Showing papers in "Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders in 1985"

Motor imitation abilities and neurological signs in autistic children

Abstract: Autistic children were compared with chronological and mental age-matched normal children on two tests of motor imitation and on the Herzig Battery for Non-Focal Neurological Signs. The results indicated that autistic children have significant handicaps in the neurodevelopmental area, with very poor performance on motor imitation tasks and a universal and significant excess of soft signs of neurological dysfunction. Such "dyspraxias" may underlie the failure of these children to learn to use gesture.

Conceptual problem-solving in highly verbal, nonretarded autistic men

Abstract: Nine highly verbal, nonretarded men, ages 18 to 39, with clearly documented childhood diagnoses of infantile autism were studied with the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, a measure of conceptual problem solving sensitive to frontal system dysfunction, and with a measure of social-adaptive functioning. Their performances were compared with 10 controls matched for age, sex, education, and IQ, as well as with published norms for various groups of brain-damaged patients. Significant deficits in the formulation of rules and significant perseverative tendencies were documented in the autistic sample. No significant correlation between these deficits and social-adaptive deficits was seen. These findings were discussed with respect to the heterogeneity of the autistic disorder and Damasio's hypothesis concerning frontal-subcortical dysfunction in autism.

Event-related brain potential correlates of the processing of novel visual and auditory information in autism.

Abstract: Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) elicited by visual and auditory stimuli were recorded from nonretarded individuals with autism (ages 13-25 years) and age-matched normal controls. In "no-task" conditions, subjects simply looked at or listened to these stimuli; only one difference was found between subject groups. Several ERP differences between groups were found in "task" conditions; subjects pressed a button at the occurrence of target stimuli intermixed with unexpected, novel stimuli and also with expected, nonnovel stimuli. Visual ERP abnormalities in the autistic group differed from auditory abnormalities. Results suggest that (1) nonretarded autistic individuals may have a limited capacity to process novel information--they are neither hypersensitive to novel information nor misperceive it as nonnovel and insignificant; (2) classification of simple visual information may be less impaired than auditory; and (3) with one exception, visual and auditory ERP abnormalities do not seem to reflect maturational delay.

The symbolic and object play of children with autism: a review

Abstract: The unique characteristics of autistic children's symbolic and object play are presented and discussed in the context of a literature review covering research since 1964. Several theoretical issues are highlighted: the relationship of play in facilitating language and cognition, play as an intervention, and play as an assessment tool. Difficulties in research methodology due to pooling autistic and schizophrenic subject are raised, as well as possible difficulties inherent in ignoring severity levels within the autistic population. The appropriateness of play therapy is questioned, and evidence is presented to provide encouragement for further inquiry into the study of autistic play.

Asperger's syndrome and recurrent psychosis--a case study.

Abstract: A 14-year-old boy with mild mental retardation and behavioral features suggestive of the so called Asperger's syndrome is described. From the age of 8 years he has had recurrent episodes of lethargy. At the onset of puberty these episodes took on a more dramatic form and became more reminiscent of cycloid/manic-depressive psychosis. There is a family history of manic-depressive disorder. Neurobiological links with and differences from the syndrome of infantile autism were found. It is suggested that there is still too little evidence clearly to single out the entity of Asperger's syndrome from the spectrum of autistic syndromes.

Autism and lactic acidosis

Abstract: Four patients are described who have two coexistent syndromes: the behavioral syndrome of autism and the biochemical syndrome of lactic acidosis. One of the four patients also had hyperuricemia and hyperuricosuria. These patients raise the possibility that one subgroup of the autism syndrome may be associated with inborn errors of carbohydrate metabolism.

Brief report: Differences in sex ratios in autism as a function of measured intelligence

Abstract: Results from analyses of sex ratios as a function of IQ are presented for 623 autistic children (487 males, 136 females) and 506 nonautistic, communication-handicapped and behavior-disordered children (374 males, 132 females). Proportionately more autistic females were found to have IQs of 34 or below than above 34. However, a linear trend of an increasing number of males with increasing intelligence was found only for nonautistic subjects. The relevance of these findings to genetic factors and the heterogeneity of autism is discussed.

Stereotypic behavior as a reinforcer: effects and side effects.

Abstract: This study assessed the effects and side effects of using stereotypic behavior as a consequence for correct responding with two autistic children. The children were cued through a model to engage in stereotypic behavior contingent upon correct responses in tasktraining sessions. This instructional arrangement produced increases in the percent of correct responses. Measures of the stereotypic behavior used as a reinforcer, other stereotypic behaviors, and appropriate behaviors were collected during daily 5-minute free operant settings before and after the tasktraining sessions. No replicable, systematic changes in the percent of intervals in which subjects engaged in those side effect measures were noted. Thus, a new method for delivering stereotypic behavior as a reinforcer was investigated and produced reinforcing effects; the rate of that behavior in free operant settings was not adversely affected.

Familial Heterogeneity in Infantile Autism.

