Robyn L. Young

Sensory Processing Subtypes in Autism: Association with Adaptive Behavior

Children with autism are frequently observed to experience difficulties in sensory processing. This study examined specific patterns of sensory processing in 54 children with autistic disorder and their association with adaptive behavior. Model-based cluster analysis revealed three distinct sensory processing subtypes in autism. These subtypes were differentiated by taste and smell sensitivity and movement-related sensory behavior. Further, sensory processing subtypes predicted communication competence and maladaptive behavior. The findings of this study lay the foundation for the generation of more specific hypotheses regarding the mechanisms of sensory processing dysfunction in autism, and support the continued use of sensory-based interventions in the remediation of communication and behavioral difficulties in autism.

Parental Identification of Early Behavioural Abnormalities in Children with Autistic Disorder

The aim of the study was to identify early behavioural abnormalities in children later diagnosed with autistic disorder. Accurate identification of such deficits has implications for early diagnosis, intervention and prognosis. The parents of 153 children with autistic disorder completed a questionnaire asking them to describe early childhood behaviours of concern and to recall the age of onset. Core deficit-linked behaviours were then identified and the ontogeny of their development was noted. Behaviour categories were: (1) gross motor difficulties, (2) social awareness and play deficits, (3) language and communication difficulties, and (4) unusual preoccupations. The findings supported the notion that the nature and prevalence of these deficits depend on age. Consistent with past research, there was a significant interval between parents first noticing abnormalities and the making of a definitive diagnosis. The implications for this delay are discussed.

Social comparison processes and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents with Asperger syndrome

The present study investigated the relationship between social comparison processes and depressive symptoms in 36 participants (34 males and two females) aged 10 to 16 years with Asperger syndrome. Participants completed the Social Comparison Scale and the Children’s Depression Inventory. Depressive symptoms were significantly correlated with the SCS (r = 0.52, p = 0.001), specifically perceived group membership (r = 0.56, p < 0.001). A regression analysis revealed that perceived group membership significantly and independently predicted depression scores (β= 0.56, p = 0.002). It is suggested social comparison is a salient factor related to depressive symptoms in this group, and interventions involving adolescents with AS should therefore address this factor.

Sex differences in pre-diagnosis concerns for children later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder:

In the absence of intellectual impairment, girls are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder significantly less and later than boys. This study explored potential reasons for why autism spectrum disorder may be more difficult to identify in girls, based on carer concerns during the pre-diagnosis period. Carers of 92 boys and 60 girls diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder from school age completed an online survey addressing concerns regarding the child’s development during the pre-school years (pre-diagnosis). Significant sex differences were evident in key early concerns, as well as the strategies used to navigate pre-school social situations, and the types of restricted interests. Findings suggest, from carer perspective, that girls who went on to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder presented differently when compared to boys, providing insight into why the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder may be more difficult to make with cognitively able girls.

Can Gaze Avoidance Explain Why Individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome Can’t Recognise Emotions From Facial Expressions?

Research has shown that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have difficulties recognising emotions from facial expressions. Since eye contact is important for accurate emotion recognition, and individuals with ASD tend to avoid eye contact, this tendency for gaze aversion has been proposed as an explanation for the emotion recognition deficit. This explanation was investigated using a newly developed emotion and mental state recognition task. Individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome were less accurate at recognising emotions and mental states, but did not show evidence of gaze avoidance compared to individuals without Asperger’s Syndrome. This suggests that the way individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome look at faces cannot account for the difficulty they have recognising expressions.

Joint attention, language, social relating, and stereotypical behaviours in children with autistic disorder

This study aimed to investigate the relationships between abilities to initiate and respond to joint attention and symptoms of autism that have, and have not, been theoretically linked to joint attention. Participants were 51 boys and five girls with autistic disorder, aged between 2 years and 6 years 5 months. Measures of joint attention behaviours, language, social relating, and stereotypical behaviour were administered during a single assessment. As predicted, the correlations between joint attention and the two behaviours theoretically linked to joint attention (i.e. social relating and language) were significantly stronger than those between joint attention and the behaviour not theoretically linked (i.e. stereotypical behaviour). While causation cannot be inferred from this study, these results support the suggestion that difficulties with joint attention behaviours commonly found among children with autism are linked to language and social relating, beyond what might be expected simply due to their co-occurrence as symptoms.

