Current trends in psychological research on children with high-functioning autism and Asperger disorder

Current Opinion in Psychiatry

Volumn 18, Issue 5, 2005, Pages 497-501

  Kasari, Connie ^a   Rotheram Fuller, Erin ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

Asperger syndrome; Autism; Autism diagnosis

Indexed keywords

ASPERGER SYNDROME; ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER; AUTISM; COGNITIVE DEFECT; COMMUNICATION DISORDER; HUMAN; HUMAN RELATION; INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT; INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION; REVIEW; SOCIOPATHY;

EID: 23944512241     PISSN: 09517367     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1097/01.yco.0000179486.47144.61     Document Type: Review

References (25)

1. Ghaziuddin M, Mountain-Kimchi K. Defining the intellectual profile of Asperger syndrome: comparison with high-functioning autism. J Autism Dev Disord 2004; 34:279-284. Reviewed existing records to further debate the distinction between autism and Asperger syndrome.
2. Mottron L. Matching strategies in cognitive research with individuals with high-functioning autism: current practices, instrument biases, and recommendations. J Autism Dev Disord 2004; 34:19-27. A metaanalysis exploring methodological issues around matching strategies for children with HFA and a comparative study using several different tests with the same children. Recommends using Wechsler scales to replace other common measures used as matching methods.
3. Mayes SD, Calhoun SL. Influence of IQ and age in childhood autism: lack of support for DSM-IV Asperger's disorder. J Dev Phys Disab 2004; 16:257-272. Compared children with autism and Asperger syndrome and found that most of the differences between the two groups are accounted for by age and IQ, so they recommended removing Asperger syndrome from the DSM as a distinct disorder.
4. Macintosh KE, Dissanayake C. Annotation: the similarities and differences between autistic disorder and Asperger's disorder: a review of the empirical evidence. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2004; 45:421-434. Literature review of work published in 2002 on the differences between Asperger syndrome and HFA. The results suggest that Asperger syndrome should be placed on the autism spectrum.
5. Frith U. Emanuel Miller lecture: confusions and controversies about Asperger syndrome. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2004; 45:672-686. Exploration of differences between Asperger syndrome and autism, suggesting that both labels be retained as distinct disorders, as children with Asperger syndrome do not have delayed language and cognitive function, and have a greater desire for friendship than children with autism.
6. Walker DR, Thompson A, Zwaigenbaum L, et al. Specifying PDD-NOS: a comparison of PDD-NOS, Asperger syndrome, and autism. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2004; 43:172-180.
7. Sturm H, Fernell E, Gillberg C. Autism spectrum disorders in children with normal intellectual levels: associated impairments and subgroups. Dev Med Child Neurol 2004; 46:444-447. Explored comorbidity of autism, Asperger syndrome, and PDD-NOS through existing records, and found not only considerable overlap between the three diagnoses, but also that approximately 75% had coexisting problems with attention.
8. Volkmar F, Klin A, Cohen DJ. Diagnosis and classification of autism and related conditions: consensus and issues. In: Cohen DJ, Volkmar F, editors. Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders. New York: Academic Press; 1996. pp. 5-34.
9. Shaked M, Yirmiya N. Matching procedures in autism research: evidence from meta-analytic studies. J Autism Dev Disord 2004; 34:35-40. Summary of three metaanalyses in which significant moderator variables were found, including matching procedures, age and mental age of participants, and type of assessment method (e.g. self-report). Suggestions for future research include using common measures and better matching procedures.
10. Brent E, Rios P, Happe F, Charman T. Performance of children with autism spectrum disorder on advanced theory of mind tasks. Autism 2004; 8:283-299. Explores performance on three separate TOM tasks by children with autism compared with typical peers, and found that the tasks may share differing, nonspecific information-processing requirements.
11. Baron-Cohen S, Wheelwright S, Hill J, et al. The 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes' test revised version: a study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2001; 42:241-251.
12. Joseph RM, Tager-Flusberg H. The relationship of theory of mind and executive functions to symptom type and severity in children with autism. Dev Psychopathol 2004; 16:137-155. Investigated the degree to which TOM and executive functions were associated with primary symptoms of autism (communication, social relations and repetitive behaviors). TOM and executive functions were found to be significantly associated with communication problems but not social relations or repetitive behaviors.
