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

Two tests of phonological processing, nonword repetition, and nonsense passage reading, were administered to 80 probands with autistic disorder or PDDNOS (index cases) and 59 typically developing controls, together with their parents and siblings. In addition, parents completed a questionnaire about history of language and literacy problems, and all participants were given tests of verbal (VIQ) and performance IQ (PIQ). Parents also completed the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, which was used to index the broad autism phenotype. Index probands scored well below control probands on the two phonological tests. However, on neither phonological measure did index relatives differ from control relatives. Within the index group, there was no relationship between the proband's level of VIQ, or age at achieving phrase speech, and phonological score of relatives. VIQ was the only measure to show any familiality within the index group. Reported history of language and literacy problems did not differentiate index parents from control parents overall, but those who were categorized as cases of the broad phenotype reported more history of language and literacy problems than did other index parents. However, they did not have poorer scores on the phonological measures. It is concluded that phonological processing deficits are not part of the broad autism phenotype.
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PMID:Are phonological processing deficits part of the broad autism phenotype? 1521 32

A single subject, withdrawal design was used to investigate the effects of therapy balls as seating on engagement and in-seat behavior of young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In addition, social validity was assessed to evaluate teachers' opinions regarding the intervention. During baseline and withdrawal (A phases) participants used their typical classroom seating device (chair, bench or carpet square). During the intervention (B phases) participants sat on therapy balls. Results indicated substantial improvements in engagement and in-seat behavior when participants were seated on therapy balls. Social validity findings indicated that the teachers' preferred the therapy balls. This study suggests therapy balls as classroom seating may facilitate engagement and in-seat behavior and create opportunities to provide effective instruction.
J Autism Dev Disord 2004 Aug
PMID:Alternative seating for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: effects on classroom behavior. 1544 17

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited cause of mental retardation. It is also one of the most common identifiable causes of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Carriers of FXS are often considered to be cognitively and behaviorally unaffected. However, we report here on six individuals in the premutation range who also have ASD. A comparison is made with five subjects in the premutation range who did not receive a diagnosis of ASD. The six individuals with ASD had a range of cognitive ability levels from no impairment to moderate retardation. Discussion includes the impact of molecular variables including lowered FMR1 protein and elevated FMR1 mRNA in addition to environmental factors leading to the complex neurodevelopmental disorder of ASD.
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PMID:Autistic spectrum disorder and the fragile X premutation. 1561 87

Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Skinner, Martin, and Clubley (2001) constructed brief, self-administered instruments named the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), for measuring the degree to which an adult with normal intelligence has the traits associated with the autistic spectrum. In this paper, we report on a Japanese version of this new instrument. Three groups of Japanese subjects were assessed. Group 1 (n = 57) consisted of adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA). The other two groups were control groups. Subjects of Group 2 (n = 194) were normal adults and those of Group 3 (n = 1 050) were students selected from five Universities in Tokyo and Chiba. The adults with AS/HFA had a mean AQ score of 37.9 (SD = 5.31), which was significantly higher than the two control groups (Group 2: X = 18.5, SD = 6.21, and Group 3: X = 20.7, SD = 6.38). While eighty-eight percent of the adults with AS/HFA scored more than 33 points, only 3% of subjects in the two control groups indicated those points. Among the controls, males scored slightly but significantly higher than females. The reliability of the AQ in both test-retest and inter-rater measures were significantly high.
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PMID:[The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) Japanese version: evidence from high-functioning clinical group and normal adults]. 1572 18

Five rating scales for screening and detection of Asperger's Disorder, three commercially available and two research instruments, are evaluated with reference to psychometric criteria outlined by Bracken in 1987 (Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 4, 313). Reliability and validity data reported in examiner's manuals or published reports are reviewed. The scales included in the review are the Asperger Syndrome Diagnostic Scale (ASDS), Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ), Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test (CAST), Gilliam Asperger's Disorder Scale (GADS), and Krug Asperger's Disorder Index (KADI). All published rating scales demonstrated significant weaknesses, particularly in the use of questionable normative samples. Among the published instruments, the KADI appears to be the most sound in terms of reliability and validity. The research instruments present incomplete psychometric data to date, but hold promise as clinical instruments.
J Autism Dev Disord 2005 Feb
PMID:Diagnostic assessment of Asperger's disorder: a review of five third-party rating scales. 1579 19

Observing averted gaze results in a reflexive shift of attention to the gazed-at location. In two experiments, participants scoring high and low on the Autism-Spectrum Quotient questionnaire (AQ; Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Skinner, Martin, & Clubley, 2001) observed arrow and gaze cues to investigate cueing effect magnitude as a function of the context in which peripheral targets could appear. While identical cueing effects were found with gaze and arrow cues, the more striking results concerned target stimuli. In Experiment 1, targets could appear on a peripheral face, or on scrambled face parts. Overall, greater cueing effects were found when the target appeared on a face. However, this face bias was only observed in participants with low AQ scores, whereas high AQ scorers oriented more to scrambled features. Experiment 2 found equal cueing to targets appearing on tools, as compared with tool parts. However, individual differences were again observed, where low AQ scorers showed larger cueing towards tools, while high scorers oriented more to scrambled parts, as in Experiment 1. These results support the idea that low AQ individuals orient strongly to objects attended by others. However, since the same results were found for arrow cues, this effect may generalize to all central cues to attention. High AQ scorers possessing many more autistic-like traits tended to orient more to scrambled shapes, perhaps reflecting a bias for orienting to local details.
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PMID:Gaze and arrow cueing of attention reveals individual differences along the autism spectrum as a function of target context. 1582 26

