Dr. Vanessa R Rainey

People with ADHD often have issues with sensory processing where they are either over or under-responsive to environmental stimuli (Kamath et al., 2020). Many theories suggest that problems with executive functioning play a role (e.g., Fabio et al., 2024; Dang et al., 2022; Icer et al., 2019). Yet, questions on where the origin of sensory processing differences in people with ADHD begin and how sensory processing is related to executive functioning still remain. Visual evoked potentials can reliably indicate response to sensory information in the cortex. The AASP is a measure that assigns scores to participants based on their patterns of sensory processing (low registration, sensory sensitivity, sensory seeking, sensory avoiding; Brown &Dunn, 2002). Our ongoing study found that people with ADHD had amplitudes that were significantly different from controls and were strongly and negatively correlated with high scores of low-registration on the AASP. These differences were in response to stimuli presented before the level of cognitive awareness. We would like to expand these findings by developing a procedure to examine the differences at the level of cognitive awareness.

College students with sensory issues particularly with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), are greater challenged in the classroom environment.
Sensory issues are associated with increased distractions and obstacles to learning in the classroom. As well, this includes executive functioning abilities and adaptive functioning.
This study investigates the effects of sensory issues that are not usually discussed in the classroom or with accommodations; including different sensory profiles, through the Adolescent / Adult Sensory Profile (i.e., Low Responsivity, Sensation Seeking, Sensory Sensitivity, and Sensation Avoiding).