Poulsen, RWilliams, ZDwyer, PPellicano, ESowman, PFMcAlpine, D2025-04-152025-04-152024-11-17Autism Research, ISSN: 1939-3792 (Print); 1939-3806 (Online), Wiley, 17(12), 2452-2470. doi: 10.1002/aur.32591939-37921939-3806http://hdl.handle.net/10292/19065We need to combine sensory data from various sources to make sense of the world around us. This sensory data helps us understand our surroundings, influencing our experiences and interactions within our everyday environments. Recent interest in sensory-focused approaches to supporting autistic people has fixed on auditory processing-the sense of hearing and the act of listening-and its crucial role in language, communications, and social domains, as well as non-social autism-specific attributes, to understand better how sensory processing might differ in autistic people. In this narrative review, we synthesize published research into auditory processing in autistic people and the relationship between auditory processing and autistic attributes in a contextually novel way. The purpose is to understand the relationship between these domains more fully, drawing on evidence gleaned from experiential perspectives through to neurological investigations. We also examine the relationship between auditory processing and diagnosable auditory conditions, such as hyperacusis, misophonia, phonophobia, and intolerance to loud sounds, as well as its relation to sleep, anxiety, and sensory overload. Through reviewing experiential, behavioral and neurological literature, we demonstrate that auditory processes interact with and shape the broader autistic profile-something not previously considered. Through a better understanding of the potential impact of auditory experiences, our review aims to inform future research on investigating the relationship between auditory processing and autistic traits through quantitative measures or using qualitative experiential inquiry to examine this relationship more holistically.© 2024 The Author(s). Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/auditory processingautismautistic traitsdecreased sound toleranceauditory processingautismautistic traitsdecreased sound tolerance32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences3202 Clinical SciencesIntellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD)Behavioral and Social ScienceAutismNeurosciencesBasic Behavioral and Social ScienceBrain DisordersMental Health2.1 Biological and endogenous factorsNeurologicalMental health1103 Clinical Sciences1109 Neurosciences1701 PsychologyDevelopmental & Child Psychology3209 Neurosciences5201 Applied and developmental psychology5203 Clinical and health psychologyHumansAuditory PerceptionAutistic DisorderAutism Spectrum DisorderHumansAuditory PerceptionAutistic DisorderAutism Spectrum DisorderHumansAuditory PerceptionAutistic DisorderAutism Spectrum DisorderJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1002/aur.3259