Comprehension of Chinese spoken garden path sentences for children with high-functioning autism / 中国康复理论与实践

ObjectiveTo explore the psychological and behavioral characteristics of understanding Chinese garden path sentences in children with high-functioning autism (HFA). MethodsFrom April to August, 2019, 35 children with HFA and 35 age-matched typically developing (TD) children were recruited by social recruitment method in the Key Laboratory of Speech and Hearing of East China Normal University in Shanghai. The Garden Path Sentence Comprehension Test was designed based on the psycholinguistic method, and the mental process and the ability of understanding garden path sentences were tested by the agent task experiment paradigm. Finally, the processing strategies and error types of Chinese spoken garden path sentences for HFA children were explored. ResultsThe score in understanding garden path sentences was lower (t = -2.941, P < 0.01), and the reaction time in processing garden path sentences was significantly longer (t = 6.132, P < 0.001) in HFA children than in TD children, however, there was no significant difference in the number of childern mastering garden path sentences between two groups (χ2 = 2.954, P > 0.05). In terms of the error types of "animate noun + verb + animate noun + 's + noun" (AVA) and "animate noun + verb + inanimate noun + 's + noun" (AVI) garden path sentences, both groups showed more errors in "pursuit of correct word order" than in "pursuit of semantically correct" (t > 2.503, P < 0.05). In "inanimate noun + verb + animate noun + 's + noun" (IVA) sentences, HFA children showed less erros in "pursuit of correct word order" than in "pursuit of semantically correct" (t = -6.523, P < 0.001), however, no difference was found between them in TD children (t = 2.024, P > 0.05). ConclusionThe processing and comprehension ability of Chinese spoken garden path sentences in HFA children aged five to seven yeas are poor. HFA children are more sensitive to semantics, and garden path sentences with semantic violations are more likely to lead to HFA children's understanding errors. In the garden path sentence patterns of AVA and AVI, HFA children appear similar sentence understanding and processing strategies as TD children. In the garden path of IVA, HFA children use a sentence processing strategy combining word order and semantics, but semantics play a more prominent role, while TD children use a more stable word order processing strategy.

Executive function characteristics of preschool children with high functioning autism and children with global developmental delay / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective:To investigate the characteristics of executive function of preschool children with high functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFA) and with global developmental delay (GDD), and the differences among HFA, GDD and typically developmental (TD) children.Methods:From January 2020 to January 2021, 20 male HFA, 20 male GDD and 20 male TD children aged 4-6 years who visited the Psychological Behavior Clinic of the Child Health Department of Guiyang Maternal and Child Health Hospital and the Developmental Behavior Clinic of the Children Health Department of the Ninth People's Hospital in Chongqing were selected for comparative study.The executive function of HFA, GDD and TD children was assessed with the behavior rating scale of executive function-preschool version(BRIEF-P) and the executive function task program (EF-TOUCH). SPSS 26.0 software was used for statistical analysis, including variance test, independent sample t-test, χ2 test, Kruskal Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U test. Results:In the EF-TOUCH program task, the accuracy of the three groups of children's performance in the pig task (Pig), the silly sounds game (SSG), the working memory task (pick the picture, PTP) and the task of cognitive flexibility (something's the same, STS) were statistically different(Pig: HFA group: 0.87(0.76, 0.99), GDD group: 0.97(0.85, 0.99), TD group: 1.00(0.98, 1.00), χ2=15.646, P<0.001; SSG: HFA group: 0.76(0.53, 0.91), GDD group: 0.76(0.65, 0.99), TD group: 0.94(0.76, 1.00), χ2=6.448, P=0.040; PTP: HFA group: 0.66±0.18, GDD group: 0.66±0.19, TD group: 0.78±0.11; F=3.221, P=0.048; STS: HFA group: 0.67(0.63, 0.70), GDD group: 0.72(0.46, 0.78), TD group: 0.87(0.83, 0.90), χ2=26.898, P<0.001). The accuracies of Pig, SSG, PTP and STS in HFA group were significantly lower than those in TD group(all P<0.05), and the accuracies of Pig and STS in GDD group were significantly lower than those in TD group(both P<0.05). In inhibition control, there were statistically differences in response time of Pig and SSG among the three groups (Pig: HFA group: (1 694.36±222.83)ms, GDD group: (1 513.46±244.91)ms, TD group: (1 444.84±197.95)ms, F=5.810, P=0.005; SSG: HFA group: (2 202.42±195.58)ms, GDD group: (2 116.52±323.27)ms, TD group: (1 937.17±252.74)ms, Z=4.610, P=0.014). There were no significant differences in the reaction time of Arrows task ( P>0.05). There were significant differences in BRIEF-P inhibition control, organizational planning, inhibition self-regulation, cognitive flexibility and total scores among the three groups ( P<0.05), while there were no significant differences in the scores of other factors and dimensions ( P>0.05). Conclusion:The executive function of pre-school children with high functioning autism spectrum disorder and children with global developmental delay is impaired.The executive function of children with high functioning autism spectrum disorder and children with global developmental delay is significantly different from that of typically developmental children of the same age.Moreover, the executive function of children with HFA is more severely damaged from all components than that of children with GDD.

