Psychological and Neurobehavioral Comparisons of Children with Asperger’s Disorder Versus High-Functioning Autism

Abstract

This study investigated personality and neurobehavioral differences between 16 children with Asperger's Disorder, 15 children with High-Functioning Autism (HFA), and 31 controls, all ranging in age from 5-17 years, M age = 10.7 years, SD = 3.0. Parents rated their children's behaviors on a 44-item autistic symptoms survey and on the 200-item Coolidge Personality and Neuropsychological Inventory (Coolidge, Thede, Stewart, & Segal (2002a). The Coolidge Personality and Neuropsychological Inventory for Children (CPNI): Preliminary psychometric characteristics. Behavior Modification, 26, 550-566). The results indicated that the two clinical samples were significantly elevated on the Executive Function Deficits scale and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) scale compared to controls. There were more similarities than differences between the two clinical samples on the personality scales, although the Asperger's group scored significantly on the two scales with anxiety components.

Temperament and its Relationship to Autistic Symptoms in a High-Risk Infant Sib Cohort

“…bBailey et al (2000) cBaranek (1999) dBerthoz and Hilll (2005) eBieberich and Morgan (1998;2004) fBradley et al (2004),Bradley and Isaacs (2006) g Bryson et al (2007) h Capps et al (1993) i Clifford et al (2007) j Evans et al (2005) k Hill (2004) l Hepburn and Stone (2006) m Janes (2001) n Joseph and Tager-Flusberg (1997) oKasari et al (1990) pKonstantareas and Stewart (2006) qLandry (2000) rLoveland et al (1994) s tSoderstrom et al (2002) uThede and Coolidge (2007) vGomez and Baird (2005) wWatson et al (2007) xYirmiya et al (1989) yZwaigenbaum et al (2005) …”

Differences in Challenging Behaviors Between Children with High Functioning Autism and Asperger’s Disorder

“…Since communication impairments are commonly associated with the presence of challenging behaviors in children with ASD (Applegate et al 1999;Lequia et al 2012;Matson et al 1999;Matson et al 2011d;Paclawskyj et al 2000) and communication impairment is one of the core features that differentiates HFA from Asperger's Disorder (Thede and Coolidge 2007), differences between groups with respect to verbal communication impairment were also investigated. As was hypothesized, children with HFA had the greatest level of verbal communication impairments, followed by children with Asperger's Disorder and typically developing children.…”

“…In many ways, children with HFA are very similar to children with Asperger's Disorder (Cappadocia and Weiss 2011;Thede and Coolidge 2007). These similarities support that both disorders should be under the autism spectrum, but some debate exists regarding if Asperger's Disorder and HFA are actually two distinct disorders (Lau and Peterson 2011;Macintosh and Dissanayake 2004;Sanders 2009).…”

“…characterized by difficulties in socialization and restricted/repetitive behavior, children with Asperger's Disorder do not exhibit delays in the development of communication or deficits in cognitive abilities (Thede and Coolidge 2007). On the other hand, children with Autistic Disorder have communication impairments, and approximately 70% of children with Autistic Disorder also have a comorbid condition of intellectual disability (LaMalfa et al 2004;Matson et al 2011c;Matson and Shoemaker 2009).…”

Η Διαχειριση Πολλαπλασιαστικων Εργων Στο Πλαισιο Του Συνδρομου Asperger: Μια Μελετη Περιπτωσης

“…Σύμφωνα με σχετικές έρευνες τα άτομα με ΣΑ φαίνεται να έχουν Γενικό Δείκτη Νοημοσύνης μέσα στα φυσιολογικά πλαίσια ή και μεγαλύτερο του φυσιολογικού και συνήθως παρουσιάζουν μεγαλύτερο Λεκτικό Δείκτη Νοημοσύνης από Πρα-κτικό (Nyden et al, 2010), σημαντικές δυσκολίες στις οπτικοχωρικές δεξιότητες (Ehlers et al, 1997· Klin et al, 1995, δυσκολίες στην επιτελική λειτουργικότητα (δηλαδή της ικανότητας να εφαρμόζει κάποιος μια κατάλληλη στρατηγική επίλυ-σης προβλημάτων για να πετύχει έναν σκοπό), στην επεξεργασία πληροφοριών, το σημασιολογικό και πραγματολογικό τομέα της γλώσσας, την κατανόηση αφηρημέ-νων εννοιών (Ehlers et al, 1997· Griswold et al, 2002· Thede & Coolidge, 2007· Attwood, 2009) καθώς και σε μεγάλο ποσοστό ελλειμματική προσοχή (Attwood, 2009) και υπερβολικό άγχος (Thede & Coolidge, 2007). Οι βασικότερες διαφορές που παρουσιάζουν τα άτομα με ΣΑ από τα υπόλοιπα άτομα του αυτιστικού φάσμα-τος είναι το υψηλότερο νοητικό τους επίπεδο, η καλύτερη γλωσσική τους ανάπτυ-ξη και το μεγαλύτερο ενδιαφέρον για κοινωνική επαφή (Κάκουρος & Μανιαδάκη, 2006).…”