Autism Spectrum Conditions

There is a growing body of literature that discusses the stereotyped representations of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in film. Existing literature questions the integrity of filmic representations, listing stereotypes in image, formulaic plots, homogeneous archetypes and unrealistic relationships as a few of the contentious issues. This paper, the first to our knowledge, utilizes an empirical assessment tool, the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS2), which is accepted and used by professionals working in the field of ASD, to analyse the character representations of ASD. Two independent raters from different professional backgrounds were able to accurately assess character portrayals from 15 films using the CARS2. Through this analysis, they were able to determine the distribution of filmic autism symptomology relative to the normal distribution of symptomology expected in the actual population with a diagnosis. The paper discusses the film-related findings, the implications and the educative potential of this exercise for practitioners.

A total of 378 mathematics undergraduates (selected for being strong at "systemizing") and 414 students in other (control) disciplines at Cambridge University were surveyed with two questions: (1) Do you have a diagnosed autism spectrum condition? (2) How many relatives in your immediate family have a diagnosed autism spectrum condition? Results showed seven cases of autism in the math group (or 1.85%) vs one case of autism in the control group (or 0.24%), a ninefold difference that is significant. Controlling for sex and general population sampling, this represents a three- to sevenfold increase for autism spectrum conditions among the mathematicians. There were 7 of 1,405 (or 0.5%) cases of autism in the immediate families of the math group vs 2 of 1,669 (or 0.1%) cases in the immediate families of the control group, which again is a significant difference. These results confirm a link between autism and systemizing, and they suggest this link is genetic given the association between autism and first-degree relatives of mathematicians.

Recent reports estimate the prevalence of autism-spectrum conditions in the UK to be 1%. To use different methods to estimate the prevalence of autism-spectrum conditions, including previously undiagnosed cases, in Cambridgeshire. We carried out a survey of autism-spectrum conditions using the Special Educational Needs (SEN) register. A diagnosis survey was distributed to participating schools to be handed out to parents of all children aged 5-9 years. The mainstream primary school population was screened for unknown cases. The prevalence estimates generated from the SEN register and diagnosis survey were 94 per 10 000 and 99 per 10 000 respectively. A total of 11 children received a research diagnosis of an autism-spectrum condition following screening and assessment. The ratio of known:unknown cases is about 3:2 (following statistical weighting procedures). Taken together, we estimate the prevalence to be 157 per 10 000, including previously undiagnosed cases. This study has implications for planning diagnostic, social and health services.

Studies of the broader autism phenotype, and of subtle changes in autism symptoms over time, have been compromised by a lack of established quantitative assessment tools. The Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-formerly known as the Social Reciprocity Scale) is a new instrument that can be completed by parents and/or teachers in 15-20 minutes. We compared the SRS with the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) in 61 child psychiatric patients. Correlations between SRS scores and ADI-R algorithm scores for DSM-IV criterion sets were on the order of 0.7. SRS scores were unrelated to I.Q. and exhibited inter-rater reliability on the order of 0.8. The SRS is a valid quantitative measure of autistic traits, feasible for use in clinical settings and for large-scale research studies of autism spectrum conditions.

Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) are a set of neurodevelopmental conditions mainly characterized by differences in social interaction and sensory perception and processing, often showing a particular cognitive style. Language impairment and intellectual disability may cooccur in a considerable percentage of cases. According to a new idea that is slowly taking its place also among specialists and researchers, autism may actually be seen as a different neurotype. The old medical model made of deficits, disabilities and impairments is fading out in favor of the concept of neurodiversity. According to this view, the need for sameness and repetitive behaviors may be specific traits of a particular intelligence style resulting in hyperfocusing on selected, often peculiar subjects of interest. Seeing deficits and disabilities as positive, personal characteristics and specific abilities is a new and inclusive way of looking at autism. Of course, talent is not necessarily the expression of a genius, and personal talents typical of people on the autism spectrum may be the result of their systemazing cognitive style (Baron-Cohen, 2009). This article will focus on what the DSM-5 defines as level 1 autism (which includes what was previously diagnosed as Asperger’s syndrome) and is the result of a collaboration between Fabrizio Acanfora, a musician diagnosed with level 1 autism, and the music therapist Nuria Escudé. With the advantage of a different point of view on the subject, this contribution is an invitation to medical doctors and music therapists to see autism not just as a repertoire of disabilities and deficits but as a set of different abilities and cognitive styles.  In particular, we want to address one of the most common comorbidities that autistic people experience due to their condition: anxiety. We will see how anxiety disrupts concentration representing a major obstacle in the development of personal talents and abilities related to autistic special interests, as well as in the academic and professional performance. Our personal and professional experience is that anxiety levels can be reduced with the help of music-based therapies, allowing autistics to focus on their particular interests in order to develop a valuable set of personal skills, talents and careers.

This study tests the empathizing-systemizing (E-S) theory of sex differences and the extreme male brain (EMB) theory of autism. Three groups of participants took part: n = 48 people with autism spectrum, n = 137 general population controls, and n = 1,250 university student controls. Each participant completed the Empathy Quotient (EQ) and the Systemizing Quotient (SQ). The autism spectrum condition (ASC) group scored significantly lower than controls on the EQ, and significantly higher on the SQ. Among both control groups, females scored significantly higher than males on the EQ, whilst males scored significantly higher than females on the SQ. The distribution of 'brain types', based on the difference between EQ and SQ scores, showed distinct profiles for people with ASC, control males and control females.