Strategies for assessing Asperger's syndrome: A critical review of data based methods

Abstract Asperger's syndrome has gained tremendous recognition and popularity in the last 20 years. However, controversy around the nature of the disorder, whether it is distinct from high functioning autism, and whether it can be reliably and validly diagnosed has continued throughout this period unabated. Fortunately, there has been a strong tradition of developing systematic data based methods of differential diagnosis in the autism spectrum disorders. The bulk of the effort has been in autism, but there has been moderate, yet consistent efforts to develop data based methods to diagnose Asperger's syndrome as well. The present paper provides an up to date critical review of the existing literature on the topic. Strengths, weaknesses of the research, and avenues for future efforts are discussed.

[1]  J L Matson,et al.  Development of a rating scale to measure social skills in children: the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY). , 1983, Behaviour research and therapy.

[2]  C. Hilton,et al.  Relationship between social competence and sensory processing in children with high functioning autism spectrum disorders , 2007 .

[3]  C. Gillberg,et al.  A Screening Questionnaire for Asperger Syndrome and Other High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders in School Age Children , 1999, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[4]  C. Deruelle,et al.  Global and configural visual processing in adults with autism and Asperger syndrome. , 2007, Research in developmental disabilities.

[5]  J. Matson,et al.  A review of methodological issues in the differential diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in children , 2007 .

[6]  J. Buitelaar,et al.  The autistic spectrum: subgroups, boundaries, and treatment. , 2002, The Psychiatric clinics of North America.

[7]  S. Baron-Cohen,et al.  The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ): Evidence from Asperger Syndrome/High-Functioning Autism, Malesand Females, Scientists and Mathematicians , 2001, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[8]  A. Couteur,et al.  Autism diagnostic interview: A standardized investigator-based instrument , 1989, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[9]  Tomonori Koyama,et al.  Cognitive and symptom profiles in Asperger’s syndrome and high‐functioning autism , 2007, Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences.

[10]  A. Couteur,et al.  Can a Diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome be Made in Very Young Children with Suspected Autism Spectrum Disorder? , 2005, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[11]  J. Matson,et al.  Current status of differential diagnosis for children with autism spectrum disorders. , 2007, Research in developmental disabilities.

[12]  L. Lee,et al.  Performance of the Social Communication Questionnaire in children receiving preschool special education services , 2007 .

[13]  Robert Schultz,et al.  Three Diagnostic Approaches to Asperger Syndrome: Implications for Research , 2005, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[14]  J. Matson,et al.  Differential diagnosis of PDDNOS in children , 2007 .

[15]  Bruce E. Murdoch,et al.  Linguistic abilities in children with autism spectrum disorder , 2007 .

[16]  Linda Brown,et al.  Test of Nonverbal Intelligence , 2003 .

[17]  The diagnosis of autism and Asperger syndrome: findings from a survey of 770 families , 1999, Developmental medicine and child neurology.

[18]  K. Kerns,et al.  Assessing the diagnostic experiences of a small sample of parents of children with autism spectrum disorders. , 2007, Research in developmental disabilities.

[19]  J. Matson.  Determining treatment outcome in early intervention programs for autism spectrum disorders: a critical analysis of measurement issues in learning based interventions. , 2007, Research in developmental disabilities.

[20]  Judith S Miller,et al.  DSM-IV-Defined Asperger Syndrome: Cognitive, Behavioral and Early History Differentiation from High-Functioning Autism , 2000 .

[21]  Johnny L. Matson,et al.  Early Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Critical Analysis , 2006 .

[22]  P. Bolton,et al.  The CAST (Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test) , 2002, Autism : the international journal of research and practice.

[23]  J. Matson,et al.  Functional assessment of challenging behavior: toward a strategy for applied settings. , 2007, Research in developmental disabilities.

[24]  Jeffrey Ditterline.  Social Skills Rating System , 2008 .

[25]  J. Matson,et al.  Comorbid psychopathology with autism spectrum disorder in children: an overview. , 2007, Research in developmental disabilities.

[26]  Kelli C. Dominick,et al.  Atypical behaviors in children with autism and children with a history of language impairment. , 2007, Research in developmental disabilities.

[27]  P. Szatmari,et al.  Asperger's syndrome and autism: differences in behavior, cognition, and adaptive functioning. , 1995, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[28]  A. Couteur,et al.  Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised: A revised version of a diagnostic interview for caregivers of individuals with possible pervasive developmental disorders , 1994, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[29]  F. Jones,et al.  International Classification of Diseases , 1978 .

[30]  A. Beck,et al.  Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation , 1988 .

[31]  Matthew W. Mosconi,et al.  Peer-mediated social skills training program for young children with high-functioning autism. , 2007, Research in developmental disabilities.

[32]  Jonathan Wilkins,et al.  Nosology and diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome , 2008 .

[33]  M. Turner,et al.  Towards an executive dysfunction account of repetitive behaviour in autism. , 1997 .

[34]  Jennifer L Crockett,et al.  Parent training: acquisition and generalization of discrete trials teaching skills with parents of children with autism. , 2007, Research in developmental disabilities.

