Odour detection in children and young people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities

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.