Despite extensive reports of sensory symptoms in autism, there is little empirical support for their neurological basis. Sixty individuals with high-functioning autism and 61 matched typical comparison participants were administered a sensory questionnaire and standardized neuropsychological tests of elementary and higher cortical sensory perception. Thirty-two per cent of participants with autism endorsed more sensory sensitivity items than any of the participants in the comparison group. On the sensory perceptual exam, both groups made few errors on elementary sensory perception items. Controls made few errors on higher cortical sensory perception items, but 30% of the participants with autism made high numbers of errors, though there was no evidence of the neglect syndrome. There was little correlation between the sensory sensitivities and the sensory perceptual deficits, likely due to the low correspondence between the measures. These results support the common occurrence of disturbances in sensory experiences in high functioning individuals with autism based on first person report, and the presence of neurological abnormalities in higher cortical sensory perception. Keywords autism; sensory sensitivities; sensory perception; sensory neglect The nerve endings on my skin were supersensitive. Stimuli that were insignificant to most people were like Chinese water torture. (Grandin, 1992) When Kanner (1943) and Asperger (1944 andAsperger (1991) first described the condition of autism, each reported inappropriate responses to sensory stimulation among the children they observed. Early clinical accounts described sensory dysfunction as central to the condition (Bergman & Escalona, 1949), and some clinicians continue to hold this view (Talay-Ongan & Wood, 2000). Further, sensory sensitivities and peculiarities have been incorporated as diagnostic features of the syndrome (DeMyer, 1976;Hermelin & O'Connor, 1964;Ornitz, 1989;Rogers, Hepburn, & Wehner, 2003;Wing, 1969). In the most recent revisions to the diagnostic system, clinical features associated with autism include "odd responses to sensory stimuli" (e.g., high pain tolerance, over-sensitivity to sound or touch, and excessive reaction to light or odors) (DSM-IV-TR: American Psychiatric Association, 2000). DeMyer, Hingtgen, and Jackson (1981) NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript significant disturbance in sensory processing" but stated that the underlying mechanism for this disturbance has not been established. In a recently published extensive review of empirical evidence for sensory dysfunction in autism, Rogers and Ozonoff (2005) reported that despite evidence for the prevalence and prominence of sensory symptoms in autism, there is little careful empirical work to support an explanation of the unusual sensory responses often associated with this condition. In addition, empirical information regarding the nature and extent of sensory disturbances within the autism population and potential links between sensory di...

Maternal borderline personality disorder is associated with dysregulated mother-infant communication.

We hypothesized that the qualities of play shown by children with autism reflect their impoverished experience of identifying with other people's attitudes and moving among person-anchored perspectives. On this basis, we predicted their play should manifest a relative lack of the social-developmental hallmarks that typify creative symbolic functioning. We videotaped the spontaneous and modelled symbolic play of matched groups of children with and without autism. The two groups were similar in the mechanics of play, for example in making one thing stand for another and using materials flexibly. By contrast, and as predicted, children with autism were rated as showing less playful pretend involving self-conscious awareness of pretending, investment in the symbolic meanings given to play materials, creativity, and fun.

In this paper we outline our hypothesis that human intersubjective engagement entails identifying with other people. We tested a prediction derived from this hypothesis that concerned the relation between a component of joint attention and a specific form of imitation. The empirical investigation involved "blind" ratings of videotapes from a recent study in which we tested matched children with and without autism for their propensity to imitate the self-0other-orientated aspects of another person's actions. The results were in keeping with three a priori predictions, as follows:~a! children with autism contrasted with control participants in spending more time looking at the objects acted upon and less time looking at the tester;~b! participants with autism showed fewer "sharing" looks toward the tester, and although they also showed fewer "checking" and "orientating" looks, they were specifically less likely to show any sharing looks; and, critically,~c! within each group, individual differences in sharing looks only! were associated with imitation of self-other orientation. We suggest that the propensity to adopt the bodily anchored psychological stance of another person is essential to certain forms of joint attention and imitation, and that a weak tendency to identify with others is pivotal for the developmental psychopathology of autism.

The focus of this study is the nature and concomitants of pretend play among young children with autism. Age- and language-matched children with autism (n= 27), autism spectrum disorder (n= 14), and developmental disorders without autism (n= 16) were administered the Test of Pretend Play (ToPP; Lewis & Boucher, 1997), with an additional rating of 'playful pretence'. As predicted, children with autism showed less playful pretend than participants with developmental disorders who did not have autism. Across the groups, playful pretence was correlated with individual differences in communication and social interaction, even when scores on the ToPP were taken into account. Limitations in creative, playful pretend among children with autism relate to their restricted interpersonal communication and engagement.

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The aim of this study was to examine how severity of autism affects children's interactions (relatedness) and relationships with their parents. Participants were 25 parent-child dyads that included offspring who were children with autism aged from 4 to 14 years. The severity of the children's autism was assessed using the calibrated severity metric of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (Gotham et al. in J Autism Dev Disord 39:693-705, 2009). Parent-child dyads were videotaped in 10-min semi-structured play interactions, and qualities of interpersonal relatedness were rated with the Dyadic Coding Scales (Humber and Moss in Am J Orthopsychiatr 75(1):128-141, 2005). Quality of relationships between parents and children were evaluated with a parent self-report measure, the Parent Child Relationship Inventory (Gerard in Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI) manual. WPS, Los Angeles, 1994). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that severity of autism was inversely related to patterns of parent-child interaction but not to reported quality of parent-child relationship. We consider the implications for thinking about relatedness and relationships among children with autism, and opportunities for intervention.

There has been substantial research on children's empathic responsiveness towards distressed people, and on the limited responsiveness of children with autism. To date, however, there have not been experimental studies to test how far children show concern towards someone who might be expected to feel badly, when that person has not (yet) expressed any negative feelings. We tested matched groups of children with autism and learning disability, and typically developing children of similar verbal mental age (approximately 6 years), with a novel procedure in which participants witnessed one person (E1) tearing the drawing of another (E2). In a comparison condition, a blank card was torn. In the torn-drawing condition, as predicted, fewer participants with autism orientated towards E2 with an immediate look, and as a group, they were rated as showing less concern for, and fewer concerned looks towards, E2. We discuss possible implications for theoretical perspectives on the early development of empathy in typically as well as atypically developing children.