The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) was applied (in a Swedish version) in 120 children with Asperger syndrome, autistic disorder, and attention disorders. Using stepwise logistic regression analysis, the WISC's discriminating ability was investigated. The overall rate of correct diagnostic classification was 63%. Further, WISC profiles were analysed within each group. The group with autistic disorder was characterised by a peak on Block Design. The Asperger syndrome group had good verbal ability and troughs on Object Assembly and Coding. The group with attention disorders had troughs on Coding and Arithmetic. The results suggest that Kaufman's Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organisation and Freedom from Distractibility factors rather than verbal IQ and performance IQ account for the variance on the WISC. Furthermore, the Asperger syndrome and autistic disorder groups differed in respect of "fluid" and "crystallised" cognitive ability.
Seven non-speaking preschool children with severe cerebral palsy, 5-7 years of age, were studied with respect to the amount of prelinguistic versus linguistic modes of communication used in communicative interaction with a previously unknown adult. An attempt was also made to analyse this in relation to the childrens' physical, cognitive and linguistic capacities. No significant correlations were found, however. Given that all participants had reached preschool age and were of normal intelligence, the amount of linguistic communication used (12%) was much less than could be expected. Explanations for the results were suggested, including limited interaction possibilities with the environment due to motor dysfunction, which in turn might prevent development of linguistic skills necessary to take part in more complex communicative interaction later in life.
Thirty-five young adults (22-32 years old, mean 25) born with complete unilateral or bilateral clefts participated in a follow-up of speech, appearance, and teeth after treatment. They completed a questionnaire about their satisfaction with their speech, nose, lip, and teeth on visual analogue scales, and indicated on two overall questions how often they thought about their cleft, and how often they were asked questions about their speech, nose, or lip. Their speech was recorded and assessed blindly and independently by two speech and language pathologists. Participants' satisfaction with their speech did not correlate significantly with the speech assessments. Satisfaction with the nose had the highest correlation with the overall questions. No participant indicated more dissatisfaction with speech than the midpoint of the scale, making conclusions about covariance between satisfaction with speech and the overall questions difficult.
Referential communication was studied in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) including children with autism and Asperger syndrome. The aim was to study alternative explanations for the children's communicative problems in such situations. Factors studied were theory of mind, IQ, verbal ability and memory. The main results demonstrated diminished performance in children with autism spectrum disorder, mirroring performance in everyday life, in comparison to verbal IQ and mental age matched typically developing children. Among children with autism spectrum disorders, there was a positive relationship between performance in referential communication and theory of mind. Memory capacity also proved to play a role in success in the task.
Many students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) demonstrate comprehension difficulties. In the present study, 12 high‐functioning Swedish students with ASD (aged 10–15 years) took part in a naturalistic classroom‐based intervention to support comprehension of connected narrative discourse. An effective approach for supporting discourse comprehension in children with ASD was assumed to include: (i) providing teachers and students with a shared and explicit set of concepts for talking and thinking about the activity of comprehension, that (ii) can structure the child's discourse comprehension under scaffolding and modelling from the teacher. In the pre‐testing session, the students with ASD presented with poor discourse comprehension but receptive vocabulary and reading decoding skills close to normative performance. Post‐intervention test results, following 4 weeks of training, indicated specific and significant improvements in discourse comprehension. Support for the potential of this type of teaching was also obtained from teachers and students. The teachers reported that they would continue to use the same or similar comprehension instruction for 11 out of 12 students, and for multiple reasons, and students were also mostly positive to the training. Implications for practice and further research are discussed, as are limitations of the study.
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