An examination of movement kinematics in young people with high-functioning autism and Asperger's disorder: further evidence for a motor planning deficit.
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This paper examines upper-body movement kinematics in individuals with high-functioning autism (HFA) and Asperger's disorder (AD). In general, the results indicate that HFA is more consistently associated with impaired motoric preparation/initiation than AD. The data further suggest that this quantitative difference in motor impairment is not necessarily underpinned by greater executive dysfunction vulnerability in autism relative to AD. Quantitative motoric dissociation between autism and AD may have down-stream effects on later stages of movement resulting in qualitative differences between these disorder groups, e.g. "motor clumsiness" in AD versus "abnormal posturing" in autism. It will be important for future research to map the developmental trajectory of motor abnormalities in these disorder groups. (+info)
Social attribution processes and comorbid psychiatric symptoms in children with Asperger syndrome.
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The factors that place children with Asperger syndrome at risk for comorbid psychiatric symptoms, such as anxiety and depression, remain poorly understood. We investigated the possibility that the children's emotional and behavioral difficulties are associated with social information and attribution processing. Participants were children with either Asperger syndrome (n = 31) or typical development (n = 33).To assess social information and attribution processing, children responded to hypothetical social vignettes. They also completed self-report measures of social difficulties and psychological functioning. Their parents provided information on social competence and clinical presentation. Children with Asperger syndrome showed poor psychosocial adjustment, which was related to their social information and attribution processing patterns. Cognitive and social-cognitive abilities were associated with aspects of social information processing tendencies, but not with emotional and behavioral difficulties. Results suggest that the comorbid symptoms of children with Asperger syndrome may be associated with their social perception, understanding, and experience. (+info)
Change in autism symptoms and maladaptive behaviors in adolescents and adults with an autism spectrum disorder.
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This study examined change prospectively in autism symptoms and maladaptive behaviors during a 4.5 year period in 241 adolescents and adults with an autism spectrum disorder who were 10-52 years old (mean = 22.0) when the study began. Although many individuals' symptoms remained stable, a greater proportion of the sample experienced declines than increases in their level of autism symptoms and maladaptive behaviors, and there were significant improvements in mean levels of symptoms. Individuals with mental retardation had more autism symptoms and maladaptive behaviors than those without mental retardation, and they improved less over time. Compared to adolescents, older sample members (31 and older) had fewer maladaptive behaviors and experienced more improvement in these behaviors over time. (+info)
The effectiveness of and preschoolers' preferences for variations of multiple-schedule arrangements.
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Multiple schedules of reinforcement have been used to teach children to recruit attention only when it is available, thereby minimizing disruptive requesting during instructional activities. This procedure involves alternating periods of continuous reinforcement (CRF) with periods of extinction and correlating each period with a distinct and continuous discriminative stimulus. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of and children's preferences for multiple schedules in which (a) two different stimuli, one correlated with reinforcement (S+) and another correlated with extinction (S-), were presented; (b) only an S+ was presented (i.e., no stimulus was correlated with extinction), and (c) neither an S+ nor an S- was presented (i.e., a mixed schedule). S+/S- and S+ arrangements were similarly effective for 7 children, but 3 preferred the S+/S- condition and 4 preferred the S+ condition. Correlational analyses suggested that children who responded more effectively given the S- (discrimination indexes were relatively high) preferred the S+/S- condition, whereas children who responded less effectively given the S- preferred the S+ condition. The implications of these findings for arranging multiple schedules for social responses are discussed. (+info)
Neurophysiological correlates of relatively enhanced local visual search in autistic adolescents.
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Previous studies found normal or even superior performance of autistic patients on visuospatial tasks requiring local search, like the Embedded Figures Task (EFT). A well-known interpretation of this is "weak central coherence", i.e. autistic patients may show a reduced general ability to process information in its context and may therefore have a tendency to favour local over global aspects of information processing. An alternative view is that the local processing advantage in the EFT may result from a relative amplification of early perceptual processes which boosts processing of local stimulus properties but does not affect processing of global context. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 12 autistic adolescents (9 Asperger and 3 high-functioning autistic patients) and 12 matched controls to help distinguish, on neurophysiological grounds, between these two accounts of EFT performance in autistic patients. Behaviourally, we found autistic individuals to be unimpaired during the EFT while they were significantly worse at performing a closely matched control task with minimal local search requirements. The fMRI results showed that activations specific for the local search aspects of the EFT were left-lateralised in parietal and premotor areas for the control group (as previously demonstrated for adults), whereas for the patients these activations were found in right primary visual cortex and bilateral extrastriate areas. These results suggest that enhanced local processing in early visual areas, as opposed to impaired processing of global context, is characteristic for performance of the EFT by autistic patients. (+info)
Prevalence of autism spectrum disorders--autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, six sites, United States, 2000.
