Tag Archives: hyperacusis

1st International Seminar on Emotional and Sensory Experiences in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The aim of this seminar is to explore different aspects of emotional and sensory experiences in children with ASD ranging from problems in emotion identification and regulation ability to dysfunctional processing of sensory information from different systems in their body such as tactile, vestibular, proprioceptive, visual, auditory, gustatory, and olfactory. The focus of the seminar is to help the participants to better understand the needs of this population, learn about the technological, medical and therapeutic support available, and highlight the directions for future research and development. This event is suitable for occupational therapists (OT), teachers, managers of health and educational services for children, general practitioners (GP), policy makers, relevant charities, social workers, psychologists, audiologists, paediatricians, any other interested health-and social-care professionals and parents of children with ASD. This seminar brings together studies of OT, mental health, neuroscience, audiology, neurology, and other areas. A wide range of presentations are planned which offer practical guide for improving your services for children with ASD.

Sound Intolerance and Attention in Neurodivergent Populations

The guest speaker in our Patient Education Programme (PEP) planned for Tuesday 9th September 2025 at 10:00 to 11:00 AM (UK time) is Dr. Patrick Dwyer who is a Research Fellow from the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School for Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia! He will be talking about his latest research about Sound Intolerance and Attention in Neurodivergent Populations. Joanna Barker (Audiologist, Specialist in Tinnitus, Hyperacusis and Misophonia Rehabilitation) will be hosting this PEP meeting. Although sensory differences in neurodivergent populations have often been described in relatively crude ways (as “hyperreactivity” versus “seeking,” for example), more recent research highlights the greater complexity of neurodivergent sensory experience.  For example, this includes distinct phenotypes of sound intolerance such as misophonia and loudness intolerance/hyperacusis. However, these experiences remain poorly understood.  One understudied factor that may be involved in such experiences is attention.  With a primary focus on autism and a secondary focus on ADHD, this presentation will discuss commonly observed neurodivergent attention patterns such as hyper-focus, monotropism, and hypervigilance, and present data on how these may relate to experiences of sound intolerance as well as mental health challenges.