When do children with autism develop adequate social behaviour? Cross-sectional analysis of developmental trajectories (original) (raw)
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Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2008
A central question to autism research is whether autism is largely the result of an impairment in social cognition and/or motivation or the result of a more general processing difference. This review discusses problems with the ''social deficit'' model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is suggested that superior attention to low-level perceptual information potentially coupled with decreased attention to global information may provide a more comprehensive explanation for atypical social behaviours in ASD. This processing style may reflect increased activation of occipital-temporal regions and reduced functional (and possibly anatomical) connectivity. It is concluded that atypical social behaviours in ASD are more likely to be a consequence reflective of a general processing difference than impairment in social cognition and/or motivation.
Cognitive Processing
Of the triad of symptoms found in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), that is, social impairments, communication difficulties and repetitive interests and behaviour, the social impairments are the most stable and common throughout the lifespan. They typically manifest themselves in abnormalities as reciprocal interactions and difficulties in the expression and recognition of emotions. Although peer interactions become especially important during adolescence, little is known about the mentalizing abilities of high-functioning adolescents with ASD. Here, we compared the mentalizing skills and emotion recognition abilities of 21 high-functioning adolescents with ASD and 21 matched controls. All adolescents had estimated above-average verbal intelligence levels. Spontaneous social abilities and task-related social abilities were measured using questionnaires, tasks and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. Results confirm social impairment in daily life situations in adolescents with ASD, but were not found on experimental tasks of social cognition. The use of more explicit cognitive or verbally mediating reasoning techniques and a lesser tendency of high-functioning adolescents with ASD to search for and use social information in natural environments are further discussed.
Autism Research, 2015
Difficulty processing social information is a defining feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Yet the failure of children with ASD to process social information effectively is poorly understood. Using Crick and Dodge's model of social information processing (SIP), this study examined the relationship between social-emotional (SE) skills of pragmatic language, theory of mind, and emotion recognition on the one hand, and early stage SIP skills of problem identification and goal generation on the other. The study included a sample of school-aged children with and without ASD. SIP was assessed using hypothetical social situations in the context of a semistructured scenario-based interview. Pragmatic language, theory of mind, and emotion recognition were measured using direct assessments. Social thinking differences between children with and without ASD are largely differences of quantity (overall lower performance in ASD), not discrepancies in cognitive processing patterns. These data support theoretical models of the relationship between SE skills and SIP. Findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms giving rise to SIP deficits in ASD and may ultimately inform treatment development for children with ASD.
Analysis of social interactions as goal-directed behaviors in children with autism
Researchers debate whether the social impairments in autism result from a social or cognitive deficit because of the complex cognitive processing required (Waterhouse & Fein, 1991). Interactions require ability to attend to a multitude of cues and to interpret and respond to these cues appropriately for the social context (Howlin, 1986). Social behaviors have been linked to attentional functioning (Courchesne, 1994; Dawson et al., 1998) and executive function (Rogers, 1998) abilities that mediate rapid shifting of attention, processing of complex stimuli, and maintenance of goal-directed behaviors. Social interaction studies that occur in children's own environments have been advocated (
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM: A REVIEW ARTICLE
The first 6-8 years of a child's life, known as the early childhood stage. Early childhood stage is important as a foundation for the inculcation of social and personal habits and values. "Social Development is equality of social opportunities." The focus of this paper is on early development of social skill in children with autism. Social reciprocity deficits are a core feature of the autism spectrum disorders (ASD).Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder defined by impairments in social and communication development, accompanied by stereotyped patterns of behavior and interest.Children with autism display significant social deficits that negativelyimpact daily functioning and may lead to serious mental health problems. By elementary school, they have significant social relational problems; the majority experience great difficulty initiating and maintaining friendships with same-aged peers. Social skills are important for preparing young people to mature and succeed in their adult roles within the family, workplace, and community. Social skills allow people to succeed not only in their social lives, but also in their academic, personal, and future professional activities.Young children acquire social knowledgeand skills in play. It is within play that they learn to coordinate interpersonal skills such as turn-taking and reciprocity and learn the strategies necessary for collaborative and symbolic pretend play. Through social play, children learn and practice social skills such as asking to enter into peer or play groups and inviting others to play.
Infant Mental …, 1998
Competing theoretical accounts of psychopathological development in individuals with autism emphasize the role of different infant social, cognitive and affective factors, including affective responsivity, pretend play, joint attention, and imitation. However, due to the fact that autism is rarely diagnosed before the age of 3, until now these abilities have only been studied with school-age children, adolescents, or young adults with autism. Taking advantage of a new prospective screening instrument for autism in infancy (Baron-Cohen et al., 1996), the present study compared the performance of 20-month-old infants with autism and pervasive developmental disorder to that of children with developmental delay without autism on experimental tasks of empathic response, pretend and functional play, joint attention and requesting behaviors, and imitation. The 20-month-old infants with autism failed to use social gaze declaratively in the joint attention task, they showed poor emphatic response, fewer imitated modelled actions on objects, and none produced spontaneous pretend play. Surprisingly, the infants with pervasive developmental disorder did not perform significantly differently from the infants with developmental delay without autism on any of the measures. The identification of autism-specific impairments in early social cognitive abilities may have important clinical implications, for the early diagnosis of the disorder and for the setting of goals and monitoring of progress in early intervention programs.
Social Information Processing in Preschool Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2014
Using a multicomponent, process-oriented approach, the links between social information processing during the preschool years and (a) sociodemographic risk and (b) behavior problems in preschool were examined in a community sample of 196 children. Findings provided support for our initial hypotheses that aspects of social information processing in preschool are related to both sociodemographic risk and behavior problems in preschool. Response evaluation and in particular the positive evaluation of an aggressive response were related to both sociodemographic risk and children's aggressive behavior and partially mediated the links between sociodemographic risk and aggressive behavior in preschool.