Comparison of executive function between preschool-aged male children with high functioning autism and typically developing children / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective:To discuss the executive function (EF) characteristics of preschool aged male children diagnosed as high-functioning autism (HFA), and to compare the EF differences between HFA and typically developing (TD) children.Methods:Twenty-six preschool male HFA children aged 4-5 years old and chronological age and gender matched TD children were recruited respectively. Parent questionnaire behavior rating scale of executive function-preschool version (BRIEF-P) and executive function battery EF-TOUCH were adopted to explore the EF characteristics and the differences between the two groups. SPSS 22.0 software was used for statistical analysis, including descriptive statistics, χ2 test, t-test and Mann-Whitney U test. Results:EF-TOUCH results demonstrated significant differences with correct proportions of inhibition tasks (Arrow, Pig, silly sounds game (SSG)), working memory task (pick the picture (PTP)) and cognitive flexibility task (something′s the same (STS)) between groups (Arrow: Z=-2.278, P=0.023; Pig: Z=-2.599, P=0.009; SSG: Z=-1.985, P=0.047; PTP: t=2.635, P=0.011; STS: Z=-3.556, P=0.000). The accuracy rate in HFA group were significantly lower than TD group (HFA group: Arrow: 0.76 (0.57, 0.92), Pig: 0.95 (0.90, 1.00), SSG: 0.85 (0.57, 0.94), PTP: 0.74±0.11, STS: 0.77 (0.62, 0.90); TD group: Arrow: 0.92 (0.78, 0.95), Pig: 1.00 (0.98, 1.00), SSG: 0.94 (0.82, 1.00), PTP: 0.81±0.09, STS: 0.93 (0.82, 0.97)). Reaction time(RT) of Pig task was longer in HFA group than TD group (HFA: (1 624.29±234.33)ms; TD: (1 481.39±220.78)ms, t=-2.263, P=0.028). RTs of Arrow and SSG for both groups were not significantly different ( P>0.05). Children of HFA group exhibited worse inhibition and working memory(WM) than TD children in BRIEF-P(inhibition: HFA group (60.73±10.47), TD group (54.73±6.87); WM: HFA group (68.04±11.51), TD group (61.69±8.44))( t=-2.443, P=0.018; t=-2.267, P=0.028 respectively). No significant differences were found in the rest factors and domains for both groups (all P>0.05). Conclusions:Apparent inhibition control, working memory and cognitive flexibility deficiencies were found in preschool aged male HFA children. There are significant EF differences between preschool aged male HFA and typically developing children.

