Some children with autism have latent social skills that can be tested

Abstract

BackgroundThe idea of latent social skills in autism emerged as a possible interpretation of the rapid (but temporary) improvement of autistic subjects in oxytocin studies. We tested a hypothesis that a normal response to Item No 59 “Secure Base” from the third version of the Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised (ADIR-59) could indicate the presence of latent social skills in autism.MethodsWe examined 110 autistic children (88 boys and 22 girls) with a mean age of 6.0±2.5 years (range: 2.2–14.8 years) using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) – Generic. A diagnosis of mental retardation was established in 68 autistic children (62%).ResultsThe difference in the ADOS social domain between children aged ≤5 years on one side and children older than 5 years on the other side was significant in subjects with normal responses to ADIR-59 (9.60 vs 6.47; P=0.031) but not in those with abnormal responses to ADIR-59 (10.62 vs 9.63; P=0.537). In a predictive model, lower ADOS social domain scores were predicted by older age (P=0.001), lower scores on the ADIR-59 (P=0.01), and the absence of mental retardation (P=0.049).ConclusionThe results support the hypothesis that the normal response to item ADIR-59 “Secure Base” indicates the presence of latent social skills in autism that might foretell further social growth in older autistic subjects.

Social competence in autism: A structural equation modeling approach

“…Assessment of social cognition and social behavior in autistic youth has historically relied on caregiver‐report measures, sometimes with integration of self‐report, other report (e.g., peer, clinician, teacher), biological measures, and neuropsychological instruments. A child's ability to accurately report their own social competence requires an understanding of normative social behavior to which they can compare their own social behavior, and this insight is often impaired in autistic children (Hrdlicka et al, 2017). Prior work has emphasized the importance of multiple reporters in capturing pathology in adolescents (De Los Reyes et al, 2015), noting exclusive use of caregiver or self‐reported data may fail to comprehensively capture these constructs.…”