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

Sixteen autistic children with WISC Performance IQs of 70 or above were analyzed to determine their conceptions of spatial relations, size comparisons, and gesture imitations through the use of the WISC, an originally devised Language Decoding Test (LDT), and a modified Gesture Imitation Test (GIT). WISC results were replicated as in previous studies. The autistic children showed an inability to acquire concepts of size comparison and spatial relationships through verbal instructions. They often gave peculiar responses (partial imitations), which seem to be related to their inability to integrate another person's body as a whole through visual input. These findings support the notion that the basic cognitive deficit is an impairment of symbolic-representational functioning, including language and body images, which results from a combination of delay and deviation of the symbolic-representational function.
J Autism Dev Disord 1987 Mar
PMID:Cognitive disorders of infantile autism: a study employing the WISC, spatial relationship conceptualization, and gesture imitations. 357 Nov 43

The performance of children meeting DSM-III criteria for schizophrenic disorder and infantile autism and of normal children (ages 7 years 10 months to 14 years 4 months) was compared on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Rey's Tangled Line Test, Benton Judgment of Line Orientation, Digit Symbol Substitution Test, and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. The mean performance IQ of the schizophrenic and autistic children was equal and in the normal range. The normal children were of average intelligence as estimated by the PPVT. As compared to normal children, both autistic and schizophrenic children were impaired on the DSST and RTLT. The autistic children had significantly lower scores on the PPVT than schizophrenic and normal children. The schizophrenic children made significantly more perseverative responses on the WCST than did normal children. They significantly increased their nonperseverative errors on the second half of the WCST, after having been taught the correct sorting principles. It is argued that in schizophrenia a core deficit in momentary processing capacity underlies the above performance pattern. In contrast, in autism the core cognitive deficit involves an inability to use language to regulate and control ongoing behavior.
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PMID:A comparison of cognitive/neuropsychological impairments of nonretarded autistic and schizophrenic children. 357 38

This study examines perspective construction in an autistic patient (E.C.) with quasinormal intelligence who exhibits exceptional ability when performing three-dimensional drawings of inanimate objects. Examination of E.C.'s spontaneous graphic productions showed that although his drawings approximate the 'linear perspective' system, the subject does not use vanishing points in his productions. Nevertheless, a formal computational analysis of E.C.'s accuracy in an experimental task showed that he was able to draw objects rotated in three-dimensional space more accurately than over-trained controls. This accuracy was not modified by suppressing graphic cues that permitted the construction of a vanishing point. E.C. was also able to detect a perspective incongruency between an object and a landscape at a level superior to that of control subjects. Since E.C. does not construct vanishing points in his drawings, it is proposed that his production of a precise realistic perspective is reached without the use of explicit or implicit perspective rules. 'Special abilities' in perspective are examined in relation to existing theoretical models of the cognitive deficit in autism and are compared to other special abilities in autism.
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PMID:Perspective production in a savant autistic draughtsman. 748 Apr 43

Adaptive behavior was investigated for 497 urban preschool children with developmental disabilities (autism, pervasive developmental disorder, language impairment, mental retardation, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, cognitive deficit), ranging in age from 15 to 71 months, 38% of whom were in foster care. Disabilities were identified through comprehensive multidisciplinary evaluation. Adaptive behavior was assessed with the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Results indicate a strong positive relation between adaptive behavior and intelligence if measured globally. When Vineland domains were assessed separately, this relation varied across domains and disability groups. With intelligence controlled, adaptive behavior patterns differed for disability groups in communication and socialization.
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PMID:Adaptive behavior of young urban children with developmental disabilities. 776 Jul 30

1. Autism is the term used to describe certain characteristics observed in some children, including a preference for aloneness, and sameness. 2. The condition was thought for some time to be caused by a psychological disturbance resulting from a combination of stress and poor parental upbringing. 3. Recently emerging data suggests the symptoms are related to a cognitive deficit associated with a biological cause. 4. As research progresses, it is hoped it will become possible to improve the quality of life for people suffering from or looking after those with, autism.
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PMID:Autism: is there a biological cause? 786 87

