RESUMO
A deficit in theory of mind (ToM), or the ability to infer the mental states of others, has been implicated as one of the major characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); however, little attention has been devoted to possible differences in ToM ability within ASD. The current study examined ToM performance in children with early-onset autism and regressive autism in comparison to typically developing children. Results indicated that children in the regressive autism group performed significantly better than the early-onset autism group on the non-verbal appearance-reality task. Additionally, Fisher's exact tests indicated a pattern of lowest scores in the early-onset group and highest scores in the typically developing group, whereas the regressive autism group tended to score in between the early-onset and typically developing groups. The apparent heterogeneity in ToM performance within ASD could account for the lack of universality in ToM ability found in previous studies.
Assuntos
Transtornos Globais do Desenvolvimento Infantil/diagnóstico , Adolescente , Fatores Etários , Idade de Início , Criança , Desenvolvimento Infantil/fisiologia , Transtornos Globais do Desenvolvimento Infantil/fisiopatologia , Pré-Escolar , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Modelos Teóricos , Testes Neuropsicológicos , Razão de Chances , Análise de Regressão , Regressão PsicológicaRESUMO
The present study examines whether children display different frequencies of behaviors at birthday party as compared to non-birthday party settings, and elucidates in which setting behavior is more predictive of later child functioning. Behavior in birthday and non-birthday contexts was examined at 12 and 24 months of age for 56 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The results of this study indicate that context does matter for young children's behavior and leads to a different picture of behavioral functioning. For children with ASD, behaviors from non-birthday videotapes are more predictive of functioning later in childhood. The findings suggest that close attention must be paid to contextual factors that may influence young children's behavior.
Assuntos
Transtorno Autístico/diagnóstico , Meio Social , Socialização , Gravação de Videoteipe , Transtorno Autístico/psicologia , Pré-Escolar , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Transtornos do Desenvolvimento da Linguagem/diagnóstico , Transtornos do Desenvolvimento da Linguagem/psicologia , Masculino , Orientação , Determinação da Personalidade , Jogos e Brinquedos , Estudos Retrospectivos , Comportamento SocialRESUMO
The current study examined consistency between parental reports on early language development and behaviors in non-language domains and observer-coded videotapes of young children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autistic regression. Data are reported on 56 children (84% male) with ASD (early onset or autistic regression) and 14 typically developing children (57% male) who had home videotapes. Unique to the current study is the independent identification of loss/no loss for each child by both parental report and observer-coded home videotapes and the examination of agreement between these two methods. Results indicate substantial concordance between parental report and observer codes for onset and loss of expressive language, but minimal concordance for loss in non-language domains, suggesting a need for supplementation of parental reports in these areas.