Health-related risky behaviors in adolescents with high functioning autism / 中国实用儿科杂志

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the characteristics of health-related risky behaviors in adolescents with High Functioning Autism(HFA). METHODS: Fifty adolescents aged 12-18 years,IQ≥70 and meeting the criteria of autistic disorder in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,Fourth Edition(DSM-Ⅳ),and 50 age-and gendermatched healthy controls were recruited. The health-related risky behaviors of all subjects were assessed with the Adolescents Health-related Risky Behavior Inventory(AHRBI). The parents of autistic subjects completed the Adolescents Health-related Risky Behavior Inventory for Parent(AHRBI-P). RESULTS: HFA group had higher total scale score and four subscales' scores of AHRBI than controls,including Suicide and Self-Injury(SS),HealthCompromising Behavior(HCB),Aggression and Violence(AV)and Rule Breaking(RB)(all P<0.05). HFA group had higher scores than controls in the items of "Bullying/Threatening/Intimidating partner", "Deliberately pushing and shoving others", "Not drinking milk/soy milk", "Not participating in any form of physical activity", "Skiping class/Playing truant", "Running away from home", "Biting/Scratching/Bumping to hurt oneself"(all P<0.05). Among all the subscales and items,the scores of HCB,SS, "Not drinking milk/soy milk", "Physical discomfort due to dieting", "Fighting and Arms-taking" and "Drinking" of self-assessment in HFA group were higher than those of parents' assessment(all P<0.05]. CONCLUSION: The adolescents with HFA have more health-related risky behaviors than the healthy adolescents except for Smoking and Drinking(SD)and Unprotected sex(US).

Health-related risky behaviors in adolescents with high functioning autism / 中国实用儿科杂志

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the characteristics of health-related risky behaviors in adolescents with High Functioning Autism(HFA). METHODS: Fifty adolescents aged 12-18 years,IQ≥70 and meeting the criteria of autistic disorder in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of MentalD isorders,Fourth Edition(DSM-Ⅳ)and 50 age-and gender-matched healthy controls were recruited. The health-related risky behaviors of all subjects were assessed with the Adolescents Health-related Risky Behavior Inventory(AHRBI). The parents of autistic subjects completed the Adolescents Health-related Risky Behavior Inventory for Paren(tAHRBI-P). RESULTS: HFA group had higher total scale score and four subscales' scores of AHRBI than controls,including Suicide and Self-Injury(SS),Health-Compromising Behavior(HCB),Aggression and Violence(AV)and Rule Breaking(RB)[e.g. Total Scores,49.5(39,81)vs. 47(38,60),P<0.05;SS scores,7(5,18)vs. 5(5,12),P<0.05]. HFA group had higher scores in the items of "Bully/Threaten/Intimidate partner", "Deliberately pushing and shoving others", "Do not drink milk/soy milk", "Do not participate in any form of physical activity", "Skip Class/Play truant", "Run away from home", "Bite/Scratch/Bump to hurt oneself" than controls[e.g. the scores of the item "Bully/Threaten/Intimidate partner",1(1,5)vs. 1(1,3),P<0.05]. Among all the subscales and items,the scores of HCB,SS, "Do not drink milk/soy milk", "Physical discomfort due to dieting", "Fighting and Arms-taking" and "Drinking" of selfassessment in HFA group were higher than those of parents' assessment[e.g. HCB scores,8(8,18)vs. 7(5,13),P<0.05]. CONCLUSION: The adolescents with HFA have more health-related risky behaviors than the healthy adolescents except for Smoking and Drinking(SD)and Unprotected Sex(US).

The Revelatory Journey of Fine-tuning the Diagnosis of an Adult Male on the Autistic Spectrum - Asperger Syndrome/High-functioning Autism with Corollary Diagnoses / Viaje revelador al configurar el diagnóstico de un varón adulto en sintonía con el espectro autista - síndrome de Asperger/autismo de alto funcionamiento con diagnósticos corolarios

ABSTRACT This article provides an account of the revelatory experience of diagnosing a high-functioning, autistic, adult male by a non-specialist medical practitioner and its implications for knowledge, attitudes and practice in dealing with the autistic spectrum.

RESUMEN Este artículo ofrece un reporte de la experiencia reveladora del diagnóstico de un varón adulto autista de alto funcionamiento por un médico no especializado y sus implicaciones para el conocimiento, las actitudes y la práctica al tratar con el espectro autista.

