Sensory sensitivities, pain, and autism through a developmental lens: A scoping review

Autistic individuals are more likely to experience chronic or recurrent pain than their non-autistic counterparts, yet they remain underrepresented in pain research. Sensory processing differences, such as hyper- or hyposensitivity across somatosensory domains, can influence how pain is experienced in autistic individuals. Moreover, both pain and sensory sensitivities interact with developmental processes and can shape social, cognitive, and functional outcomes. To our knowledge, there are no reviews that comprehensively map intersecting evidence on sensory sensitivities, pain, and autism. Thus, the objective of this scoping review is to examine the relationships between sensory sensitivities, pain, and autism, and to determine whether these relationships differ across developmental stages. The scoping review methodology was developed following the Arksey and O’Malley framework. A search will be conducted in Medline (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), PsycINFO (EBSCO), Web of Science Core Collection, Google Scholar, and grey literature sources. We will conduct a pilot process using 20 preliminary articles and will update our criteria as needed. Two independent reviewers will screen articles against the eligibility criteria and complete data extraction in Covidence. We will synthesize findings descriptively and quantitatively, and patient partners will be invited to provide input during interpretation. As this review will utilize publicly available literature, ethics approval is not required. We intend to present findings through conferences, a peer-reviewed publication, and lay-language infographics.