Self-Reported Autism Symptoms in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

Scores on the autism spectrum quotient (AQ) were examined in 65 adults with ASD. Maternal reports of symptoms were collected simultaneously using the autism diagnostic interview-revised (ADI-R) and the Vineland Screener. A slightly revised AQ administration procedure was used to accommodate adults with below average IQ. AQ scores were lower than in the original validation study, with only 11 adults (17%) scoring above the proposed diagnostic cut-off and 24 (27%) exceeding the screening cut-off. Adults with higher IQs endorsed more symptoms than those with below average intelligence, but even when analyses were restricted to the 39 adults with at least average IQ, only 44% met the screening cut-off. AQ scores were not significantly correlated with ADI-R or Vineland scores.

Approximating Implicit and Explicit Mentalizing with Two Naturalistic Video-Based Tasks in Typical Development and Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…These findings provide further evidence of a lack of differentiation between implicit and explicit mentalizing processes as well as a lack of correspondence between subjective self-reported mentalizing abilities and objectively measured mentalizing in individuals with ASD, which is possibly due to a lack of introspection into their social-cognitive deficits. For instance, self-reported symptom severity does not adequately differentiate autistic patients form other patient groups (Ketelaars et al 2008) and does not correlate with scores on a standard diagnostic instrument, such as the ADI-R (Bishop and Seltzer 2012).…”

Methods and Procedures for Measuring Comorbid Disorders: Motor Movement and Activity

“…The language or meaning behind the questions on a physical activity questionnaire may be misperceived because some children with ASD have difficulty extracting meaning from text (Bishop and Seltzer 2012). As these questionnaires are subjective in nature, children with ASD may over-or underreport the intensity of engagement in physical activity.…”

Autism spectrum disorder in adults: clinical features and the role of the psychiatrist

“…'Highfunctioning autism' does not appear in ICD-10, and is a term reserved for people with autism but without concomitant intellectual disability (Hofvander, 2009) •• Atypical autism -differs from childhood autism in age at onset or in failure to meet diagnostic criteria in all three domains It should be noted that people with limited insight into their difficulties might not endorse impairments on self-report measures. In such individuals the AQ may not always provide a valid measure of ASD-related impairment, so caution should be exercised in using the AQ alone to screen for the presence of ASD (Bishop 2012).…”