The Reliability and Validity of the Korean Version of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to investigate the reliability and validity of the Korean version of Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ). METHODS: 20 participants with high-functioning autism (HFA) and 99 normal participants were recruited. All participants were completed the AQ and Empathy Quotient (EQ), and parents of the HFA group completed the parent-report AQ. For testing the reliability, we examined Cronbach’s alpha, performed item analysis, and compared self versus parent report score of HFA participants. For testing the validity, we compared the difference of the score of AQ among HFA and control group using independent t-tests, and performed correlation analysis between AQ and EQ. The receiver operation characteristic curve analysis was performed to determine a cut-off. RESULTS: The Korean version of the AQ exhibited adequate internal consistency, and in most items, the HFA group scored higher in comparison to the control group. It was demonstrated that AQ has good discriminant validity through the confirmation of the significant difference in the AQ score between two groups. The concurrent validity was established through the significant correlation between AQ and EQ in the HFA group. The best estimate cut-off score of AQ for screening was 23. CONCLUSION: The Korean version of the AQ was determined as a reliable and valid instrument to assess HFA in Korean population.

High functioning autism disorder: marital relationships and sexual offending / Transtorno do espectro do autismo de alto funcionamento: relacionamento conjugal e abuso sexual

ABSTRACT Objective To describe the implications of social inability as a factor that can contribute to sexual abuse in the marriage relationship of people with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Case description A 30-year-old male sought medical attention complaining of being "very nervous" and have difficulties in family relationships. He was diagnosed with high-functioning ASD based on the DSM-5. Married for over 4 years with a woman diagnosed with histrionic personality disorder (HPD), he asked for her to accompany him in the sessions and help him describe difficulties they had during sexual intercourse. His wife reported feeling raped in all of her sexual relations with the patient, especially when he could not understand that she did not want sex. Comments The case study leads us to believe that the social and communicative disability is a complicating factor that can contributes to the occurrence of sexual abuse in marital relationships with individuals with ASD. Social skills training, psychotherapy, and traditional medical therapies should be considered to minimize the risk of occurrence of cases of sexual abuse by individuals with high-functioning ASD against the spouses themselves.

RESUMO Objetivo Descrever implicações da inabilidade social como fator que pode contribuir para o abuso sexual no relacionamento conjugal de pessoas com transtornos do espectro do autismo de alto funcionamento (TEA de alto funcionamento). Descrição do caso Um homem de trinta anos procurou ajuda médica queixando-se de ser "muito nervoso" e ter dificuldades no relacionamento familiar. Foi diagnosticado com TEA de alto funcionamento com base no DSM-5. Casado há mais de quatro anos com uma mulher diagnosticada com transtorno de personalidade histriônica (TPH), pediu que ela o acompanhasse nas sessões para ajudá-lo a descrever suas dificuldades sexuais. A esposa relatou que se sentia estuprada em todas as relações sexuais com o paciente, especialmente quando ele não conseguia entender que ela não queria fazer sexo. Comentários Este caso nos leva a acreditar que a inabilidade social e de comunicação é um complicador que pode contribuir para a ocorrência de abuso sexual em relacionamentos conjugais de indivíduos com TEA de alto funcionamento. Treinamento de habilidades sociais, psicoterapia e terapias médicas tradicionais devem ser considerados para minimizar o risco de ocorrência de casos de abuso sexual praticados por indivíduos com TEA de alto funcionamento contra os próprios cônjuges.

Magnetic resonance imaging study on gray matter abnormalities of brain in patients with high functioning autism during 6-18 years old / 中国心理卫生杂志

