Brief Report: Adults with Mild Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD): Scores on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and Comorbid Psychopathology

While knowledge about symptom presentation of adults with mild ASD, including comorbid psychopathology, is limited, referral of adults with suspected mild PDD is increasing. We report on pilot research investigating whether patients diagnosed with mild ASD (n = 15) and patients who were not diagnosed with ASD (n = 21) differed in terms of (a) AQ scores and (b) Axis I and II disorders, assessed by the SCAN and the IPDE. Additionally, AQ scores were compared with those from non-ASD patients referred to a general outpatient clinic (n = 369). The results showed very few differences between ASD patients and non-ASD patients. Self-report may not differentiate mild ASD patients from non-ASD patients and Axis I and II disorders seem equally prevalent among these two groups.     

Brief Report: Self-defining and Everyday Autobiographical Memories in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autobiographical memory impairments in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been attributed to a failure in using the self as an effective memory organisational system. To explore this hypothesis, we compared self-defining and everyday memories in adults with and without ASD. Results demonstrated that both groups were able to distinguish between self-defining and everyday memories, although the ASD group generated fewer specific memories overall. Despite qualitative similarities between the narratives of the two groups, the adults with ASD extracted less meaning from their narratives. Difficulties in eliciting meaning from memories suggests a failure in using past experiences to update the self. We therefore propose that the self-memory relationship might be static, rather than dynamic, in ASD.     

Brief Report: Impaired Temporal Reproduction Performance in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Although temporal processing has received little attention in the autism literature, there are a number of reasons to suspect that people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have particular difficulties judging the passage of time. The present study tested a group of 20 high-functioning adults with ASD and 20 matched comparison participants on a temporal reproduction task. The ASD group made reproductions that were significantly further from the base durations than did the comparison group. They were also more variable in their responses. Furthermore the ASD group showed particular difficulties as the base durations increased, tending to underestimate to a much greater degree than the comparison group. These findings support earlier evidence that temporal processing is impaired in ASD.     

Brief Report: The Medical Care of Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Identifying the Needs

There is a lack of information concerning adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially with regards to their access to health care. A paper and electronic survey was sent to 1,580 primary care physicians in Connecticut. 346 respondents returned a survey and provided care to adults with an ASD. This physician survey provides data on adults with ASD such as: reasons for physician visits, living arrangements, employment status, and any services they are receiving. Responses revealed inadequate training in the care of adults with an ASD and physicians interest in obtaining additional training. The ability to provide a medical home for adults with autism will need to address effective strategies to train current and future physicians.     

Social Skills Training for Young Adults with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Despite the psychosocial difficulties common among young adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), little to no evidence-based social skills interventions exist for this population. Using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design, the current study tested the effectiveness of an evidence-based, caregiver-assisted social skills intervention known as PEERS for Young Adults with high-functioning young adults with ASD (ages 18-23) using self- and caregiver-report measures. Results revealed that treated young adults reported significantly less loneliness and improved social skills knowledge, while caregivers reported significant improvements in young adults' overall social skills, social responsiveness, empathy, and frequency of get-togethers. Results support the effectiveness of using this caregiver-assisted, manualized intervention for young adults with ASD.     

Brief Report: Self-Presentation of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

The self-presentational behaviour of 43 6- to 12-year-old children with high functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASD) and normal intelligence and 43 matched comparisons was investigated. Children were prompted to describe themselves twice, first in a baseline condition and then in a condition where they were asked to convince others to select them for a desirable activity (self-promotion). Even after controlling for theory of mind skills, children with HFASD used fewer positive self-statements at baseline, and were less goal-directed during self-promotion than comparison children. Children with HFASD alter their self-presentation when seeking personal gain, but do this less strategically and convincingly than typically-developing children.     

Brief Report: Visual Acuity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Recently, there has been heightened interest in suggestions of enhanced visual acuity in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) which was sparked by evidence that was later accepted to be methodologically flawed. However, a recent study that claimed children with ASD have enhanced visual acuity (Brosnan et al. in J Autism Dev Disord 42:2491–2497, 2012) repeated a critical methodological flaw by using an inappropriate viewing distance for a computerised acuity test, placing the findings in doubt. We examined visual acuity in 31 children with ASD and 33 controls using the 2 m 2000 Series Revised Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study chart placed at twice the conventional distance to better evaluate possible enhanced acuity. Children with ASD did not demonstrate superior acuity. The current findings strengthen the argument that reports of enhanced acuity in ASD are due to methodological flaws and challenges the reported association between visual acuity and systemising type behaviours.     

