scale affecting self-regulation of ASD children . Results: The SPSRC scale data of 155 children with ASD were included in this study, including 126 males and 29 females, with an average age of (48.1±10.2) months. The overall self-regulation dimension was abnormal in 112 cases (72.3%) and normal in 43 cases. Fifty-four cases (34.8%) had abnormal physiological conditions and 101 cases were normal, 85 cases (54.8%) had abnormal emotional regulation, and 70 cases were normal state, 72 cases (46.5%) had abnormal adaptability and 83 were normal. Univariate analysis showed that among children with abnormal self-regulation abilities, the incidence of abnormal auditory, visual, tactile, gustatory/olfactory, vestibular and proprioceptive sense was higher than that of normal children, and the differences were statistically significant. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that auditory and tactile abnormalities were the risk factors for overall abnormal self-regulation (OR=0.319, 95%CI: 0.111~0.912;OR=0.236, 95%CI: 0.060~0.928) and abnormal emotional regulation (OR=0.314, 95%CI: 0.130~0.759;OR=0.369, 95%CI: 0.145~0.937), and tactile abnormality was the risk factor for abnormal physiological conditions (OR=0.382, 95%CI: 0.155~0.941) and adaptability (OR=0.393, 95%CI:0.170~0.909). Conclusion: Abnormal auditory and tactile sensens were risk factors for abnormalities in self-regulation,physiological conditions and adaptability.

Key words: Autism spectrum disorder, Physiological condition, Emotional regulation, Adaptability, Auditory, Visual, Tactile, Gustatory/olfactory, Vestibular, Proprioceptive