High-functioning autism and Asperger's Disorder: a neuropsychological comparison (original) (raw)
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Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2007
This study investigated personality and neurobehavioral differences between 16 children with Asperger’s Disorder, 15 children with High-Functioning Autism (HFA), and 31 controls, all ranging in age from 5–17 years, M age = 10.7 years, SD = 3.0. Parents rated their children’s behaviors on a 44-item autistic symptoms survey and on the 200-item Coolidge Personality and Neuropsychological Inventory (Coolidge, Thede, Stewart, & Segal (2002a). The Coolidge Personality and Neuropsychological Inventory for Children (CPNI): Preliminary psychometric characteristics. Behavior Modification, 26, 550–566). The results indicated that the two clinical samples were significantly elevated on the Executive Function Deficits scale and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) scale compared to controls. There were more similarities than differences between the two clinical samples on the personality scales, although the Asperger’s group scored significantly on the two scales with anxiety components.
Asperger's Syndrome and Autism: Differences in Behavior, Cognition, and Adaptive Functioning
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 1995
To determine whether subtypes of children with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) differed on variables that were relatively independent of distinguishing criteria. Method: Higher-functioning children with PDD, 4 through 6 years of age, were differentiated into those with autism (n = 47) and those with Asperger's syndrome ( n = 21) on the basis of delayed and deviant language development. The groups were then compared on a wide range of measures including PDD symptoms, adaptive behaviors in communication, socialization, and activities of daily living, and an assessment of verbal and nonverbal cognitive skills. Results: Significant differences between the groups existed on many PDD symptoms, adaptive behaviors, and cognitive measures of language competence, but not on aspects of nonverbal communication, nonverbal cognition, or motor development. Conclusion: Subtypes of children with PDD can be identified that differ on variables relatively independent of defining characteristics. These findings should provide a firm foundation into research to determine whether children with autism and Asperger's syndrome also differ on outcome, etiology, and response to treatment.
Asperger syndrome and high functioning autism: research concerns and emerging foci
Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 2003
This review focuses on papers that pertain to recent work on Asperger syndrome or high functioning autism. We noted areas in which there was a preponderance of research published over the last year, including: social communication, sensory characteristics, eye gaze, neurocognitive aspects, comorbidity, and treatment and intervention studies. Recent findings Children, adolescents, and even adults with Asperger syndrome/high functioning autism appear to be deficient in social skills that involve self-referencing, empathy, determination of emotions in others or inferring the thoughts of others. Some neurocognitive studies suggest that Asperger syndrome and high functioning autism are distinct disorders. A variety of social-behavioral interventions appeared in the literature, with generally positive outcomes. Comorbidity of Asperger syndrome and other psychiatric conditions (e.g. attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or depression) continues to be identified. Summary Studies focusing on descriptions and specific sequelae of social deficits in Asperger syndrome/high functioning autism dominated the literature of the past year. With the decoding of the human genome it is also likely that the search for genetic pathways to Asperger syndrome/high functioning autism will continue. Finally, based on the almost total lack of information in this area, there is a clear need to develop better understanding of the experience of families raising children with high functioning autism or Asperger syndrome.
Australasian Journal of Early Childhood
The aim of the study reported here was to establish whether the behavioural profiles of children with high-functioning autism (HFA) come to approximate the profile of children with Asperger Syndrome (AS) over time. The parents of 21 children with HFA and 19 children with AS, all aged between five and 11 years and matched on chronological and mental age, were interviewed using the Autism Behaviour Checklist. The parents reported on their child's current behavioural presentation as well as on their early (childhood) behaviours. The hypothesis that the children with HFA would show more severe symptomatology in comparison to the children with AS on their early behavioural scores was supported. Moreover, the two groups were indistinguishable on their current behavioural profiles, providing support for Szatmari's (2000a; 2000b) developmental model of autism and AS. The lack of qualitative differences in the behavioural profiles between the two groups during early and middle childh...
