Although they share a number of clinical features, autism and schizophrenia are usually distinguished by their different ages of onset and certain discriminating features such as major impairments to communication in the former and positive psychotic symptoms in the latter. However, the recognition that these conditions are part of broader spectrums of impairment has led to the definition of disorders which do not show such marked and discriminating features, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). Reviewing the historical development of these concepts and areas of potential overlap or difference between them revealed that they have both shared and discriminating features, but no study to date has directly compared them. Three experiments were therefore conducted to compare ASD and SPD using clinical, neuropsychological and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques. In the clinical experiment, standardised measures were used to determine if it was possible to distinguish between the groups, and to allow their quantitative comparison. It was possible to distinguish between ASD and SPD in most cases, although 17% of the population tested met criteria for both conditions. This ‘comorbid’ (CM) group were therefore considered separately. When a single diagnosis could be allocated, there were clear overlaps of clinical features between the conditions and each condition showed more traits of the other than were seen in controls. The overlaps were most prominent for negative schizotypal traits which did not differ between the groups. The CM group were more affected than either the ASD or SPD groups across multiple domains. All groups had high levels of previously undiagnosed psychopathology. In the neuropsychological experiment, tests of social cognition, executive function and central coherence / local-global processing bias were employed. The similarities between the ASD and SPD groups were striking. Both showed similar evidence of impairment in social cognition and executive function, although there was some evidence of greater impairment in working memory in the ASD group. Differences were seen using a test of local-global processing bias, although these were potentially confounded by differences in general intellectual ability. Two fMRI tasks were conducted: a working memory task (a letter based n-back task) and a social judgment task (where individuals made judgements of either gender or approachability from a picture of a face). The former did not distinguish between the ASD and SPD groups. In the latter, individuals with SPD showed significantly greater activation than the ASD group in several brain regions known to be associated with social cognition, with the controls scoring in-between the two. Although they show marked clinical and brain functional overlaps, the results of the fMRI task of social judgement suggest that it is correct to consider ASD and SPD as separate diagnostic entities. The findings are consistent with the idea that, although both conditions are associated with impairments in understanding the mental states of others (mentalising), the mechanism which underlies these differs between the groups, with ASD associated with hypo-mentalising and SPD associated with hyper-mentalising.

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Bakgrund: Autism är en gammal diagnos som de senaste hundra åren genomgått flera förändringar. Även på senare år förändras diagnosen men grundproblematiken för individens och dess omgivning är den samma. Ett barn med autism påverkar hela familjen. Syfte: Syftet var att undersöka hur svenska föräldrar till barn med autism upplever familjens livssituation och hur den påverkas av barnets problematik. Metod: Studien genomfördes med en kvalitativ ansats baserad på fem självbiografier skrivna av föräldrar till barn med autism. Innehållet i självbiografierna analyserades med hjälp av en kvalitativ manifest innehållsanalys. Resultat: Två huvudkategorier framkom efter analysprocessen, Föräldrarnas känslor och Påverkan på vardagen, samt 14 underkategorier. Omgivningen kring barnet berörs i stor utsträckning. Föräldrarna påverkas både när det gäller deras känsloliv och de får se sin vardag förändras. Syskon till barn med autism får inte lika mycket uppmärksamhet som sitt syskon utan får i stor utsträckning klara sig själva.   Slutsats: Ett barn med autism påverkar hela familjen på ett eller annat sätt. En annan viktig del som kommit fram i föreliggande studie var behovet av ytterligare insatser och stöd från samhället. Föräldrarna känner ofta att de får klara sig själva och inte får den hjälp de behöver.

A short solo-performance piece adapted from Mark Haddon’s novel, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time." The following is a step-by-step documentation of my process of developing, rehearsing, staging and performing my piece, and finally, reflecting back on the performance. / text

In this study, a promising new intervention implemented for adults with aphasia due to stroke, Multimodal Communication Treatment, was modified for its use with one child with autism spectrum disorder to identify if the child could learn and communicate new words through learning multiple modalities. Data was collected on the child’s communicative output as well to assess the frequency and types of his communication attempts. The child presented with challenging behaviors throughout the intervention period, and its potential impact on the execution of the intervention was studied. The study found that Multimodal Communication Treatment was not an effective intervention approach for this child. The majority of his output was not communicative in nature and challenging behaviors impacted the effectiveness of implementing the approach. Further research is needed to identify whether Multimodal Communication Treatment could be an effective intervention for children with more communicative intent and increased attention. / text

A broad review of assessment and intervention research relevant to Theory of Mind (Baron-Cohen, 1985) and Autism Spectrum Disorders from birth to age twelve was conducted. Nine assessment articles were reviewed to examine the major differences between children with autism spectrum disorders and children who are typically developing, particularly in the area of social perception. Assessment tasks aimed to discover a child's thoughts relevant to another's thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. It was discovered that children with autism spectrum disorders performed less well on Theory of Mind tasks, and tended to provide responses that were more egocentric and idiosyncratic in nature. A review of the intervention research revealed improvement in Theory of Mind domains is possible when teaching strategies explicitly target goals relevant to perspective taking. Generalization of skills to natural environments was a lacking area across all twelve articles, indicating a need for more intensive practice in natural environments. Interestingly, when social skills were taught in the absence of Theory of Mind training, no collateral effects were observed to Theory of Mind domain. / text

Attentional abnormalities are one of the earliest signs of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Despite flourishing attention studies in autism, relatively little is known about attentional performance among young children with high-functioning autism (HFA). The present study compared 23 preschool children with HFA and 28 typically-developing children on attention network efficiencies, selective attention to social or non-social information and attention switching, with age, cognitive and language abilities matched or controlled. Compared with typically-developing children, young children with HFA showed comparative attention network efficiencies, slower orienting to face and better attention switching. Alternative explanations for their strength in attention switching are given based on superior focused attention to visual details and hyper-systemizing skills. Implications on future research and practice are discussed. / published_or_final_version / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

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No description available.

A non-speech response mode similar to the one used by Prepack (1971) to teach language to a chimpanzee was utilized to teach two simple language functions to three autistic children. The response mode consisted of picking up a geometric symbol and placing it on a response tray. The geometric symbol was the basic unit in this language system. The symbols were used to represent objects in the environment and relationships between the objects.