Abstract: The incidence of autism and cognitive disability was assessed in the biological siblings of 29 autistic probands subdivided on the basis of IQ. A significant clustering of autism and nonspecific intellectual retardation was found in the siblings of severely retarded autistic probands which was not present in the siblings of our higherfunctioning autistic sample. These findings suggest that there may be etiological differences in autism, depending on the degree of associated mental retardation.

Cell counts in cerebral cortex of an autistic patient

Abstract: Numbers of neurons and glia were counted in the cerebral cortex of one well-documented case of autism and two age and sexmatched controls. Areas in which cell counts were made were primary auditory cortex, Broca's speech area, and auditory association cortex. No consistent differences in cell density were found between the brains of the autistic patient and the control patients.

The experience of infantile autism: a first-person account by Tony W.

Abstract: A first-person account of the experience of autism is presented by a 22-year-old man who was first evaluated at the Yale Child Study Center at 26 months of age. His history and current status are reviewed. Factors related to outcome and diagnostic issues are discussed. Such accounts may be helpful in guiding research.

Pharmacological treatment of self-injurious behavior in mentally retarded persons.

Abstract: Self-injury is a severe behavioral problem commonly observed in institutionalized mentally retarded individuals. While several forms of therapy are available, pharmacological treatment is most often used in institutions to control this behavior. This paper evaluated the clinical and experimental literature on the effects of pharmacotherapy for selfinjury. Few general conclusions could be drawn mainly due to the small number of studies and the general lack of methodological rigor of these studies. However, there was some indication that antipsychotics and antimanics may prove to be useful in the treatment of selfinjury and warrant further investigation. Several areas of future research were discussed.

Cognitive subtypes in developmentally disabled children: a pilot study.

Abstract: Differential diagnoses within the pervasive developmental disorders have insufficient reliability, validity, and descriptive homogeneity within groups to be used as distinct categories for research purposes. This study reports the results of cognitive subtyping of 54 developmentally disabled children. Fifty-one were successfully categorized in a small number of groups, characterized by different strengths and weaknesses on verbal, performance, memory, and quantitative tests. About half of the children had the relatively good visuospatial performance expected on the basis of previous literature on autistic children; these children were not behaviorally more autistic than the others. Measures of internal validity are reported, as well as validation by cognitive and behavioral variables. These results tentatively suggest that such psychiatric manifestations as autistic aloofness and maintenance of sameness may be relatively independent of cognitive skill patterns.

The use of the Leiter International Performance Scale with autistic children.

Abstract: This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using the Leiter International Performance Scale with autistic children and presents the results of a study comparing the performance of 18 autistic children on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised and the Leiter. The results showed a high positive correlation between the WISC-R full scale IQ, the WISC-R performance IQ, and the Leiter IQ. There was no significant difference between the mean Leiter IQ and the mean WISC-R performance scale IQ, but there was a significant difference between the mean Leiter IQ and the mean WISC-R full scale IQ. There was a low correlation between the WISC-R verbal IQ and the Leiter IQ, and the means were significantly different. Reading attainment scores correlated positively with both the WISC-R IQ and the Leiter IQ.

Teaching Life Skills to Adults Disabled by Autism.

Abstract: The acquisition of life skills is a high priority for adults disabled by autism who are living in community-based residential programs. A training program was implemented and evaluated that consisted of analyzing life skills into component steps and providing increasing levels of assistance according to a predetermined schedule. Five adults who were severely disabled by autism and who lived in group homes in the community served as participants. All five adults showed progress in targeted life skills, and four of the five achieved independence on their targeted skills. The usefulness of this training model in community-based residential programs is discussed.

Parental ratings of treatments of self-injurious behavior

Abstract: This study examined (a) how parents of autistic children, parents of other handicapped children, and parents of nonhandicapped children rate, as a whole, acceptability of time-out, differential reinforcement, overcorrection, and shock as treatments for self-injurious behavior, and (b) whether these parents show differences, as groups, in ratings of these treatments. On the Treatment Evaluation Inventory, all groups consistently rated differential reinforcement, time-out, and overcorrection as acceptable and shock as unacceptable. Differential reinforcement was consistently rated as the most acceptable, but the groups differed in ratings of acceptability of other treatments. On the Semantic Differential, ratings of differential reinforcement, overcorrection, and time-out did not differ. However, shock was consistently rated as the most potent and active of treatments as well as the most unacceptable. The implications of these findings for treatment of autistic and other handicapped children are discussed.

