Table 2.

Median (interquartile range) scores by group on the Tactile Defensiveness and Discrimination Test-Revised (TDDT-R)

Tactile ability/response	TDDT-R	ASD	TD	p value
Discrimination	Form perception	12.17 (3.92)	9.71 (4.22)	0.0125
Affective response	Defensiveness to externally (experimenter) controlled touch	0.1875(.03)	0.0625 (.13)	0.0257
	Defensiveness to touching objects or materials	0.2143 (.25)	0.1429 (.14)	0.0339
	Tactile seeking	0.2857 (.14)	0.0000 (.14)	.0003

Externally controlled touch is the touch administered by the examiner; internally controlled touch is tactile exploration of objects or materials by the participant. For form perception, higher scores indicate poorer performance (i.e., more time manipulating objects needed to accurately discriminate form). For all other tests, higher scores indicate more observable affective responses to sensory probes. p values represent Mann–Whitney U tests. Significant p values are in italics

ASD autism spectrum disorder, TD typically developing