Developing an arabic questionnaire to assess sensory processing disorders among preschool Egyptian children

•Children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as ASD and ADHD show high prevalence of SPD.•The most affected sensory modalities in ASD and ADHD are auditory and visual processing.•Emotions and social participation were significantly compromised in children with ASD and ADHD.•Emotional and social deficits are greater in children with ASD compared to children with ADHD.•Proprioceptive processing is linked to ADHD hyperactivity and impulsivity symptomatology.•The high comorbidity between ASD and ADHD makes it hard to specify sensory processing patterns for each disorder.