[35]  S. Baron-Cohen,et al.  The Adult Asperger Assessment (AAA): A Diagnostic Method , 2005, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[36]  U. Frith.  Emanuel Miller lecture: confusions and controversies about Asperger syndrome. , 2004, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[37]  C. Gillberg,et al.  The Asperger Syndrome (and High-Functioning Autism) Diagnostic Interview (ASDI): A Preliminary Study of a New Structured Clinical Interview , 2001, Autism : the international journal of research and practice.

[38]  George Mendelson,et al.  Book Reviews , 1995 .

[39]  F. Volkmar,et al.  Validity and neuropsychological characterization of Asperger syndrome: convergence with nonverbal learning disabilities syndrome. , 1995, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[40]  I. Kamp-Becker,et al.  Die Marburger Beurteilungsskala zum Asperger-Syndrom (MBAS) - ein Screening-Verfahren für autistische Störungen auf hohem Funktionsniveau , 2005 .

[41]  Tony Charman,et al.  Psychological Markers in the Detection of Autism in Infancy in a Large Population , 1996, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[42]  P. Richter,et al.  PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE BECK DEPRESSION INVENTORY , 1994 .

[43]  S. Leekam,et al.  The Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders: algorithms for ICD-10 childhood autism and Wing and Gould autistic spectrum disorder. , 2002, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[44]  S. Walitza,et al.  Validierung der deutschen Version der Australian Scale of Asperger’s Syndrome (ASAS) , 2005 .

[45]  M. A. Merrill,et al.  Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale , 1972 .

[46]  S Baron-Cohen,et al.  Psychological markers in the detection of autism in infancy in a large population. , 1996, The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science.

[47]  Patricia Howlin,et al.  Outcome in High-Functioning Adults with Autism with and Without Early Language Delays: Implications for the Differentiation Between Autism and Asperger Syndrome , 2003, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[48]  A. Couteur,et al.  Development and current functioning in adolescents with Asperger syndrome: a comparative study. , 2001, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[49]  A. Gilchrist,et al.  Social and Psychiatric Functioning in Adolescents with Asperger Syndrome Compared with Conduct Disorder , 2000, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[50]  Frederick Furniss,et al.  Patterns of emotional and behavioural disturbance associated with autistic traits in young people with severe intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviours. , 2006, Research in developmental disabilities.

[51]  P. Rabbitt,et al.  Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB): a factor analytic study of a large sample of normal elderly volunteers. , 1994, Dementia.

[52]  H. Kurita,et al.  Reliability and validity of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale-Tokyo version (CARS-TV) , 1989, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[53]  A. Gross,et al.  Validity of the Asperger Syndrome Diagnostic Scale , 2006 .

[54]  L. Wing,et al.  Asperger's syndrome: a clinical account , 1981, Psychological Medicine.

[55]  S. Bryson,et al.  Two-year outcome of preschool children with autism or Asperger's syndrome. , 2000, The American journal of psychiatry.

[56]  Rebecca P. F. MacDonald,et al.  Stereotypy in young children with autism and typically developing children. , 2007, Research in developmental disabilities.

[57]  G. Albertini,et al.  The Relationship between Autism and Psychiatric Disorders in Intellectually Disabled Adults. , 2007 .

[58]  H. Roeyers,et al.  Advanced Mind-Reading in Adults with Asperger Syndrome , 2004, Autism : the international journal of research and practice.

[59]  C. Gillberg,et al.  Comparison of ICD-10 and Gillberg’s Criteria for Asperger Syndrome , 2000 .

[60]  B. Pennington,et al.  Asperger's syndrome: evidence of an empirical distinction from high-functioning autism. , 1991, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[61]  DSM-IV-Defined Asperger Syndrome: Cognitive, Behavioral and Early History Differentiation from High-Functioning Autism , 2000 .

[62]  H. Asperger,et al.  Die „Autistischen Psychopathen” im Kindesalter , 1944, Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten.

[63]  M. Balconi,et al.  Emotional representation in facial expression and script A comparison between normal and autistic children. , 2007, Research in developmental disabilities.

[64]  Jonathan Wilkins,et al.  A Critical Review of Assessment Targets and Methods for Social Skills Excesses and Deficits for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. , 2007 .

[65]  E. Fombonne,et al.  Cost-impact of young adults with high-functioning autistic spectrum disorder. , 2007, Research in developmental disabilities.

[66]  Christopher Gillberg,et al.  Autism spectrum disorders in children with normal intellectual levels: associated impairments and subgroups. , 2004, Developmental medicine and child neurology.

[67]  Brooke Ingersoll,et al.  The effect of a parent-implemented imitation intervention on spontaneous imitation skills in young children with autism. , 2007, Research in developmental disabilities.

[68]  Catherine A. Snyder.  Book Review: Taking Part: Introducing Social Skills to Children , 1993 .

[69]  Hugh Garavan,et al.  A Review of Neuropsychological and Neuroimaging Research in Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Attention, Inhibition and Cognitive Flexibility. , 2008 .

[70]  M. O'Reilly,et al.  Factor structure of the Behavior Flexibility Rating Scale (BFRS) , 2007 .

[71]  E. Bullmore,et al.  The role of MT+/V5 during biological motion perception in Asperger Syndrome: An fMRI study , 2007 .

[72]  M. O'Reilly,et al.  Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Individuals With Developmental Disabilities , 2006 .

[73]  F. Volkmar,et al.  Toward a Developmental Operational Definition of Autism , 2000, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[74]  Normal and autistic children's understanding of their own and others' false belief: A study from Japan , 1994 .