Individuals with ASD have extremely high rates of sensory processing atypicalities, including over-responsivity, under-responsivity, and sensory seeking (Ben-Sasson et al., 2008). However, sensory symptoms have been understudied until recently, when they were added to the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for ASD. Since then, sensory processing abnormalities have been increasingly recognized to be associated with greater impairment, including more social deficits (Glod et al., 2015). However, there has been little research examining how and why sensory processing difficulties are associated with social impairment. This panel addresses possible mechanisms underlying the association between atypical sensory processing and social symptomatology while highlighting recent advances in behavioral, physiological, and imaging methods for studying sensory processing from infancy through adolescence. Teresa Tavassoli will present data examining whether sensory and social symptoms are differentially associated across children with ASD, Sensory Processing Disorder, and typical development. Blythe Corbett will discuss the association between sensory symptoms, social difficulties, and accumulated stress (as indexed by evening cortisol). Shulamite Green will address neurobiological mechanisms underlying the effect of distracting sensory stimuli on social cognition. Finally, Carissa Cascio will present on sensory seeking and frontal alpha asymmetry as longitudinal predictors of social functioning in infants at high and low risk for ASD.