Brief Report: Face Configuration Accuracy and Processing Speed Among Adults with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders

The present study investigates the accuracy and speed of face processing employed by high-functioning adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Two behavioral experiments measured sensitivity to distances between features and face recognition when performance depended on holistic versus featural information. Results suggest adults with ASD were less accurate, but responded as quickly as controls for both tasks. In contrast to previous findings with children, adults with ASD demonstrated a holistic advantage only when the eye region was tested. Both groups recognized large manipulations to second-order relations more accurately than no change or small changes, but controls responded more quickly than participants with ASD when recognizing these large manipulations to configural information.     

Brief Report: Attachment Security in Infants At-Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders

Little is known about attachment security and disorganization in children who are at genetic risk for an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) prior to a possible diagnosis. The present study examined distributions of attachment security and disorganization at 15-months of age in a sample of infant siblings of older children with (ASD-sibs; n = 51) or without (COMP-sibs; n = 34) an ASD. ASD-sibs were not more or less likely to evince attachment insecurity or disorganization than COMP-sibs. However, relative to COMP-sibs, the rate of B1–B2 secure subclassifications was disproportionately larger in the ASD-sib group. Results suggest that ASD-sibs are not less likely to form secure affectional bonds with their caregivers than COMP-sibs, but may differ from COMP-sibs in their expression of attachment security.     

Self-Reported Autism Symptoms in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Scores on the autism spectrum quotient (AQ) were examined in 65 adults with ASD. Maternal reports of symptoms were collected simultaneously using the autism diagnostic interview-revised (ADI-R) and the Vineland Screener. A slightly revised AQ administration procedure was used to accommodate adults with below average IQ. AQ scores were lower than in the original validation study, with only 11 adults (17%) scoring above the proposed diagnostic cut-off and 24 (27%) exceeding the screening cut-off. Adults with higher IQs endorsed more symptoms than those with below average intelligence, but even when analyses were restricted to the 39 adults with at least average IQ, only 44% met the screening cut-off. AQ scores were not significantly correlated with ADI-R or Vineland scores.     

Social Competence and Social Skills Training and Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

This study examined the effectiveness of a 30 week social competence and social skills group intervention program with children, ages 7–11, diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Eighteen children with ASD were assessed with pretreatment and posttreatment measures on the Walker-McConnell Scale (WMS) and the MGH YouthCare Social Competence Development Scale. Each received the 30-week intervention program. For comparison, a matched sample of ten non-ASD children was also assessed, but received no treatment. The findings indicated that each ASD intervention group demonstrated significant gains on the WMS and significant improvement in the areas of anxiety management, joint attention, and flexibility/transitions. Results suggest that this approach can be effective in improving core social deficits in individuals with ASD. Portions of this paper were presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Boston, August 2008.     

Brief Report: Gestures in Children at Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - Retrospective video analyses indicate that disruptions in gesture use occur as early as 9–12 months of age in infants later diagnosed...     

Reliability of the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY) for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

The purpose of this paper was to update the psychometrics of the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills for Youngsters (MESSY) with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), specifically with respect to internal consistency, split-half reliability, and inter-rater reliability. In Study 1, 114 children with ASD (Autistic Disorder, Asperger's Syndrome, or Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified) were assessed using the MESSY. Participants ranged in age from 2 to 16 years. Study 1 found excellent internal consistency, and split half reliability. Using MESSY scores from two caregivers of 33 children, Study 2 found that the MESSY demonstrated moderate to high inter-rater reliability. As such, this study established the internal and inter-rater reliability of the MESSY for use among children with ASD.     

Brief Report: Face-Specific Recognition Deficits in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

This study used eyetracking to investigate the ability of young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to recognize social (faces) and nonsocial (simple objects and complex block patterns) stimuli using the visual paired comparison (VPC) paradigm. Typically developing (TD) children showed evidence for recognition of faces and simple objects, but not complex block patterns. Children with ASD were successful at recognizing novel objects and block patterns, but showed no evidence for face recognition. These findings suggest that young children with ASD have specific impairments in face recognition, and that they may have advantage over TD controls when processing complex nonsocial stimuli.     

Early-Emerging Social Adaptive Skills in Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders: An Item Analysis

Individuals with ASD have significant impairments in adaptive skills, particularly adaptive socialization skills. The present study examined the extent to which 20 items from the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales—Socialization Domain differentiated between ASD and developmentally delayed (DD) groups. Participants included 108 toddlers with ASD or DD under the age of 3 years. Nine of the 20 items significantly distinguished the groups. The ASD group demonstrated significantly weaker socialization skills, including deficits in basic social behaviors. The results support the notion that (a) socialization deficits in ASD impact foundational social skills typically emerging in the first year of life, (b) examination of specific social adaptive behaviors contribute to differential diagnosis, and (c) foundational social behaviors should be targeted for intervention.