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.     

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.     

Driving Behaviors in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

This pilot study investigated driving history and driving behaviors between adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as compared to non-ASD adult drivers. Seventy-eight licensed drivers with ASD and 94 non-ASD comparison participants completed the Driver Behavior Questionnaire. Drivers with ASD endorsed significantly lower ratings of their ability to drive, and higher numbers of traffic accidents and citations relative to non-ASD drivers. Drivers with ASD also endorsed significantly greater numbers of difficulties on the following subscales: intentional violations, F(1, 162) = 6.15, p = .01, η _p ²  = .04; mistakes, F(1, 162) = 10.15, p = .002, η _p ²  = .06; and slips/lapses, F(1, 162) = 11.33, p = .001, η _p ²  = .07. These findings suggest that individuals with ASD who are current drivers may experience more difficulties in driving behaviors and engage in more problematic driving behaviors relative to non-ASD drivers.     

BASC-2 PRS Profiles for Students with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders

BASC-2 PRS profiles of 62 children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs) were compared with those of 62 typically-developing children matched by age, gender, and ethnicity. Results indicated that, except for the Somatization, Conduct Problems, and Aggression scales, significant differences were found between the HFASD and typically-developing groups on all PRS scores. Mean HFASD scores were in the clinically significant range on the Behavioral Symptoms Index, Atypicality, Withdrawal, and Developmental Social Disorders scales. At-risk range HFASD means were obtained on the Adaptive Skills composite, all adaptive scales, remaining content scales (except Bullying), and Hyperactivity, Attention Problems, and Depression clinical scales. Screening indices suggested that the Developmental Social Disorders scale was highly effective in differentiating between the two groups.     

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.     

Emotion Perception in Music in High-Functioning Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) succeed at a range of musical tasks. The ability to recognize musical emotion as belonging to one of four categories (happy, sad, scared or peaceful) was assessed in high-functioning adolescents with ASD (N = 26) and adolescents with typical development (TD, N = 26) with comparable performance IQ, auditory working memory, and musical training and experience. When verbal IQ was controlled for, there was no significant effect of diagnostic group. Adolescents with ASD rated the intensity of the emotions similarly to adolescents with TD and reported greater confidence in their responses when they had correctly (vs. incorrectly) recognized the emotions. These findings are reviewed within the context of the amygdala theory of autism.     

Binding of Multiple Features in Memory by High-Functioning Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Diminished episodic memory and diminished use of semantic information to aid recall by individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are both thought to result from diminished relational binding of elements of complex stimuli. To test this hypothesis, we asked high-functioning adults with ASD and typical comparison participants to study grids in which some cells contained drawings of objects in non-canonical colours. Participants were told at study which features (colour, item, location) would be tested in a later memory test. In a second experiment, participants studied similar grids and were told that they would be tested on object-location or object-colour combinations. Recognition of combinations was significantly diminished in ASD, which survived covarying performance on the Color Trails Test (D’Elia et al. Color trails test. Professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources, Lutz, 1996), a test of executive difficulties. The findings raise the possibility that medial temporal as well as frontal lobe processes are dysfunctional in ASD.     

Sexual Behavior in High-Functioning Male Adolescents and Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Group home caregivers of 24 institutionalized, male, high-functioning adolescents and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder, were interviewed with the Interview Sexuality Autism. Most subjects were reported to express sexual interest and to display some kind of sexual behavior. Knowledge of socio-sexual skills existed, but practical use was moderate. Masturbation was common. Many subjects were seeking physical contact with others. Half of the sample had experienced a relationship, while three were reported to have had sexual intercourse. The number of bisexual orientations appeared high. Ritual-sexual use of objects and sensory fascinations with a sexual connotation were sometimes present. A paraphilia was present in two subjects. About one third of the group needed intervention regarding sexual development or behavior.     

RCT of a Manualized Social Treatment for High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders

This RCT examined the efficacy of a manualized social intervention for children with HFASDs. Participants were randomly assigned to treatment or wait-list conditions. Treatment included instruction and therapeutic activities targeting social skills, face-emotion recognition, interest expansion, and interpretation of non-literal language. A response-cost program was applied to reduce problem behaviors and foster skills acquisition. Significant treatment effects were found for five of seven primary outcome measures (parent ratings and direct child measures). Secondary measures based on staff ratings (treatment group only) corroborated gains reported by parents. High levels of parent, child and staff satisfaction were reported, along with high levels of treatment fidelity. Standardized effect size estimates were primarily in the medium and large ranges and favored the treatment group.     

Sexual Knowledge and Victimization in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

There is a significant gap in understanding the risk of sexual victimization in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and the variables that contribute to risk. Age appropriate sexual interest, limited sexual knowledge and experiences, and social deficits, may place adults with ASD at increased risk. Ninety-five adults with ASD and 117 adults without ASD completed questionnaires regarding sexual knowledge sources, actual knowledge, perceived knowledge, and sexual victimization. Individuals with ASD obtained less of their sexual knowledge from social sources, more sexual knowledge from non-social sources, had less perceived and actual knowledge, and experienced more sexual victimization than controls. The increased risk of victimization by individuals with ASD was partially mediated by their actual knowledge. The link between knowledge and victimization has important clinical implications for interventions.     