Objective:To explore the abnormal gray matter volume regions of brain and the developmental characteristic of abnormal regions in patients with high functioning autism during 6-18 years old.Methods:The study enrolled 19 patients and 16 age,sex and intelligent quotient matched normal controls.The patients met the diagnostic criteria of autism in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,Fourth Edition.The full scale intelligence quotients of patients and normal controls were greater than or equal to 70.The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to collected brain images.Voxel-based morphometry was used to process the MRI images and two sample t-test in Statistical Parametric Mapping-8 (SPM8) was used to analyze differences between the two groups in gray matter volume of brain.The results were controlled with false discovery rate (FDR) multiple comparison correction (P ＜ 0.05).Partial correlative analysis was performed to examine correlation between gray matter volume of abnormal brain region and age in two groups.Results:Compared with normal controls,patients with high functioning autism during 6-18 years old exhibited smaller gray matter volume at right inferior orbital frontal (P ＜ 0.05,FDR corrected).In patients with high functioning autism,the volume of right inferior orbital frontal was negatively correlated with age(r =0.70,P ＜0.01).The negative correlation between the volume of right inferior orbital frontal and age was also found in normal controls(r =-0.59,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion:It suggests that right inferior orbital frontal of brain is abnormal in patients with high functioning autism during 6-18 years old.The fight inferior orbital frontal may be significant for pathological mechanism of autism.

Weak central coherence of metaphor semantic processing in adults with high-functioning autism / 中国心理卫生杂志

Objective:To explore that if the weak central coherence cognitive characteristic exist in metaphor semantic integration and how does it change through the familiarity of metaphor in the adults with high functioning autism (HFA).Methods:Totally 20 adults with HFA from a service institution of autistic disorder and their 20 typically developing (TD) peers from ordinary schools were recruited into present study who were matched on intelligence quotient (IQ).Priming task was used in present study,in which were set two groups of metaphor sentences (novel-metaphor sentences,conventional-metaphor sentences) as priming sentences and four groups of word (metaphor-relationship-explaining word,vehicle-relevance word,irrelevant word,pseudo words) as target words.A recognition task was used to support the results of priming task.Results:HFA adults showed the highest processing efficiency of vehicle-relevance word in the novel-metaphor and conventional-metaphor priming conditions,the reaction time were (960.7 ±9.7) ms and (747.5 ± 12.8) ms,and the accuracies were 94.8％ and 98.4％.TD adults showed the highest processing efficiency of metaphor-relationship-explaining word in the novel-metaphor and conventional-metaphor priming conditions,the reaction time were (817.4 ± 9.0) ms and (619.5 ± 9.9) ms,and the accuracies were 93.3％ and 98.2％.In recognition tasks,HFA adults showed the highest recognition efficiency of vehicle-relevance word in the novel-metaphor and conventional-metaphor conditions,the reaction time were (732.2 ±11.9) ms and (788.8 ± 11.7) ms,and the accuracies were 78.9％ and 81.8％.TD adults showed the highest recognition efficiency of metaphor-relationship-explaining word in the novel-metaphor and conventional-metaphor conditions,the reaction time were (694.0 ± 10.8) ms and 696.1 ± 11.2)ms,and the accuracies were 76.7％ and 84.2％.Conclusion:It suggests that HFA adults have weak central coherence cognitive processing characteristic on the deep semantic processing level such as metaphor,and this kind of characteristic would get more obvious from conventional-metaphor to novel-metaphor.

The application of virtual reality technology in the training of peer interaction in children with high functioning autism:attentional bias modification / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective To explore the effect of virtual reality technology in the promotion of peer in?teraction ability in children with high functioning autism( HFA) . Methods 15 children with HFA were re?cruited and divided into control group( n=5) ,experimental group 1( n=5) and experimental group 2( n=5) with IQ and gender matching. The experimental group 1 received the attentional bias modification task,the flash animation technology task using virtual reality technology and the task in the real environment. The ex?perimental group 2 received the flash animation technology task using virtual reality technology and the task in the real environment. The control group received the task in the real environment only. Results ( 1) Af?ter the attentional bias modification,compared with the experimental group 2,the experimental group 1 was shorter on reaction time( T1=16.0,T2=39.0, U=1.0, P=0.016) ,and was higher on the accuracy( T1=40.0, T2=15.0, U=0.0, P=0.008).(2)The scores of the experimental group 1 in the other?regarding(T1=39.5, T2=15.5, U=0.5, P<0.01) and the using language( T1=38.0,T2=17.0, U=2.0, P<0.05) were higher than the experimental group 2.(3) The scores of the experimental group 1 in the other?regarding,using language and rule executor were higher than those of the control group(all P<0.01).(4) The score of the experimental group 2 in the other?regarding was higher than that of the control group(P<0.05) . Conclusion The attention bias correction based virtual reality peer interaction technology can effectively improve the ability of other?re?garding,language using and execution rules of children with HFA in the real environment.

