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Query: UMLS:C0004352 (autism)
 32,579 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Recent research in childhood autism has provided support for the hypothesis that a central cognitive deficit involving severe language impairment underlies this disorder. In this study a group of autistic children were tested for handedness and for lateralization of speech function using a dichotic listening task. Contrary to earlier reports there were no left-handed children in the group although a number showed mixed preference. In the dischotic listening task using pairs of single syllable words the autistic group performed similarly to a matched group of normal children in terms of numbers of correct responses but over all did not show the right ear advantage characteristic of the normal children. There was a significant excess of right hemisphere dominance for verbal stimuli amongst the autistic children suggesting that for some at least, language functions had developed in the right hemisphere. Lateralization was shown to be related to presence or absence of speech before the age of 5 years and to IQ level.
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PMID:Hemisphere functioning in autistic children. 44 48

A psychometric, observational, and interview study was undertaken with 47 boys, aged 4 1/2 to 10 years, with nonverbal IQs of 70+ and a severe developmental disorder of language comprehension. Separate discriminant function analyses, based on behavioral, language, or cognitive features, showed little overlap between clinically defined autistic and dysphasic subgroups. Moreover, the discrimination could be made as clearly on language or cognitive characteristics as on social or behavioral critera. Language abnormalities and behavioral features also intercorrelated within the autistic subgroup. It is concluded that autism and dysphasia differ in important ways and that a cognitive deficit is an essential part of the syndrome of autism.
J Autism Child Schizophr 1977 Dec
PMID:A comparative study of infantile autism and specific developmental receptive language disorders. III. Discriminant function analysis. 59 38

Using auditory evoked responses, this work compares the reactivities to unimodal and crossmodal stimuli and the main neurocognitive functions most often disturbed in autism. With the aim of testing the hypothesis that the deficit in the ability to form crossmodal associations in autism is linked to a cognitive abnormality, auditory evoked responses to simple and to crossmodal (auditivo-visual) stimuli were recorded in 30 autistic children and compared with those of 30 normal and 30 mentally retarded children. Relationships between electrophysiological reactivity and neurocognitive functions showed that the cognitive deficit in the ability to maintain crossmodal associations is preceded by a more elementary perceptive abnormality in autistic children.
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PMID:Unimodal and crossmodal reactivity in autism: presence of auditory evoked responses and effect of the repetition of auditory stimuli. 139 Dec 80

The diagnosis of children with a spectrum of autistic features, who do not qualify for the diagnosis of classical autism, has increased during the past decade. A case is reported of an 8-year-old child originally diagnosed as learning disabled with attention disorders and hyperactivity, who was later diagnosed as having an autistic spectrum disorder when abnormalities of social interaction and play activity became more obvious. The frequency of learning and attention problems in school-age children may obscure more significant psychiatric pathologies, such as autistic disorders. Improved awareness of disorders of social functioning and play activity in the school-age child and use of screening tools may lead to earlier detection, definitive diagnosis and treatment for these children. In addition, assessments from multiple sources, i.e. the school, the home and the clinic, are needed in the diagnostic process. Periodic re-evaluations of the school-age child with problem behaviour are necessary to insure that more significant pathologies, which were not clear on initial evaluation, are diagnosed at the earliest opportunity.
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PMID:Diagnosing the 'strange' child. 155 66

This article summarizes recent evidence indicating that individuals suffering from autism have a specific problem in understanding intentions and beliefs. We propose that this problem arises because they are incapable of forming a special kind of mental representation. A single cognitive deficit defines what is common to all autistic individuals. In contrast there is a wide range of proposals for the biological origins of the disorder.
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PMID:The cognitive basis of a biological disorder: autism. 172 61

The objectives of this study were to see: (1) whether children with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) have similar neurocognitive deficits compared to nonretarded, or high-functioning autistic (HFA) children; and (2) whether the essential cognitive deficit among these children is in language or abstract problem solving. Subjects with AS, HFA, and a control group of socially impaired child psychiatric outpatient controls (OPC) were compared on a battery of neuropsychological tests. The results indicated that the AS and HFA groups differed little but that large differences from the OPC were observed on all tests. When the AS and HFA with FSIQ above 85 were compared to the OPC, outstanding deficits on motor coordination, language comprehension, and facial recognition were observed. Finally, some evidence is presented to suggest that the pattern of deficits of AS and HFA subjects varied by developmental level. The implications of these results for a neurological theory of autism are discussed.
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PMID:Asperger's syndrome and autism: neurocognitive aspects. 200 52

