All-too-often, well-meaning individuals urge parents to seek referrals for psychological evaluation without considering or understanding the typical characteristics of gifted children or the impact of intellectual ability on behavior and relationships. In turn, clinicians receiving such referrals also may fail to assess the implications of…

This article reviews Autism Spectrum Rating Scales (ASRS) which are designed to measure behaviors in children between the ages of 2 and 18 that are associated with disorders on the autism spectrum as rated by parents/caregivers and/or teachers. The rating scales include items related to behaviors associated with Autism, Asperger's Disorder, and…

Background: Both parent-report and clinician-administered autism spectrum disorder (ASD) screening instruments are important to accurately inform ASD risk ascertainment. The aim of this study was to adapt a clinician-administered ASD screening instrument, the Autistic Behavioural Indicators Instrument (ABII), as a parent questionnaire equivalent…

Background: This study investigated associations between the presence of a child with autism or Asperger's disorder in the family, family functioning and grandmother experiences with the goal of better understanding grandparent involvement in the lives of grandchildren on the autism spectrum and their families. Methods: Mothers and grandmothers of…

A systematic review of autism spectrum disorder and substance use and abuse was conducted based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis protocol guidelines (an internationally recognized standardized methodological framework for conducting systematic review). The objectives of the review were to update and extend…

WISC-III (Wechsler, 1991) index score profiles and their characteristics were examined with traditional statistics in a large Swedish sample consisting of children with autistic disorder (n = 85), Asperger's disorder (n = 341), or pervasive developmental disorders not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS; n = 94). There was a clear and significant…

Reliability and validity for three autism instruments were compared for 190 children with low functioning autism (LFA), 190 children with high functioning autism or Asperger's disorder (HFA), 76 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and 64 typical children. The instruments were the Checklist for Autism Spectrum Disorder…

In the present study, performance of a group of adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS) on two series of object reversal and extinction was compared with that of a group of adults with typical development. Participants were requested to learn a stimulus-reward association rule and monitor changes in reward value of stimuli in order to gain as many…

Moebius sequence is a rare congenital disorder usually defined as a combination of facial weakness with impairment of ocular abduction. It is questionable, whether there is a strong association of the sequence with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) as suggested in some earlier case reports and studies. Twenty-two participants with Moebius sequence…

The purpose of this research was to investigate if motor skills could be used as a differentiating feature between Asperger's Disorder (AD) and High Functioning (HFA) in children under the age of 9 years, 0 months, in order to provide additional information regarding the usefulness and validity of distinguishing these two disorders. There is…

There is an ongoing debate whether a differentiation of autistic subtypes, especially between Asperger Syndrome (AS) and high-functioning-autism (HFA) is possible and if so, whether it is a categorical or dimensional one. The aim of this study was to examine the possible clustering of responses in different symptom domains without making any…

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), particularly the high incidence conditions of autism, PDD NOS, and Asperger's Syndrome, have become increasingly popular topics of study in the mental health field. Traditionally, the focus has been on young children and early recognition and diagnosis. However, given that these conditions are life long in nature,…

Efforts to understand the causes of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have been hampered by genetic complexity and heterogeneity among individuals. One strategy for reducing complexity is to target endophenotypes, simpler biologically based measures that may involve fewer genes and constitute a more homogenous sample. A genome-wide association…

Aim: Controversy surrounds the distinction between high-functioning autism (HFA) and Asperger disorder, but motor abnormalities are associated features of both conditions. This study examined motor cortical inhibition and excitability in HFA and Asperger disorder using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Method: Participants were diagnosed by…

Recent years have seen an increase in the use of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) evaluation as an easy-to-use, reproducible, proxy-measure of brain structural abnormalities. Here, we evaluated RNFL thickness in a group of subjects with high functioning autism (HFA) or with Asperger Syndrome (AS) to its potential as a tool to study autism…