Brief report: Clinical effects of fenfluramine in ten autistic subjects

Abstract: It is commonly believed today that approximately 40% of autistic children have elevated blood serotonin. The phenomenon has stimulated investigators to attempt to manipulate and observe blood serotonin levels and concurrent clinical phenomena in these persons. In 1971 Ritvo et al. described attempts to lower blood serotonin levels by L-DOPA adminstration and to observe associated clinical and physiological changes. They showed that the medication could indeed produce a decrease in blood serotonin and its metabolites, but they detected no consistent clinical changes in the subjects studied. Fenfluramine, an anorexigenic amine "diet drug" first marketed in the 1960s, was found to alter blood serotonin levels in animals and 5-HIAA levels in man. In 1982 Geller, Ritvo, Freeman, and Yuwiler administered fenfluramine to three autistic patients with high blood serotonin. They showed that fenfluramine did in fact reduce blood serotonin, and that associated with this reduction were substantial improvements in performance on IQ tests and in the Ward Symptom Rating Scale. Clinical observations during the treatment period also indicated increased social respon

Handedness and cognitive functions in pervasive developmental disorders.

Abstract: This paper is concerned with what abnormal handedness in Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) reveals about the presence, lateralization, and severity of cerebral dysfunction in this population. From previous work, it was predicted that left-handedness would be elevated in the sample and that mixed-handedness subjects should be more impaired than those with established hand dominance. A battery of cognitive and motor tests were administered to a group of PDD children with autistic symptoms, and performance was compared for the left-handed, right-handed, and mixedpreference children. It was found that left-handers tended to do better than right-handers on all cognitive measures, while the mixed-preference children tended to be the lowest on all cognitive measures. No differences were found on motor measures. An extension of the Satz (1972) model, assuming early brain damage, was developed to explain the superiority of the left-handed children; an alternative explanation assuming anomalous lateralization patterns in the natural left-handers was also suggested.

Parents and grandparents view the autistic child.

Abstract: Mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers of 19 autistic children completed a questionnaire describing their view of the handicapped child, the impact of the child on the parent, and the relationship between the parents and grandparents. Paired t tests revealed that whenever there was a significant difference between the generations, grandparents took a more positive view. For example, maternal grandmothers had a more positive view of the child than did their daughters, and paternal grandmothers had a more positive view of their relationship with their son than did the son. Grandmothers demonstrated an empathic understanding of their daughter's experiences. There was a significant Pearson product-moment correlation between grandmothers and grandfathers in overall scores, their view of the child, and how they viewed their son's or daughter's experiences as the parent of a handicapped child. Maternal grandparents visited the family significantly more often than paternal grandparents. The study offers us a first empirical look at grandparents and their autistic grandchild.

Deprivation of early sensorimotor experience and cognition in the severely involved cerebral-palsied child.

Abstract: Severely quadraplegic cerebral-palsied children suffer profound deprivation of early sensorimotor experiences considered by Piagetian theory as critical to the development of cognitive structures. In the present study, 34 children quadraplegic from birth, ranging in age from 9 months to 12 years, were tested for level of object permanence which, according to Piaget, signals the emergence of mental representation. Sixteen demonstrated high levels of object permanence. Severity of physical handicap accounted for less than 15% of the variation in scores. With severity held constant, mental age explained 25% of the variance. These results indicate that early cognitive milestones can be achieved by children severely physically handicapped since birth and that general intellectual level may be more important than severity of the motor handicap in determining such achievement.

Effect of Using an Auditory Trainer on the Attentional, Language, and Social Behaviors of Autistic Children.

Abstract: Two groups of seven autistic children wore an auditory trainer for an average of 24 minutes per day over two 5- week periods interspersed with 5-week control periods in a time series design. Videotapes were coded for three attentional states (normal, withdrawn, attacking), for verbalization and signing, and for appropriate and acceptable behaviors. Results demonstrated a decrease in time spent withdrawn and increases in signing and in schoolappropriate behavior. Results are interpreted as congruent with Katz's theory of reduced attention due to deficits in auditory conductance.

Visual overselectivity: a comparison of two instructional remediation procedures with autistic children.

Abstract: The present study compared two classroom-relevant procedures for remediating visual overselectivity in autistic children. One approach was based on perceptual-motor theory in which possible relationships between functional object-use and overselectivity were studied. The second strategy, equivalence training, used a four-step stimulus shift procedure. A comparison group of autistic children was exposed to simple repeated practice trials with the test tasks. Results showed that equivalence training was more effective than functional object-use in improving posttest scores, with repeated practice falling in between. The results are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical issues relating to stimulus overselectivity, including the incorporation of microcomputer technology.

Plasma growth hormone response to oral l-dopa in infantile autism.

Abstract: In order to assess further the occurrence of hypothalamic dysfunction in infantile autism and its possible relationship to dopaminergic abnormalities, the 1-dopa provocative test was performed in 22 patients fulfilling DSM-III criteria for this disorder. The results indicate a high incidence (at least 30%) of blunted plasma growth hormone (GH) responses following oral administration of 1-dopa in this sample. These data suggest an alteration of hypothalamic dopamine receptor sensitivity in the patients with blunted responses. Thus, a subgroup of autistic patients within a descriptively homogeneous diagnostic category shows evidence of hypothalamic dysregulation and dopaminergic abnormalities.