Using The Transporters DVD as a Learning Tool for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Data from two groups of children who were randomly allocated to those groups showed that the ability of children with ASD to identify and label basic and complex facial expressions following a 3-week home based DVD intervention significantly improved when viewing The Transporters DVD. Improvements in emotion recognition appear related to the content of the DVD as participants in a control group who observed an alternate DVD showed no such improvement. Although social behaviour improved significantly as a result of watching The Transporters, a significant improvement in social behaviour was however, also observed in the Thomas the Tank Engine condition suggesting the unique content of The Transporters DVD was not pivotal to the improvement of social behaviour in general.

Face recognition performance of individuals with Asperger syndrome on the Cambridge face memory test

Although face recognition deficits in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), including Asperger syndrome (AS), are widely acknowledged, the empirical evidence is mixed. This in part reflects the failure to use standardized and psychometrically sound tests. We contrasted standardized face recognition scores on the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT) for 34 individuals with AS with those for 42, IQ‐matched non‐ASD individuals, and age‐standardized scores from a large Australian cohort. We also examined the influence of IQ, autistic traits, and negative affect on face recognition performance. Overall, participants with AS performed significantly worse on the CFMT than the non‐ASD participants and when evaluated against standardized test norms. However, while 24% of participants with AS presented with severe face recognition impairment (>2 SDs below the mean), many individuals performed at or above the typical level for their age: 53% scored within +/− 1 SD of the mean and 9% demonstrated superior performance (>1 SD above the mean). Regression analysis provided no evidence that IQ, autistic traits, or negative affect significantly influenced face recognition: diagnostic group membership was the only significant predictor of face recognition performance. In sum, face recognition performance in ASD is on a continuum, but with average levels significantly below non‐ASD levels of performance. Autism Res 2011,4:449–455.

Switching skills on by turning off part of the brain

Snyder and Mitchell (1999) have argued that the extraordinary skills of savants, including mathematics and drawing, are within us all but cannot normally be accessed without some form of brain damage. It has also been argued that such skills can be made accessible to normal people by switching off part of their brain artificially using magnetic pulses (Carter, 1999). Using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to interrupt the function of the frontotemporal lobe, a region of the brain implicated in the development of savant skills (Miller et al., 1996, 1998), we tested this hypothesis. Here we show that savant-type skills improved in 5 out of 17 participants during the period of stimulation. The enhanced skills included declarative memory, drawing, mathematics, and calendar calculating. In addition to overall improvement being observed, striking improvements in individual performance on various tasks were also seen.

Autism detection in early childhood (ADEC): reliability and validity data for a Level 2 screening tool for autistic disorder.

The Autism Detection in Early Childhood (ADEC; Young, 2007) was developed as a Level 2 clinician-administered autistic disorder (AD) screening tool that was time-efficient, suitable for children under 3 years, easy to administer, and suitable for persons with minimal training and experience with AD. A best estimate clinical Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) diagnosis of AD was made for 70 children using all available information and assessment results, except for the ADEC data. A screening study compared these children on the ADEC with 57 children with other developmental disorders and 64 typically developing children. Results indicated high internal consistency (α = .91). Interrater reliability and test-retest reliability of the ADEC were also adequate. ADEC scores reliably discriminated different diagnostic groups after controlling for nonverbal IQ and Vineland Adaptive Behavior Composite scores. Construct validity (using exploratory factor analysis) and concurrent validity using performance on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (Lord et al., 2000), the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (Le Couteur, Lord, & Rutter, 2003), and DSM-IV-TR criteria were also demonstrated. Signal detection analysis identified the optimal ADEC cutoff score, with the ADEC identifying all children who had an AD (N = 70, sensitivity = 1.0) but overincluding children with other disabilities (N = 13, specificity ranging from .74 to .90). Together, the reliability and validity data indicate that the ADEC has potential to be established as a suitable and efficient screening tool for infants with AD.