Perceptual Inconstancy in Early Infantile Autism

Dermatoglyphics of Childhood Psychosis: A Family Study

“…The criteria for diagnosis have been described by Simmons and T ymchuk [11] and agree in essence with those discussed by Creak [5] and O rnitz and R itvo [8], The most crucial of these are (a) a history of onset prior to the age of two years; (b) intellectual deficits in the synthesis of information: (c) bizarre, stereotyped self-stimulation and/or unusual play patterns with toys or play mates; (d) deficits in speech and language, and (e) the most unique characteristic of the disorder, isolation of self from others. The children were evaluated by one of the authors (JQS) to insure consistency in diagnosis.…”

Normal Peer Models and Autistic Children's Learning

“…This possibility seems particularly encouraging in that it relates to a large literature describing a characteristic difficulty in directing autistic children's responding to relevant cues (cf. Koegel, Dunlap, Richman, & Dyer, in press;Koegel & Schreibman, 1977;Lovaas et al, 1979;Ornitz & Ritvo, 1968;Rincover, 1978;Schopler, 1965;Schreibman, 1975).…”

The organic etiology of infantile autism: A critical review of the literature

“…On the other hand, Hermelin and O'Connor (1970) did not find evidence of overarousal, rather, their findings indicated that these children seem to suffer from underarousal. Ornitz and Ritvo (1968) have proposed that autism results from "perceptual inconsistencies" such that autists are unable to maintain stable perception over time, which precludes the establishment of a coherent meaningful external reality.…”

“…The Yuwiler and Ritvo group had been less strict in the selection of their subjects. The criterion used was presence of "perceptual inconsistencies" (Ornitz & Ritvo, 1968). Furthermore, they indicated that the biochemical assay techniques which have not been standardized may have accounted for their inability to confirm previous findings of group differences.…”