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Odour detection in children and young people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities
Author(s) -
Petitpierre Geneviève,
Dind Juliane,
De Blasio Catherine,
Gremaud Germaine
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1468-3148
pISSN - 1360-2322
DOI - 10.1111/jar.12963
Subject(s) - psychology , olfaction , stimulus (psychology) , developmental psychology , audiology , olfactory perception , cognitive psychology , neuroscience , medicine
Background Olfaction provides information on very important dimensions of the environment; however the olfactory abilities of children and young people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) remain largely unknown. This within‐subjects study explores olfactory detection abilities in children with PIMD. Method Twenty‐two children and young people with PIMD (7–18 years) were presented with 18 medium intensity odours and an odourless control stimulus. Odorants were presented one by one in a randomised order. The neutral stimulus was presented prior to each odorant. Participants' responses were measured using 21 behavioural indicators. Results Results show that participants make a clear distinction between odorous and neutral conditions, between food and non‐food, and between pleasant and unpleasant odours. The detection abilities are manifested by several behaviours, in particular by the duration of the head alignment on the odorant. Conclusions This study shows that participants detect the stimuli and act differently depending on the category.