Development and Current Functioning in Adolescents with Asperger Syndrome: A Comparative Study (original) (raw)
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The early development of autistic children
Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 1977
A sample of 74 young autistic children was selected and defined by direct observation of specific behaviors and clinical assessment of the presence or absence o f associated pathological conditions. Retrospective developmental data on these children and 38 age-matched normal children were gathered by means of a written inventory completed by the parents when the children were relatively young (mean age less than 4 years). The autistic children were reported to have had significant delays in the development of motor abilities, speech, communication, comprehension, and, to a lesser extent, perception during their 1st and 2nd years.
Developmental Changes of Autistic Symptoms
Autism, 2003
The study examined developmental changes in autistic symptoms retrospectively in a sample of 28 verbal children and adolescents with autism. Individuals with Asperger syndrome, PDD-NOS, and related medical conditions were not included in the study. We compared autistic symptoms present at the retrospective assessment and during the 4-to 5-year age period using the ADI-R. Our findings revealed a significant improvement in the three domains relevant for the diagnosis of autism, independent of age or IQ level. Improvement occurred in more symptoms from the social than the communication domain, and for more symptoms from the latter than the restricted interest and repetitive behavior domains. Finally, several ADI-R symptoms decreased in prevalence or even improved with development, suggesting they are developmentally specific. The finding that improvement was not linked to level of functioning and was found in individuals still positive for a diagnosis of autism suggests that improvement belongs to the 'natural history' of the handicap
Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2010
It is more or less established that a reasonably reliable diagnosis of autism could be made before the age of 3 (e.g. Chawarska, Klin, Rhea, & Volkmar, 2007; Kleinman et al., 2008). This does not apply to Asperger syndrome (AS) where it is far more common to receive a diagnosis in the early school years or later (e.g. Howlin & Asgharian, 1999). Considering the specific features that comes with AS and the growing feeling of dismay many parents experience even during their child's first couple of years it is problematic that so few professionals have the ability to discern the behavior at an early age. Johnson and Myers (2007) stated that parents are much more aware of early signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) now because of the amount of TV-programs and other sources of information. It is true that the features of AS could be diffuse or they may be transient, but nevertheless, in many cases it would be a great relief for the parents and for the child to get help and understanding as early as possible. The autistic spectrum (including autism, Asperger syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, PDDNOS) consists of a wide range of neurobehavioral and cognitive conditions that includes impairment in social interaction, impairment in communication (verbal and non-verbal), and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests (American Psychiatric Association, APA, 2000). Filipek et al. (1999) found that it is possible to differentiate autism from other developmental disorders in the age span 20-36 months. In a study by Twyman, Maxim, Leet, and Ultman (2009) 24 children received a diagnosis of ASD between 12 and 36 months. The behaviors that were noticed comprised deficits in
Patterns of development in young children with autism
Indian journal of pediatrics, 2005
To determine the extent to which the developmental profile of children less than 4 years can help in distinguishing children with autism from children with developmental delay. Subjects were 32 children with autism as per the DSM IV criteria and 32 children with developmental delay matched on chronological and academic age. The Developmental Profile II was used to assess the developmental functioning in five domains including physical, social, self help, academic, and communication. The two groups showed significantly different developmental profiles and these differences were accounted for mainly by significantly lower social skills and superior motor skills in the autistic group as compared to the developmentally delayed group. Developmental Profile II may help in distinguishing young children with autistic disorder from non-autistic children with comparable developmental delays.
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...