Investigating Multitasking in High-Functioning Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders Using the Virtual Errands Task

Using a modified version of the Virtual Errands Task (VET; McGeorge et al. in Presence-Teleop Virtual Environ 10(4):375–383, 2001), we investigated the executive ability of multitasking in 18 high-functioning adolescents with ASD and 18 typically developing adolescents. The VET requires multitasking (Law et al. in Acta Psychol 122(1):27–44, 2006) because there is a limited amount of time in which to complete the errands. ANCOVA revealed that the ASD group completed fewer tasks, broke more rules and rigidly followed the task list in the order of presentation. Our findings suggest that executive problems of planning inflexibility, inhibition, as well as difficulties with prospective memory (remembering to carry out intentions) may lie behind multitasking difficulties in ASD.     

The Influences of Face Inversion and Facial Expression on Sensitivity to Eye Contact in High-Functioning Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

We examined the influences of face inversion and facial expression on sensitivity to eye contact in high-functioning adults with and without an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants judged the direction of gaze of angry, fearful, and neutral faces. In the typical group only, the range of directions of gaze leading to the perception of eye contact (the cone of gaze) was narrower for upright than inverted faces. In both groups, the cone of gaze was wider for angry faces than for fearful or neutral faces. These results suggest that in high-functioning adults with ASD, the perception of eye contact is not tuned to be finer for upright than inverted faces, but that information is nevertheless integrated across expression and gaze direction.     

Characterizing Sleep in Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

We studied 28 adolescents/young adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and 13 age/sex matched individuals of typical development (TD). Structured sleep histories, validated questionnaires, actigraphy (4 weeks), and salivary cortisol and melatonin (4 days each) were collected. Compared to those with TD, adolescents/young adults with ASD had longer sleep latencies and more difficulty going to bed and falling asleep. Morning cortisol, evening cortisol, and the morning-evening difference in cortisol did not differ by diagnosis (ASD vs. TD). Dim light melatonin onsets (DLMOs) averaged across participants were not different for the ASD and TD participants. Average participant scores indicated aspects of poor sleep hygiene in both groups. Insomnia in ASD is multifactorial and not solely related to physiological factors.     

How Stimulus and Task Complexity Affect Monitoring in High-Functioning Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The present study examined whether individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are able to update and monitor working memory representations of visual input, and whether performance is influenced by stimulus and task complexity. 15 high-functioning adults with ASD and 15 controls were asked to allocate either elements of abstract figures or semantically meaningful pictures to the correct category, according to a certain set of rules. In general, the groups did not differ on measures of intelligence, working memory, attention, fluency and memory. For the monitoring of allocation of abstract figures, a similar pattern of reaction times was found for ASD and control participants. For the monitoring of allocation of semantically meaningful pictures, a different response pattern was found, with a stronger increase in response times for the ASD than for the control group when the number of categories increased. This suggests that participants with ASD are able to monitor working memory representations, but suffer under more complex circumstances.     

Developing a Vocational Index for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Existing methods of indexing the vocational activities of adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have made significant contributions to research. Nonetheless, they are limited by problems with sensitivity and reliability. We developed an index of vocational and educational outcomes that captures the full range of activities experienced by adults with ASD, and that can be reliably coded across studies using specific decision rules. To develop this index, we used employment, vocational, and educational data collected from nearly 350 adults with ASD at 6 times over 12?years, as part of a larger longitudinal study. The resulting index consists of 11 categories coded on a 9-point scale, ranging from competitive employment and/or postsecondary educational program to no vocational/educational activities.     

Episodic and Semantic Autobiographical Memory in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Episodic and semantic autobiographical memories were examined in a group of adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a control group matched for age, gender and IQ. Results demonstrated a personal episodic memory deficit in the ASD group in the absence of a personal semantic memory deficit, suggesting a deficit dissociation between these two components of memory in ASD. Further analysis of memories across different lifetime periods revealed the adolescent and early adult lifetime periods to facilitate memory recall in the control group, but not in the ASD group. These findings suggest a distinctive pattern of remembering in ASD.     

Advanced Theory of Mind in High-Functioning Adults with Autism

Twenty-four high-functioning adults with autism (16 men) who passed a first-order theory-of-mind task and 24 nonautistic adults (10 men) attributed mental states to recordings of various verbal intonations and to photos of people's eyes to assess advanced theory of mind. Participants with autism performed significantly worse than nonautistic participants on both tasks. Thus, the previously described inattention to others' eyes exhibited by adults with autism is not solely responsible for their inability to attribute mental states from eyes, as they also did not correctly attribute mental states from voices. These findings support the view that a core deficit for people with autism lies in their theory of mind, that is, their inability to attribute mental states to others.     

Effectiveness of a Manualized Summer Social Treatment Program for High-Functioning Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

This paper presents findings from the final two years of a four-year study investigating a manualized social treatment program for high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorders. The study sought to (1) replicate and expand findings from years one and two; (2) compare outcomes of participants who received response-cost feedback versus non-categorical feedback; and (3) provide further evidence of program feasibility. Results indicated significant improvements in social skills and problem behaviors, however no significant differences for face emotion recognition. Measures of several socially-related behaviors yielded mixed results based on rater. While parent ratings did not appear to favor one feedback format, staff ratings appeared to favor the response-cost format on some measures. Results also provided support for program feasibility.