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PROBLEM/CONDITION: Data from a population-based, multisite surveillance network were used to determine the prevalence of children aged 8 years with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in six areas of the United States and to describe the characteristics of these children. REPORTING PERIOD: 2000. METHODS: Children aged 8 years were identified as having an ASD through screening and abstraction of evaluation records at multiple sources, with clinician review of abstracted records to determine case status. Children whose parent(s) or legal guardian(s) resided in one of the six surveillance areas during 2000 and whose records documented behaviors consistent with the American Psychiatric Association's criteria for diagnosing 1) autistic disorder, 2) pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified, or 3) Asperger disorder were classified as having an ASD. RESULTS: For 2000, across six sites, a total of 1,252 children aged 8 years were identified as having an ASD. The overall prevalence of ASDs per 1,000 children aged 8 years ranged from 4.5 in West Virginia to 9.9 in New Jersey. With the exception of one surveillance site (Georgia), no statistically significant (p<0.05) differences were identified in the rate of ASDs between non-Hispanic black and non-Hispanic white children. The ratio of male-to-female prevalence varied (range: 2.8:1.0-5.5:1.0). The majority of children with ASDs received special education services and had a documented history of concerns regarding their development before age 3 years. The prevalence of children with a previously documented ASD classification varied across sites, but the median age of earliest documented ASD diagnosis was similar across sites (age 52-56 months). For three sites with sufficient data on intelligence quotient (IQ), cognitive impairment (i.e., IQ of +info)
Prevalence of autism spectrum disorders--autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, 14 sites, United States, 2002.
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PROBLEM/CONDITION: Data from a population-based, multisite surveillance network were used to determine the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) among children aged 8 years in 14 areas of the United States and to describe the characteristics of these children. REPORTING PERIOD: 2002. METHODS: Children aged 8 years were identified as having an ASD through screening and abstraction of evaluation records at health facilities for all 14 sites and through information from psychoeducational evaluations for special education services for 10 of the 14 sites. Case status was determined through clinician review of data abstracted from the records. Children whose parent(s) or legal guardian(s) resided in the respective areas in 2002 and whose records documented behaviors consistent with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) criteria for autistic disorder; pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified; or Asperger disorder were classified as having ASDs. RESULTS: For 2002, of 407,578 children aged 8 years in the 14 surveillance areas, 2,685 (0.66%) were identified as having an ASD. ASD prevalence per 1,000 children aged 8 years ranged from 3.3 (Alabama) to 10.6 (New Jersey), with the majority of sites ranging from 5.2 to 7.6 (overall mean: 6.6 [i.e., one of every 152 children across all sites). ASD prevalence was significantly lower than all other sites in Alabama (p<0.001) and higher in New Jersey (p<0.0001). ASD prevalence varied by identification source, with higher average prevalence for ASDs in sites with access to health and education records (mean: 7.2) compared with sites with health records only (mean: 5.1). Five sites identified a higher prevalence of ASDs for non-Hispanic white children than for non-Hispanic black children. The ratio of males to females ranged from 3.4:1.0 in Maryland, South Carolina, and Wisconsin to 6.5:1.0 in Utah. The majority of children were receiving special education services at age 8 years and had a documented history of concerns regarding their development before age 3 years. However, the median age of earliest documented ASD diagnosis was much later (range: 49 months [Utah]--66 months [Alabama]). The proportion of children with characteristics consistent with the criteria for an ASD classification who had a previously documented ASD classification varied across sites. In the majority of sites, females with an ASD were more likely than males to have cognitive impairment. For the six sites for which prevalence data were available from both 2000 and 2002, ASD prevalence was stable in four sites and increased in two sites (17% in Georgia and 39% in West Virginia). INTERPRETATION: Results from the second report of a U.S. multisite collaboration to monitor ASD prevalence demonstrated consistency of prevalence in the majority of sites, with variation in two sites. Prevalence was stable in the majority of sites for which 2 years of data were available, but an increase in West Virginia and a trend toward an increase in Georgia indicate the need for ongoing monitoring of ASD prevalence. PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIONS: These ASD prevalence data provide the most complete information on the prevalence of the ASDs in the United States to date. The data confirm that ASD prevalence is a continuing urgent public health concern affecting an approximate average of one child in every 150 and that efforts are needed to improve early identification of ASDs. (+info)
Criminal responsibility in Asperger's syndrome.
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BACKGROUND: Asperger's syndrome (AS) has been of much interest in the last two decades. Most people with AS are law abiding and are not involved in any violence. Over the years, however, there is increasing evidence of violent behavior and criminal acts committed by some people with AS. The characteristics of the link between AS and violation of the law requires identification and definition and the question regarding the criminal responsibility to be attributed to these offenders needs to be clarified. DATA: We present three cases that illustrate how the special characteristics of this syndrome and particularly the inability to assess social situations and appreciate others' point of view constitute the main cause for the violent behavior and the criminal offences. For this specific behavior, the AS patients lack the criminal intent or the intent to cause harm (mens rea), which is essential for criminal responsibility. Thus it is reasonable to consider some AS sufferers not criminally responsible for their actions and unfit to stand trial. This approach has been accepted by the courts. CONCLUSION: It can be inferred that people with AS may not be criminally responsible despite not suffering from a psychotic illness. (+info)