13. Geurts HM, Verte S, Oosterlaan J, et al. How specific are executive functioning deficits in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism? J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2004; 45:836-854. Explored executive functioning deficits, and found that children with HFA exhibit significantly more problems with executive functioning tasks compared with children with ADHD.
14. Deruelle C, Rondan C, Gepner B, Tardif C. Spatial frequency and face processing in children with autism and Asperger syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 2004; 34:199-210. Conducted two experiments on facial recognition and processing, and found that children with autism performed poorer on all recognition tasks except identity when compared with both a sample of chronologically matched and a sample of verbally matched typical peers.
15. Martin I, McDonald S. An exploration of causes of non-literal language problems in individuals with Aspergers syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 2004; 34:311-328. Explored problems with language pragmatics within the context of two theoretical frameworks, social inference theory (or TOM), and weak central coherence theory.
16. Noens ILJ, van Berckelaer-Onnes IA. Captured by details: sense making, language and communication in autism. J Commun Disord 2005; 38:123-141. Examined language problems in autism within a framework combining both TOM perspectives and weak central coherence theory. The authors suggested that both theories can work together to provide a more comprehensive explanation of deficits.
17. Lyons V, Fitzgerald M. Humor in autism and Aspergers syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 2004; 34:521-531. Looked at the complex process of humor understanding, and outlined the difficulties for children with autism in interpreting and appreciating this skill.
18. Heerey EA, Capps LM, Keltner D, Kring AM. Understanding teasing: lessons from children with autism. J Abnorm Child Psychol 2005; 33:55-68. Explored the differences in understanding teasing by children with autism compared with two typical peer samples (one matched on chronological age, and one matched on verbal IQ). Children with autism had greater difficulty understanding and appreciating teasing compared with typical groups.
19. Downs A, Smith T. Emotional understanding, cooperation, and social behavior in high-functioning children with autism. J Autism Dev Disord 2004; 34:625-635. Compared children with autism, children with ADHD-oppositional defiant disorder, and typical developing children on social skills and understanding, and found that children with autism were the most impaired group when it came to emotion recognition and displaying inappropriate behaviors.
20. Bauminger N. The expression and understanding of jealousy in children with autism. Dev Psychopathol 2004; 16:157-177. Compared children with autism and typical peers on a jealousy-inducing task, and found that children with autism displayed jealousy similar to their peers, but used different behaviors to express it, and showed less understanding of the emotion itself.
21. Thiemann KS, Goldstein H. Effects of peer training and written text cueing on social communication of school-age children with pervasive developmental disorder. J Speech Lang Hear Res 2004; 47:126-144. Compared two interventions with five school-aged boys: peer-mediated and written text cueing. The interventions were applied consecutively, with the written cue condition showing greater success in improving social communication with peers.
22. Carter C, Meckes L, Pritchard L, et al. The friendship club: an after-school program for children with Asperger syndrome. Fam Commun Health 2004; 27:143-150. Described an after-school program for children with Asperger syndrome aged 8-15 years focusing on interpersonal relationships. Ten children participated and reported increased participation over the 6-week program.
23. Parsons S, Mitchell P, Leonard A. The use and understanding of virtual environments by adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 2004; 34:449-466. Used a computer simulation of reality comparing children with autism with two samples of typically matched peers (one matched on verbal IQ, and one matched on performance IQ). The autism group showed understanding of computer simulation as a representation of reality, but still violated social norms within the context of the task, showing a weak understanding of social rules.
24. Solomon M, Goodlin-Jones BL, Anders TF. A social adjustment enhancement intervention for high functioning autism, Asperger's syndrome, and pervasive developmental disorder NOS. J Autism Dev Disord 2004; 34:649-668. A 20-week intervention for children with HFA, Asperger syndrome, and PDD-NOS aimed at teaching emotion recognition and understanding skills. Found improved face recognition and problem solving in treated groups, as well as lower maternal depression and better reports of behavior.
25. Sofronoff K, Leslie A, Brown W. Parent management training and Asperger syndrome: a randomized controlled trial to evaluate a parent based intervention. Autism 2004; 8:301-317. Randomized parent intervention to 1-day workshop versus individual sessions. Both treatment groups reported fewer behavior problems following treatment compared with the wait list group, and the individualized session group reported less intense behavior problems.