Research article summary (published 30 Aug 2002):

Cognitive profiles and social-communicative functioning in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND: Whether there is an unusual degree of unevenness in the cognitive abilities of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and whether different cognitive profiles among children with ASD might index etiologically significant subgroups are questions of continued debate in autism research. METHOD: The Differential Ability Scales (DAS) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) were used to examine profiles of verbal and nonverbal abilities and their relationship to autistic symptomatology in 120 relatively high-functioning children with ADI-confirmed diagnoses of autism. RESULTS: Discrepancies between verbal and nonverbal ability scores occurred at a significantly higher rate than in the DAS normative sample (30%) in both a younger group of 73 children (56%) with a mean age of 5;5 and an older group of 47 children (62%) with a mean age of 8;11. Discrepancies were mainly in favor of nonverbal ability in the younger group, but occurred equally in favor of verbal and nonverbal abilities in the older group. Comparison of the two age groups suggested a growing dissociation between verbal and nonverbal (and particularly visual processing) skills with age. In the older group, children with discrepantly higher nonverbal abilities demonstrated significantly greater impairment in social functioning, as measured on the ADOS, independent of absolute level of verbal and overall ability. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate a high rate of uneven cognitive development in children with ASD. Indications of a dissociation between verbal and visual-perceptual skills among the older children, and the specific association of discrepantly high nonverbal skills with increased social symptoms suggest that the nonverbal > verbal profile may index an etiologically significant subtype of autism.

Author information

Author/s: Joseph, Robert M (RM); Tager-Flusberg, Helen (H); Lord, Catherine (C);

Affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, MA 02118, USA. rmjoseph(-atsign-)bu.edu

Grants: P01 DC 03610 (Agency:NIDCD NIH HHS) ; P01 HD 35482 (Agency:NICHD NIH HHS) ; R01 NS 32992 (Agency:NINDS NIH HHS) ; R03 HD 37898 (Agency:NICHD NIH HHS) ; R03 HD037898-01 (Agency:NICHD NIH HHS) ; R03 HD037898-02 (Agency:NICHD NIH HHS) ; R03 HD037898-03 (Agency:NICHD NIH HHS) ; U19 DC003610-070001 (Agency:NIDCD NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Journal: Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines (J Child Psychol Psychiatry), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Sep; vol 43 (issue 6) : pp 807-21

Dates: Created 2002/09/18; Completed 2003/02/12; Revised 2008/11/20;

PMID: 12236615, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent Autistic Disorder - diagnosis; epidemiology Child Cognition Disorders - diagnosis; epidemiology Communication Disorders - diagnosis; epidemiology Female

Female Humans Male Neuropsychological Tests Reproducibility of Results Social Behavior

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