12. Autism from a cognitive-pragmatic perspective
Cognitive Pragmatics
Autism is one of a group of three neuro-developmental disorders including, in addition to autism itself, Asperger Syndrome and a fairly heterogeneous group of patients who present some but not all of the symptoms of autism (see below, section 2.2). Asperger Syndrome and autism being the best described pathologies, notably in terms of language and language development, they will be the focus of our attention in what follows. Autism has been described as being to pragmatics what aphasia is to syntax, i.e., a natural testing ground for pragmatic hypotheses. This is certainly true of both Asperger's Syndrome and autism, though, as will shortly be seen, autistic people are more impaired in language acquisition. The first part of the paper (section 2) will describe the pathology; the second part (section 3), the impact of the social/socio?-pragmatic deficit on language acquisition; the third part (section 4), the pragmatic deficits that remain in adulthood in Asperger and verbally autistic patients. 2. Asperger Syndrome and autism 2.1. A quick historical reminder In 1947, Leo Kanner described a group of 11 children with the following symptoms: isolation, an obsession with routine behaviour, extraordinary memory performances, echolalia, sensibility to stimuli, a limited range of interests, normal intelligence. In 1944, Hans Asperger described a group of four children, presenting what he called an "autistic psychopathology" with the following symptoms: social isolation, linguistic and motor stereotypes, resistance to change, specific interests in certain objects or topics and a preserved language. Children with autism correspond to Kanner's description (with the important proviso that they arenot all normally intelligent), while children of normal intelligence and a preserved language (as well as a more or less normal acquisition) are considered to be suffering from Asperger Syndrome. It should be noted that highfunctioning autistic adults (who have an IQ in the normal range of 70-130) and Asperger adults are very similar, the main difference between them being the differences in linguistic acquisition (see Frith 1991 and below, section 3). 1 2.2. Autism spectrum disorders: diagnostic criteria, prevalence and etiology Nowadays, both Kanner's and Asperger's descriptions have been largely endorsed in diagnosis handbooks, such as the DSM IV (1994), with two provisos: despite their largely common symptoms, Asperger's and autism (so-called Kanner's autism, given that it was described by Kanner), differ on the linguistic acquisition of the patients. Asperger children, despite a delay, acquire language by immersion as do typically developing children, while autistic children are not only more delayed (see below, section 3), but usually need speech therapy and about half of them remain mute. Autism is additionally fairly frequently accompanied by more or less severe learning disabilities. Here is the complete list of diagnostic criteria of autism, as given by DSM IV: symptoms include qualitative alteration of social interactions; qualitative alteration of communication; restricted, repetitive and stereotyped behaviour, interests and activities. A second criterion is the delay or the abnormality of the following functions, which has to be evident before the child is three years old: social interactions, language necessary for social communication, symbolic or make-believe play. A final criterion is to the effect that there is no alternative explanation. According to Kogan et al. (2009: 2), "Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a group of developmental disorders comprising autistic disorders and two related but less severe disorders: Asperger's disorder and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS)". The main criteria of ASD are impairments in social interaction, communication (both linguistic and nonverbal), deficient symbolic play, and repetitive and restricted patterns of behaviours and interests. The inclusion of the less severe disorders (Asperger and PDD-NOS) in the autism spectrum has had the consequence of greatly increasing the prevalence of the disease from 2 to 5 in 10 000 in the 1960-1980s (when the diagnosis was limited to autism) to 110 in 10 000 in a 2007 USA survey (see Kogan et al. 2009), though the gender distribution has remained unchanged (with four boys to one girl). Similar though less dramatic (57 in 10 000) increases have been reported for the UK (see Scott et al. 2002). Data for continental Europe usually concern autism and PDD-NOS rather than the whole spectrum of disorders and, as a consequence, the figure has stayed at a lower level (27 in 10,000). 2 The aetiology, while still not entirely clear, is heterogeneous, though there is no doubt that it is biological. Current hypotheses mainly target genetic anomalies which are linked to the X chromosome, but also recessive autosomal, as well as ante-, obstetric or neonatal incidents. The heavy predominance of social deficits in the symptomatology of autism spectrum disorders does not only result in difficulties in communication, it also has consequences on the acquisition of language, and, particularly (though perhaps not exclusively, see below, 3.6.3 and 3.6.4), on lexical acquisition. In what follows, the focus will be on the two best characterized disorders, i.e., autism and Asperger syndrome. 3. The impact of the social-pragmatic deficit on language acquisition in autistic people