Heterogeneities in Cognitive and Socio-Emotional Development in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Severe Intellectual Disability as a Comorbidity

Abstract

Introduction: Intellectual disability (ID) is frequently associated as a comorbidity in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study investigated a) how similar the heterogeneity in the cognitive and socio-emotional developmental profiles was for children with ASD and ID, b) the difference between the subjects’ profiles and those of typically developing children (TD) matched for developmental levels, c) the skills existing with the lowest and highest developmental levels, and d) the relationship between developmental profiles in ASD and the severity of autism, ID, and the overall developmental level. Participants: The sample was comprised of 119 children (101 boys and 18 girls) who ranged in chronological age (CA) from 21 months to 14 years ( M = 5 years 2 months; SD = 2 years 6 months) with developmental levels lower than 24 months. They came from three countries (France = 40, Brazil = 40, and Algeria = 39). The control group was comprised of 40 TD children from these same countries who ranged in CA from 4 to 24 months ( M = 1 year 3 months; SD = 5 months). The ASD diagnosis was carried out according to International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems-10th Edition (ICD-10), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5th ed (DSM-5) criteria and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Measures: Children were tested using the Social Cognitive Evaluation Battery (SCEB; Adrien, 2007) by trained psychologists from public and private institutions specialized in the diagnosis of autism and interventions in this field. The SCEB explores 16 functional abilities, in both cognitive and socio-emotional areas, and allows the calculation of domain and area developmental levels and heterogeneity indices for the global, cognitive, and socio-emotional areas. Results: Children with ASD developmental profiles show very high heterogeneity as opposed to TD children. Regardless of the country of origin, there are similarities between the heterogeneous cognitive and socio-emotional developmental profiles of the children with ASD, whose profiles are characterized by lower developmental levels of language and vocal imitation skills, and a relationship between these developmental heterogeneities and the degree of severity of autistic symptomatology, intellectual disability, and overall development level. The implications of this study are presented for clinical assessment and intervention purposes in ASD and ID.

Animal models of autism: a perspective from autophagy mechanisms

“…ASD was considered a complex disorder that includes the complex interaction of genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors which may lead to the alteration of brain structures and functions [14][15][16] . Clinical heterogeneity is the characteristic of ASD cases, and this heterogeneity is present at different levels of analysis such as genetics, neural systems, cognition, development, and behavior, as well as in clinical features from response to treatment [17] . Despite the current technological advances, the etiology of autism is still unknown and great efforts are being made to understand the nature of autism and its associated molecular pathways [18] .…”

The Importance of Early Psychological Assessment for Differential Diagnosis and Detection of Comorbidity in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…An important feature of developmental profiles of young children with ASD is the significant disharmony ( 6 , 13 , 19 , 20 )—both across the different spheres of development and within the individual profile. It even seems as if there are “gaps” of undeveloped abilities existing together with the presence of abilities that are hierarchically more complex and “step” on something missing.…”

“…Based on the accumulated clinical and research practice, certain typical characteristics in autistic children's developmental profiles have been outlined. Some of these characteristics have been identified by other researchers as well ( 6 , 13 , 19 , 20 ):…”

Opportunities and Challenges of Applying Cognitive Process Dimensions to Map-Based Learning and Alternate Assessment

“…Teachers began to take this theory into account as they taught learners at different levels of intellectual development and developed curricula that supported cognitive development by learning concepts in logical steps (Bukatko and Daehler, 1995;Mwamwenda, 2009). Unfortunately, the distinct stages of thinking and understanding proposed by Piaget do not apply uniformly to students with disabilities, especially not to students with significant cognitive disabilities (Bernard et al, 2019). Furthermore, Piaget held that the development of thought required interactions with the physical environment, interactions that are not possible for many students with significant cognitive disabilities (Bruce and Borders, 2015).…”