It is now 50 years since Leo Kanner first described autism as a distinctive pattern of symptoms in some children with severe developmental problems. Since then the assessment and diagnosis of children with pervasive disorders of development has been refined and much is known about the phenomenology and epidemiology. Autism is a biological disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) of unknown cause. It is associated with a number of organic disorders such as epilepsy and has comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders such as tic disorder. Cognitive abnormalities in social interactions, affect and language are present but there is still debate regarding which of these, if any, is the primary cognitive deficit. Special education and behavioral management has led to modest but important developmental improvement in many children with autism. Autism remains a life-long condition but patterns of symptoms change and skills develop from childhood into adult life.
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PMID:Autism: fifty years on from Kanner. 819 40

In this article, the term non-speaking will be used to refer to those individuals who have limited or no functional speech because of severe physical impairment, neuromuscular or cognitive deficit and whose communication impairment is not due primarily to a hearing problem. Augmentative communication has developed in order to compensate for impairments and disabilities of the non-speaking individual. It is all communication that supplements speech. Pediatric dental patients who may benefit from augmentative communication systems include those with cerebral palsy, multihandicaps, severe mental retardation and autism. The communication board is given as an example of an augmentative communication system. It is a visual display which can use symbols, pictures, letters and words. It allows the non-speaking child to communicate either by listener-assisted scanning or pointing directly to the symbol or word with their hand or eye-gaze, or with an aid such as a pointer or light. A communication board for use in the pediatric dental setting is described. The pediatric dentist should consult with the speech-language pathologist, family/caretaker, special educator/teacher, and health care members when deciding on communication systems for the non-speaking child in the dental setting. Augmentative communication systems need to be individualized for each non-speaking child. The systems need constant evaluation and updating also as the child develops. The ultimate aim of augmentative communication is to help the non-speaking child to have a more active and fulfilling role in everyday life.
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PMID:Augmentative communication for the non-speaking child. 821 93

This study investigated the production of different types of speech pauses and repairs in the story narratives produced by autistic, mentally retarded, and normal children, matched on verbal mental age. Ten children in each group were asked to tell the story depicted in a wordless picture book. The narratives were analyzed for frequency of grammatical (between phrase) and nongrammatical (within phrase) pauses, and for several measures of story length and complexity. The main results were that children with autism produced significantly fewer nongrammatical pauses, and that their nongrammatical pausing was correlated with measures of story length and complexity. These findings suggest that the stories told by the autistic children reflect reduced cognitive and communicative demand. The implications of this study for future research on the use of a variety of prosodic characteristics as measures of social cognitive deficit in autism are discussed.
J Autism Dev Disord 1993 Jun
PMID:Pauses in the narratives produced by autistic, mentally retarded, and normal children as an index of cognitive demand. 833 Oct 49

Free-sorting, matrix, and class-inclusion tasks were administered to 16 participants with autism, 16 participants with mental retardation (MR), and 16 normal children, matched for mental age. On perceptual matrices, participants with MR performed less well than those with autism, who performed less well than normal children. On functional matrices, participants with autism and those with MR performed less well than normal children. Participants with autism performed less well than participants with MR and normal children in free-sorting representational objects and in the class-inclusion tasks, which require higher operational thought. These results suggest that individuals with autism have difficulties with tasks that necessitate internal manipulation of information. This impairment is discussed in relation to the cognitive deficit characterizing autism.
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PMID:From categorization to classification: a comparison among individuals with autism, mental retardation, and normal development. 853 Jul 62

There is considerable, evidence that the development of joint attention and pretend play skills are impaired in children with autism. Some accounts of autistic psychopathology give a crucial role to early impairments in joint attention and suggest that these lead to impoverished development of the representational abilities that underlie the later emerging impairments in pretend play and theory of mind. Other accounts of impairments in joint attention and pretend play see them merely as symptoms of a more basic underlying cognitive deficit, in attention or executive function. This review examines the evidence for the possible relationships that may exist between joint attention and pretend play and the later development of a theory of mind. It also suggests directions for future work to clarify the relationship between the two skills and to identify the nature of the underlying primary deficit in autism.
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PMID:The relationship between joint attention and pretend play in autism. 908 21


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