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2007
Individuals with higher functioning autism (HFA) fail to translate their cognitive potential into real-life adaptation, and the severity of their symptoms is considerable despite their intellectual ability. This paper reports on a subsample from a larger study (A. Klin et al., in press) analyzed here by autism spectrum subtypes. It focuses on the nature of ability and disability in HFA and Asperger syndrome (AS) in relation to age and IQ. Participants included 32 individuals with autism and 35 with AS. Individuals with AS had significantly higher Verbal IQ scores and less symptomatology than individuals with autism, but their Vineland scores were equally impaired, highlighting the adaptive deficits in ASD regardless of classification. No relationship was found between adaptive functioning and symptom severity.
Comparison of Clinical Symptoms in Autism and Asperger's Disorder
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 1996
Objective: To determine what clinical symptoms clinicians have been using to distinguish between Asperger's disorder (AsD) and autistic disorder (AD). Method: Parents of children and adolescents with high-functioning AD (n = 48) and
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2004
Background: The ongoing controversy over the distinction between autistic disorder and Asperger's disorder is important to resolve because of the implications regarding an understanding of the aetiology and prognosis, and the diagnostic and clinical practices relating to these conditions. This paper provides a critical evaluation of current published research evidence. Method: Databases, such as Psy-chINFO and Medline, as well as book chapters, reference lists from relevant articles, and recent editions of key journals were searched for all relevant studies (until 2002) which incorporated participants diagnosed with high-functioning autism and Asperger's disorder using either cluster analysis or comparative approaches to examine similarities and differences between these groups. Keywords used in the searches included autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder, autism, high-functioning autism, and pervasive developmental disorder. Results: On the basis of the available evidence, there seem to be few qualitative differences between autistic disorder and Asperger's disorder. Conclusion: There is currently insufficient evidence to establish the validity of Asperger's disorder as a syndrome distinct from high-functioning autism. The findings are consistent with the view that these disorders belong on an autism spectrum.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2018
Syndrome has always aroused huge interest and debate, until vanishing in the DSM fifth edition (2013). The debate regarded its diagnostic validity and its differentiation from high functioning autism (HFA). The present study aimed to examine whether AS differed from HFA in clinical profiles and to analyze the impact of DSM-5's innovation. Differences in cognitive, language, school functioning and comorbidities, were revealed when 80 AS and 70 HFA patients (3-18 years) were compared. Results suggested that an AS empirical distinction within autism spectrum disorder should be clinically useful.
Development and Current Functioning in Adolescents with Asperger Syndrome: A Comparative Study
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2001
Adolescents with Asperger syndrome (AS : without delay in speech development, diagnosed according to ICD-10 clinical criteria) were compared with a group with high-functioning autism (HFA : all with delayed speech development), and a group with conduct disorder (CD). Family and genetic studies suggest that Asperger syndrome and autism form part of the same spectrum, whereas the social impairments in conduct disorder are assumed to have di erent origins. The aims were to explore the relationships between early speech development and other aspects of functioning in autistic disorders, and to compare autistic and nonautistic social impairments. Early and current behaviour and IQ profiles were investigated.
Three Diagnostic Approaches to Asperger Syndrome: Implications for Research
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2005
Objective: To examine the implications for research of the use of three alternative definitions for Asperger syndrome (AS). Differences across the three nosologic systems were examined in terms of diagnostic assignment, IQ profiles, comorbid symptoms, and familial aggregation of social and other psychiatric symptoms. Method: Standard data on diagnosis, intellectual functioning, comorbidity patterns, and family history were obtained on 65 individuals screened for a very high probability of having autism without mental retardation (or higher functioning autism, HFA) or AS. Diagnoses of AS were established based on three different approaches: DSM-IV, presence/absence of communicative phrase speech by 3 years, and a system designed to highlight prototypical features of AS. Results: Agreement between the three diagnostic systems was poor. AS could be differentiated from HFA (but not from PDD-NOS) on the basis of IQ profiles in two of the three systems. Differences in patterns of comorbid symptomatology were obtained in two of the three systems, although differences were primarily driven by the PDD-NOS category. Only one of the approaches yielded differences relative to aggregation of the ''broader phenotype'' in family members. Conclusions: Diagnostic assignments of AS based on three commonly used approaches have low agreement and lead to different results in comparisons of IQ profiles, patterns of comorbidity, and familial aggregation of psychiatric symptoms across the approach-specific resultant groups of HFA, AS, and PDD-NOS.