Idiom Comprehension Deficits in High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder Using a Korean Autism Social Language Task

PURPOSE: High-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves pragmatic impairment of language skills. Among numerous tasks for assessing pragmatic linguistic skills, idioms are important to evaluating high-functioning ASD. Nevertheless, no assessment tool has been developed with specific consideration of Korean culture. Therefore, we designed the Korean Autism Social Language Task (KASLAT) to test idiom comprehension in ASD. The aim of the current study was to introduce this novel psychological tool and evaluate idiom comprehension deficits in high-functioning ASD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The participants included 42 children, ages 6-11 years, who visited our child psychiatric clinic between April 2014 and May 2015. The ASD group comprised 16 children; the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) group consisted of 16 children. An additional 10 normal control children who had not been diagnosed with either disorder participated in this study. Idiom comprehension ability was assessed in these three groups using the KASLAT. RESULTS: Both ASD and ADHD groups had significantly lower scores on the matched and mismatched tasks, compared to the normal control children (matched tasks mean score: ASD 11.56, ADHD 11.56, normal control 14.30; mismatched tasks mean score: ASD 6.50, ADHD 4.31, normal control 11.30). However, no significant differences were found in scores of KASLAT between the ADHD and ASD groups. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that children with ASD exhibit greater impairment in idiom comprehension, compared to normal control children. The KASLAT may be useful in evaluating idiom comprehension ability.

Perfiles cognitivos en el Trastorno Autista de Alto Funcionamiento y el Síndrome de Asperger / Cognitive profiles on High Functioning Autistic Disorder and Asperger's Syndrome

El perfil neuropsicológico de los sujetos con trastornos del espectro autista (TEA) ha sido objeto de muchos debates y discusiones. El funcionamiento cognitivo de esta población es explicado a partir de modelos teóricos que abordan algunos de los aspectos que presentan estos individuos. Sin embargo, se ha encontrado resultados contradictorios que dificultan la comprensión general de todos los elementos que caracterizan el perfil intelectual observado en esta población. Basados en lo anterior, en el presente artículo se expone una revisión teórica reflexiva a partir de la evidencia empírica de investigaciones sobre el perfil cognitivo de los TEA de alto funcionamiento (Síndrome de Asperger y Autismo de Alto Funcionamiento).

The neuropsychological profile of individuals with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) has been the subject of many debates and discussions. The cognitive functioning of this population is explained from theoretical models that address some of the issues that occur in these individuals. However, conflicting results have been found that hinder the general understanding of all the elements that characterize the intellectual profile observed in this population. Based on the above, the present article presents a theoretical reflexive review from the empirical evidence from research on the cognitive profile of the TEA of high performance (High Functioning Autism and Aspergers Syndrome).

Confusions and Controversies about Asperger Syndrome / 신경정신의학

Asperger syndrome (AS) is a disorder of early childhood characterized by impaired social interaction, communication difficulties, play and imagination deficits and a range of routines and rituals. A review of the literature explores current issues concerning the diagnosis of AS. Despite its increasing popularity as a distinct condition, it seems to be still controversial to what extent AS differs from high-functioning autism. Especially in European perspectives, AS is a variant of autism typically occurring in high-functioning individuals, and not a separate disorder. However, the validity of AS as a different diagnostic entity has been recognized through several lines of evidence in the US. AS and nonverbal learning disabilities are often confused with some authors and practitioners not differentiating at all, others perceiving as different points along a continuum, and still others seeing them as different, albeit overlapping, disorders. The major difference is that AS is a pervasive developmental disorder, with chronically restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, which are far beyond the narrow range of activities, social awkwardness, and slightly eccentric behaviors that are sometimes found individuals with nonverbal learning disabilities.