Autistic children are frequently reported to show obsessions and compulsions. This terminology implies that such behaviours in autism are similar to those seen in obsessive-compulsive disorder. However, these autistic behaviours fail to satisfy the definitions of either obsessions or compulsions, because essential subjective data (relating to unwantedness, distress, resistance, senselessness and egodystonia) are not available in the case of autistic children. Recent cognitive evidence suggests that this is because autistic children are unable to contemplate or talk about their own mental states. Because of this state of insufficient evidence, it is suggested that the terms obsession and compulsion should be used with considerable caution to describe autistic behaviours. In this paper, the more descriptive term 'repetitive activities' is used. To gain a better understanding of such repetitive activities in autism, functional analyses are needed. Examples of such analyses are discussed, and predictions from a social-cognitive deficit theory of repetitive activities are specifically considered. The paper aims to encourage research into this neglected area.
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PMID:Do autistic children have obsessions and compulsions? 267 40

Persistent pronominal errors in autistic children have been attributed either to a psychosocial deficit or to a linguistic or cognitive deficit. However, recent studies of normal children suggest that the failure to observe pronouns in speech addressed to another person is a major reason children show pronominal errors. The present study investigated if pronominal errors in autistic children can be explained by this alternative hypothesis. Children's attentiveness to the pronoun models and their imitative behaviors were examined under two modeling conditions. The nonaddressee condition provided children with systematic opportunities to observe pronoun models directed to another person as well as those directed to themselves. The addressee condition provided only systematic opportunities to observe pronoun models directed to children. Clear evidence for the alternative hypothesis was obtained for second person pronouns, suggesting that pronominal errors in autistic children can be interpreted within the framework of normal language development.
J Autism Dev Disord 1989 Mar
PMID:An alternative view of pronominal errors in autistic children. 270 5

The clinical spectrum of autism spans a broad range of functions, but the core symptoms remain the same regardless of the intelligence of the child: the autistic type of social deficit that ranges from a lack of inclination to relate to extreme difficulty with the mechanics of social interactions, a global communication deficit that involves both verbal and nonverbal modes, and a severe cognitive deficit involving concept formation (abstraction) that is combined with an exceptional memory for factual information. These symptoms may vary dramatically in severity, but the basic deficits are identifiable regardless of IQ. Under-recognition of autism is a major problem at all IQs, but especially in patients with IQs above 50. No drugs have been found to significantly improve the core deficits in autism. Antipsychotics should be avoided except for short-term use. Antidepressants, anxiolytics, and anticonvulsants are important in the treatment of depression, affective modulation, situation-related stress, and seizures. Intensive social skills training is assuming a prominent role in behavior modification programs, and success with higher-functioning autistic children suggests that outcome can be improved by intensive training. The neurobiology of autism has also undergone dramatic changes. The psychogenic theories of etiology have been completely invalidated. Autism is now considered to be a neurological disorder resulting from an error in brain development. The precise location and nature of this deficit are still being actively debated and investigated. One theory emphasizes a dysfunction of the limbic system that results in an impairment in the acquisition of information. A second theory proposes a primary role for dysfunction of the cortical association network responsible for the processing of information.
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PMID:New perspectives in autism, Part II: The differential diagnosis and neurobiology of autism. 306 39

The role of cognition in child development is reviewed with respect to the role of cognitive processing and cognitive deficits. Cognitive processing is discussed with respect to the self-system; the effects of psychosocial experiences; risk, vulnerability and protective mechanisms; vulnerability to depression; aetiology and treatment of depression. Cognitive deficits are discussed with respect to the socio-emotional consequences of language delay and reading difficulties; hyperkinetic/attentional deficit syndromes; schizophrenia; and autism. It is concluded that the ways in which we appraise our life circumstances and the ways in which we react to experiences of all kinds are greatly influenced by how we think about ourselves and our environment. Biases and distortions in such cognitive processing may be associated with social and emotional malfunction. These biases may derive from earlier experiences, from intensive temperamental styles, or from deficits in the ability to process incoming information. The further study of cognitive processing and cognitive deficits is likely to be rewarding and helpful for clinical practice.
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PMID:The role of cognition in child development and disorder. 356 6


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