The aim of our study was to subcategorize Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) using a multidisciplinary approach. Sixty four autistic patients (mean age 9.4+/-5.6 years) were entered into a cluster analysis. The clustering analysis was based on MRI data. The clusters obtained did not differ significantly in the overall severity of autistic symptomatology as measured by the total score on the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). The clusters could be characterized as showing significant differences: Cluster 1: showed the largest sizes of the genu and splenium of the corpus callosum (CC), the lowest pregnancy order and the lowest frequency of facial dysmorphic features. Cluster 2: showed the largest sizes of the amygdala and hippocampus (HPC), the least abnormal visual response on the CARS, the lowest frequency of epilepsy and the least frequent abnormal psychomotor development during the first year of life. Cluster 3: showed the largest sizes of the caput of the nucleus caudatus (NC), the smallest sizes of the HPC and facial dysmorphic features were always present. Cluster 4: showed the smallest sizes of the genu and splenium of the CC, as well as the amygdala, and caput of the NC, the most abnormal visual response on the CARS, the highest frequency of epilepsy, the highest pregnancy order, abnormal psychomotor development during the first year of life was always present and facial dysmorphic features were always present. This multidisciplinary approach seems to be a promising method for subtyping autism.
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PMID:Subtypes of autism by cluster analysis based on structural MRI data. 1595 59

A Japanese version of the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), AQ-J was administered to 25 normally intelligent high-functioning pervasive developmental disorder (HPDD) patients (mean age, 24.2 years; 24 male, one female) and 215 controls (mean age, 30.4 years; 86 male, 129 female) randomly selected from the general population. The AQ-J had satisfactory internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha > 0.70 in the two groups), test-retest reliability, and discriminant validity [i.e. the AQ-J score was significantly higher in the HPDD (mean, 29.6) than controls (mean, 22.2)]. At a cut-off of 26, the AQ-J had satisfactory sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value, but it had low positive predictive value (0.24) possibly due to the facts that the 25 mild HPDD patients scored lower and the controls scored higher on the AQ-J than British counterparts on the AQ. The AQ-J-21 (consisting of 21 items significantly associated with HPDD diagnosis) and the AQ-J-10 (consisting of 10 of the 21 items with an effect size > 0.17) had higher, although not satisfactory, positive predictive values of 0.35 and 0.46 at cut-offs of 12 and 7, respectively, than the AQ-J. The AQ-J and two short forms are useful not to predict but to rule out mild HPDD, the most difficult part of HPDD to be distinguished from non-PDD conditions, in persons scoring under the cut-offs and to consider professionals' examination of HPDD in persons scoring over them, because their negative predictive values were satisfactory.
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PMID:Autism-Spectrum Quotient-Japanese version and its short forms for screening normally intelligent persons with pervasive developmental disorders. 1604 56

The experience of parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in standard parenting programs has not been researched, although anecdotal evidence suggests that they do not find them acceptable. Forty-two parents of children with ASD were asked to view a DVD explaining individual parenting strategies from Stepping Stones, a new branch of the Triple P program targeted specifically at parents of children with disabilities. Parents were asked to rate each strategy for acceptability, usability and behavioural intention, i.e., their intention to use the strategy. Additionally, parental attributions and parental perceived control were explored as possible barriers to positive evaluations of Stepping Stones parenting strategies. A focus group of parents was used to gather more detailed parent response to the program. Parent responses to the program were generally positive and attribution of the child's behaviour to uncontrollable factors was found to predict higher ratings of usability. The results were interpreted within the context of Weiner's attributional theory and the theory of reasoned action. The limitations of this study and suggestions for future research are discussed.
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PMID:Stepping Stones Triple P: a pilot study to evaluate acceptability of the program by parents of a child diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. 1605 61

Observing a face with averted eyes results in a reflexive shift of attention to the gazed-at location. Here we present results that show that this effect is weaker in males than in females (Experiment 1). This result is predicted by the 'extreme male brain' theory of autism (Baron-Cohen, 2003), which suggests that males in the normal population should display more autism-like traits than females (e.g., poor joint attention). Indeed, participants' scores on the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Stott, Bolton, & Goodyear, 2001) negatively correlated with cueing magnitude. Furthermore, exogenous orienting did not differ between the sexes in two peripheral cueing experiments (Experiments 2a and 2b). However, a final experiment showed that using nonpredictive arrows instead of eyes as a central cue also revealed a large gender difference. This demonstrates that reduced orienting from central cues in males generalizes beyond gaze cues. These results show that while peripheral cueing is equivalent in the male and female brains, the attention systems of the two sexes treat noninformative symbolic cues very differently.
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PMID:Sex differences in eye gaze and symbolic cueing of attention. 1610 99


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